Today began a new tour, and we rounded up the group at 10 a.m. for the orientation and weather briefing. We left the base hotel after 11, and we ate lunch about a mile away. Storms were predicted to go up near the Denver area later in the day, so we did not want to venture too far away. On the other hand, we knew we would be chasing in Canada on Wednesday, so we also wanted to work our way north. That being said, we noticed some perky cumulus clouds north and east of the Denver metro area, and they were near the Palmer Divide. We drove towards the Cu field and noticed some were trying very hard to become thunderstorms. As we headed into Greeley, CO, we latched onto one that was looking good both visibly and on radar. We took a pit stop in Ft. Collins, CO, and the other van decided its alarm was going to malfunction. The sirens, sounds, and flashing lights inadvertently caused people to pull over with confused looks on their faces. We continued the chase for a bit until we came into Greeley, CO and stopped at an auto store to replace the batteries to the key fobs. That did not work, so we found a Chevy dealership in town (our vans are from Chevrolet). The mechanic could not pinpoint the problem, so he cut the wire to the sound, leaving only the flashing lights. Now, the van's lights flash if it goes over a bump, shuts down, starts up, or a fly sneezes on it. Anyway, there was a beefy looking cell north of the Denver metro area, and it was moving south at 20 mph. We knew we could easily catch it, but this storm was dropping 2.5" hailstones. Luckily, we just ran into small hail and torrential rain. Even though the storm's shape looked good on radar, it eventually became outflow-dominant. After staying with the cell near Watkins, CO, we called it a night and headed to Greeley after driving 304 miles.
Today began a new tour, and we rounded up the group at 10 a.m. for the orientation and weather briefing. We left the base hotel after 11, and we ate lunch about a mile away. Storms were predicted to go up near the Denver area later in the day, so we did not want to venture too far away. On the other hand, we knew we would be chasing in Canada on Wednesday, so we also wanted to work our way north. That being said, we noticed some perky cumulus clouds north and east of the Denver metro area, and they were near the Palmer Divide. We drove towards the Cu field and noticed some were trying very hard to become thunderstorms. As we headed into Greeley, CO, we latched onto one that was looking good both visibly and on radar. We took a pit stop in Ft. Collins, CO, and the other van decided its alarm was going to malfunction. The sirens, sounds, and flashing lights inadvertently caused people to pull over with confused looks on their faces. We continued the chase for a bit until we came into Greeley, CO and stopped at an auto store to replace the batteries to the key fobs. That did not work, so we found a Chevy dealership in town (our vans are from Chevrolet). The mechanic could not pinpoint the problem, so he cut the wire to the sound, leaving only the flashing lights. Now, the van's lights flash if it goes over a bump, shuts down, starts up, or a fly sneezes on it. Anyway, there was a beefy looking cell north of the Denver metro area, and it was moving south at 20 mph. We knew we could easily catch it, but this storm was dropping 2.5" hailstones. Luckily, we just ran into small hail and torrential rain. Even though the storm's shape looked good on radar, it eventually became outflow-dominant. After staying with the cell near Watkins, CO, we called it a night and headed to Greeley after driving 304 miles.
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