Still Here

Just a ton of things going on right now, so updates have been pretty rare lately. The summer so far here in the Texas Panhandle has been quite pleasant and mild. Temperatures continue to bottom out in the low to mid 60's with highs in the mid 80's to low 90's on occasion. We have not once seriously threatened 100F. The great thing is that the dewpoints are low, so the humidity doesn't strangle you like it does in the eastern half of Texas. It also allows it to cool off faster at sunset. I love it!!

There is still some sporadic convection roaming around to keep the skies interesting. In fact, a more active period for some showers and storms is shaping up for us the entire week. Along with that will be a stretch of 60's/80's as we enter August. That is completely amazing seeing how this is the peak of the summer heat for Texas. Before we know it, September will be upon us and thus the start of the gradual transition into fall.

On the cable TV front, the Discovery Channel will be broadcasting a very interesting show about controlling the weather. The teasers for it look quite intriguing and perhaps the first serious in-depth look at man's efforts to play God. I'll be watching it next Sunday, August 5th at 8:00pm Yankee time (7:00 PM fer us Texans). More info can be found at Discovery Channel's Website.

This will be interesting because weather modification efforts have really increased significantly in the past few years. In fact, the Chineses are intending on launching rockets into rain-swollen clouds to dissipate rainstorms prior to reaching the Olympics. They have already been doing it for awhile to help with crop production. To find out more, just google "Chinese Weather Modification" or check out this story.

What's funny is that they got alot of mention in the media. What you won't hear are the extensive weather modification efforts here in the US. Texas has some ongoing efforts as do Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado. In fact, they are doing hail suppression activities as well. This would expalin what I observed a couple of months ago near Canyon with a plane flying continually under the updraft base of a strong supercell with a couple of instances of flare sparks coming from the plane.

One company that does this is Weather Modification, Inc. Heck, there is even a Weather Modification Association. Somehow, I get this image of a bunch of mad scientists running around sipping martinis. ;-)

Does anybody other than me think that all of this weather modification isn't a good idea? Are we seeing the adverse effects of that today? I see some serious legal questions in addition to the obvious ethical and scientific ones. There are laws in place to prevent a land owner "upstream" of any watershed from hogging of curtailing water to the detriment of those "downstream". The same thing applies here. If New Mexico or Colorado starts seeding many storms and causing them to dissipate prior moving into Texas or Kansas, what if any recourse would those "downstream" states have? How would they prove it? We really don't have enough historical weather records to show any adverse effect versus "normal".

Overall, I don't think Ma Nature is something to play around with to suit our needs. As we begin to better understand the delicate balances in the atmosphere and the effect it has on our weather, I can't help but think that weather modification efforts are having some level of impact on our weather patterns. At what level the impact is having is a question that can't be answered, unfortunately...unless you adore Al Gore and all of his global warming propaganda that the mainstream media and looney liberals herald as THE gospel. Don't get me started. ;-)

Of course, perhaps Dewdop and I can form our own weather modification company. Our presence alone has been proven to deflet storms for hundreds of miles. LOL

As for the Rush concert I was planning on attending next week, I sold my tickets on Ebay. :-( With the house still on the market and with nobody to go with, it didn't make sense to make that long trip up there. But, at least I made a small profit in the process.

Okay, that's it for me for now. My six month anniversary of escaping DFW is coming up and I'll chat about that next time....for those interested.

Suspicious Activity

Hmmmm.....something brewing down there south of Brownsville? It appears to be moving slowly northward and the cloud pattern looks like some good outflow aloft and little shear. Water temps are pretty toasty down there and it is that time of year. Nothing from the NHC yet. This just popped up, so keep an eye on it.

