We woke up in Lawton, OK to a moderate risk and 10% tornado ring for the NW part of OK and the SW part of KS:
Looking at the soundings from Amarillo and Dodge City, respectively, both show adequate CAPE, reduced forecasted CINH, and some shear. The LCLs are higher than what I would want for tornado potential however:
At 15:46z, we left Lawton, OK, up I-44 to US-281, targeting near Woodward, OK, but not in the town of Woodward.
At 15:52z, Lawton was humid and overcast but not very warm. We needed to get away from the cloud cover to allow for daytime heating.
At 17:05z, Clinton had a dewpoint of 61F and winds from the southeast at 25mph. I was 12 miles south of the US-281, I-40 interchange, with clear skies, but clouds to the north, east and south.
At 18:50z, we stopped and had lunch at I-40 and US-281 interchange, but are now on US-270, targeting Alva, OK.
At 19:37z, we decided to head north out of Seiling, OK on US-183. The reason for this was that we expect storm initiation closer to the dryline, which is still at the NM/TX border.
At 21:21z, we reevaluated in Buffalo, OK and decided to head farther north, as some cells are firing in central KS.
At 22:09z, we headed north and east in KS along US-160… but to our west is looking dry (no clouds), but the frontal boundary may be mixing at the dryline. Ahead of us (east) are cumulus clouds, starting to get a little taller.
At 23:22z, we turned around at Coldwater, KS. There is a cell to our north, but it is not doing anything, and there is a massive MCS behind it that we would spend all night running from. There are cells to the south and west through the TX/OK panhandles, so we decided to chase those because they are still discrete.
At 23:51z, we left Coldwater, KS, and are almost to the OK/KS border, watching a mediocre cell in the OK panhandle.
The mediocre cell in the panhandle of OK was growing, but it was just too little too late in the day:
It was briefly severe warned, but never produced much of anything. It did, however, make a nice backdrop for the sunset:
Today’s chase route:
Starting Odometer: 249637
Ending Odometer: 250048
High Plains Chasing 