I arrived a mess to my hotel in Tulsa after about 6 hours of sleep in total the last 48 hours or something. Phew! On Sunday morning we started Day 1 on the tour with Extreme Chase Tours. I didn’t use my newly acquired forecasting skills but just checked SPC website who showed a Slight Risk and a 10% tornado risk in Southwestern Texas, down by the border of Mexico.
The storms however were a little bit too eager (cap was too weak) and started firing off before we even had our morning meeting at 11.00 am. Thus, they ruined much of the instability. Lanny Dean, the tour guide, instead decided to play the TX panhandle where we had clear skies, promising lift but not as much shear.
We hoped some of the jet from southern Texas would touch or vantage point but most of the cells grew quickly but with no speed shear to create a good anvil they mainly came down just as quickly. Although the shear picked up a notch later on no storm really picked up. It wasn’t really the worst day for having a bust since I was dead tired in the end. I could barely keep my eyes open in the end.
I haven’t really looked at much of the data for today but according to SPC there is a Slight Risk with 5% risk of tornadoes. The skies looks clear enough in Western Texas (where we are right now) although South Central Texas are already firing up (11 a.m.). There is currently a Severe Thunderstorm warning west of San Antonio!