UPDATE: The NHC issued this statement at 7:05 CDT:

LATEST SFC OBSERVATIONS INDICATE A
1012 MB LOW WAS LOCATED NEAR MONTERREY MEXICO WITH A SURFACE
TROUGH EXTENDING NE TO 28N94W. WSR-88D IMAGERY FROM BROWNSVILLE
TEXAS SHOWS WELL DEFINED TURNING IN THE PRECIPITATION FIELD OVER
NORTHERN MEXICO. THIS ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO SPREAD NWD ALONG
THE TEXAS COAST WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS POSSIBLE. ADDITIONALLY
SOME SUPPORT FOR THIS ACTIVITY LIES ALOFT WITH DIFFLUENT FLOW
BETWEEN THE UPPER LOW OVER NRN MEXICO NEAR 27N104W AND AN UPPER
HIGH OVER THE CENTRAL GULF NEAR 25N92W. A WEAK 1021 MB HIGH IS
JUST S OF MOBILE NEAR 29N88W. THIS LOOKS TO REMAIN QUASI
STATIONARY OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS...KEEPING LIGHT/VARIABLE
WINDS IN THE NE PORTION AND LIGHT TO MODERATE E/SE FLOW IN THE
SW PORTION.

From The "Most Bizarre" Files

Ok, this is just plain bizarre. Gobs of worms falling from the sky. The only possible explanation so far is from an earlier waterspout.

http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=6771977

Of course, it's all George Bush's fault and caused by global warming. Quick! Organize more global concerts! LOL! ;-)

H2O Overdose

I spent a couple of days this weekend with the folks around Whitesboro, TX near Lake Texoma. For only the third time since 1944 when the lake was impounded, water crested over the spillway. The two other times were 1990 and 1957. The lake is officially 20 feet above normal. It is quite an incredible site driving around the lake and observing all of the flooding.

We drove down one road and came across a vehicle recovery effort. I walked down and chatted with the folks there and met the driver and his wife. They were driving at night and came up on the flooded roadway too quick and took a plunge. They got out ok, but the car was totally submerged in about 10-15 feet of water. A diver was out preparing to hook the chains up to it. I was quite shocked to see that the country had not put any barracades up to prevent such an accident.

We also drove around and saw one unfortunate lake-front home owner pondering the water lapping up against the corner of his living room. It was a really nice new house too. Unfortunately, it is a pretty bad way to figure out that whoever performed the survey, or the builder who read it, screwed up. All of the other houses still had a few feet to spare. Other than that, it looked like marinas were the hardest hit with a few storefronts and restaurants flooded. The ones making out like a bandit are the fishermen. :-)

To stay up to date on the action-packed thrilling "spillway-cam" on Texoma, check out http://kxii.com. :-)

I've been battling a second round of gout this past week too. I had it a couple of years ago. As soon as it came on, I got to the doctor and got some meds. So, it's been pretty tolerable for the most part except for limping around alot and not being able to wear a closed-toe shoe on the right foot. Today it finally seems to be going away. If you don't know what it is, google it. It really does redefine the word "pain". ;-)

I'm also lookging forward to seeing Rush at the Redrocks Ampitheater in about 4 more weeks. Unfortunately, my buddy Brian who planned to go can't because of new job committments. Glenn is saving up vacation for an Alaskan cruise. So, I still have one ticket left for anybody that wants to go. The concert is August 8th. Any takers? Send me an email.

As far as the weather, some interesting setups are appearing on the horizon for the TX PH this week as a front settles down into the area. Maybe...just maybe we can get a landspout setup. :-) We should at least see a couple of opportunities for severe storms. This should help quell SDS a little while longer. ;-) I'm hoping to get a chase or two out of it close to Amarillo. The whole week promises to be active in the high plains area. The oppressive summer ridging has yet to setup shop. I love it!

Have a good week everybody.

Happy Independence Day!!

Here's wishing everybody out there a fun-filled day of good eats, parades, fireworks, and your favorite cold beverage as we celebrate our country's birth when we basically told the British monarchy to shove the crown up their wazoo. ;-) Speaking of which, be sure not to have too much of your favorite cold beverage while conjuring up ways to symbolically recreate our forefather's gesture 231 years ago as "Mr. Cheeks" attempts below. To wit:

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Ode To The 2007 Chase Season

Well, I'm back! LOL!! Everything is cool. I've just got alot of things going on. But, seeing how today is July 1st, the 2007 chase season is officially closed for me. What a schizophrenic season it was too with regards to the upper air pattern. Good chase days were scarce. My best days were May 4th and June 2nd which were quite memorable for me. I got to witness some of the most incredible and breathtaking structure I've ever seen before in my life. On the otherhand, I missed out on some incredible chase days too of March 28 and April 21 due to making some pretty bad decisions.

Overall though, 2007 sucked for the most part. So, an official mascot for the 2007 chase season is needed. I can't think of a better one that sums it up any better than "Pudge" here to the left who resides with Rick of SW Georgia. Pudge is pulling double-duty as a mascot as he also serves in the capacity of official Depressed EMS Student Mascot. He also represents the upcoming dog days of summer. ;-)

2007 was worst than 2006 in my opinion because so much more was anticipated with such a wild upper air pattern for the 6 months prior to May. We also seemed to have alot more moisture. However, many strong cold fronts and a very anemic "August-ish" upper air pattern for most all of May squashed everything for the most part. The bright spot for me personally is that I now live in the middle of the Texas Panhandle. I can't think of any place else I'd rather livefor such a weather weenie as myself. I have found paradise. I am so thankful to have been able to make the move here. :-)

At least this year, we finally broke the long, crippling drought replacing it with massive flooding and below average temperatures. Most of Texas and Oklahoma which were parched dry and turning into deserts in 2006 now look more like swamp land. It's hard to say which is worse, but I'd rather have lakes brimming with water instead of withering up along with raging range fires poping up everywhere. Water is life. There is too much of it this year of course, but all of my life living in Texas, I have learned that we never have an "average/normal" year. You take what you get.

Now my attention starts turning to the tropics as the Hurricane season approaches it's peak in August and September. We started the season off quite early with a couple of bizarre systems. It will be quite interesting to see what transpires and if the "Dewvoid" can shield the SE US coast. LOL!! I'm a true greenhorn when it comes to forecasting tropical systems and staying on top of the information as it comes out. One particular site I'll be spending more time on is Jeff Gammons' Weathervine website. When it comes to intercepting and documenting these monster storms, Jeff and crew wrote the book. Be sure to check out his blog for good information as we tread onward into the heart of the season.

I have had a few more decent June chases since my last post. Can you believe I finally got around to downloading the images from my memory cards just today? LOL!! So, we'll start off with June 19th with a chase around Amarillo. This was come great structure!






Next up is June 23 in E NM near the Texas state line. This was a pretty "adventurous" day for me as well. New Mexico doesn't have a whole lot of money for transporation infrastructure, so you end up with some really nice surprises such as "state roads" being no more than a graded dirt road. Such road is "State Road 93" that runs for about 20 miles from I-40 north of Endee and southward down to a paved road "State Road 47". I really liked the sign that said "road may be impassable due to inclement weather". I've always loved that word "inclement". It's nice and vague enough to really worry a guy trying to beat a big storm that threatens to turn the dirt into a muddy quagmire....and literally in the middle of nowhere. Nice. But, still got aome cool pics of a beautiful little cell that wanted to strand me as far from civilization as possible.



Mothership coming in for a landing,




Last but not least, a real brute of a storm pounded the Amarillo region on June 26. It tried to get some organized rotation going and for a couple of times, it really looked like something was wrapped up in rain as the N and NE flank of the clouds were really racing into the area of concern while the clouds in front of it moved in the opposite direction. Jay McCoy and I both were abit concerned about it. It cored Amarillo pretty good creating alot of serious flooding.

Jay then took me on a tour of parts of the city that always get it the worst. I was astonished! Some places looked like rivers or a lake. Alot of cars were stranded too making it difficult to traverse those areas. At one point, I was crawling through water deep enough in my Element that I felt abit uneasy (I have GOT to get me a 4x4 living here!). Wakes from the other vehicles would slosh up against my door and underpanel. I called it quits after that. LOL!! I ended up getting a good bit of excellent stock video footage.

This storm system then organized and plunged southward in a pretty significant derecho event. Many areas of West central Texas down into SW Texas got slammed by sustained 60-70 mph winds and gusts near 100mph. Midland airport and a mesonet site recorded gusts of around 95mph. Yikes!!

I like this first pick because of the yellow road sign. Veer right for storm intercept! LOL!


This storm wasn't going to heed any steenkin' stop signs. (pardon the powerlines)


This was looking into the notch and a meso marker on GR3.


Nice assortment of storm colors here. Note the distant hills getting whited out.


Dig that groovy core, man! Jay and I are staring right down the throat of the storm as it exhibited a pretty large, wet hook echo on it.


Well, that wraps it up for now. My blog activity will slow down considerably for awhile with an update once...maybe twice per week....for awhile.