Lamar,
CO to Lusk, WY After a brief
analysis and a 2 minute destination discussion, we decide that far NW Nebraska and central
east Wyoming was in reach. The relatively moist profile appeared in the area and the cold
front was dipping south from northern WY. Other than that, the atmospheric profile
appeared rather complicated with a plume of mid and upper moisture being dragged north
through Colorado and curving east-northeast across central and southern Nebraska
(following the jet).
We dash north from Lamar, CO encountering mainly
weak mid level showers and continually looking for clear areas to the north. We enter
Nebraska under a field of weak cumulus drifting from the southeast. We continue north from
Scotts Bluff (NE) to Crawford. The long trip saw us arrive on the NE / WY border late
afternoon. To the SE across the Nebraska panhandle, the Cu were struggling, but we
identify an alignment of deeper Cu feeding westward towards a multicell storm over east
central Wyoming. We follow the alignment of deep Cu to near Lusk, and it's here we plonk
and hope for action.
The alignment of congesting Cu we were following
show a pronounced curve towards the west arcing towards the south about 20 or 30 miles to
our west, and feeding into a large multicell complex which appeared to be weakening.
Occasional rumbles echoed through the valley as individual cells matured along the line to
our west. Our attention was drawn to a separate storm about 20 miles to our NNW which
showed consistency in its rain core and lightning frequency. We were interested in the
relatively weak cells along a boundary alignment over our heads which showed a westward
movement and suspect they may have been forming along a decaying outflow boundary from the
central Wyoming multicell complex. The storm to our north however continued to move in a
more or less southerly direction and may have been following a separate boundary, possibly
the cold front edging southward.
Over the next 15 minutes or so we interplayed with
a herd of cows who ambled up from the paddock to the fenceline, watched the weaker cells
to our west mature and noted continued intensification of the cell to our north. Pretty
soon, the storm to our north started dropping lowerings on its southeast flank. It
appeared to have an inflow flanking line on its NW quadrant. We decided to have a closer
look and drove into Lusk and headed north on Rte 18/85 and stopped with a good view about
3 miles north of the township. By this time, the northern storm was getting itself better
organised with more frequent lightning and ragged lowerings on the flanking line on its
western quadrant. We were startled by a very near cg and a new large cell was developing
almost directly over our heads. The cell over our heads started to precipitate 4cm hail!!
and we shifted further north to get away from the precipitation shaft. We now had 2 large
cells developing in the area.
The northern storm continued to drift south and
appeared to merge with the new cell nearer to Lusk. We escape south through the township
and head east along Rte 20. The northern cell was now approaching Lusk township and we
struggled to escape the increasingly prominent green appearance of the base. We end up
about 6 or 7 miles east of Lusk and park to watch the show. We are literally stunned by
the rapid intensification of the storm over Lusk, the speed at which it developed a
rotating wall cloud and the constant lightning. The storm took on supercell
characteristics - we spot what appeared to be a funnel along the wall cloud - it rapidly
dissipated. We then watch the wallcloud become wrapped in rain/hail on its eastern side.
The entire structure of the storm took our breath away. Another funnel appeared on its
northwest quadrant, partially rainwrapped..the storm slowly moved southeast with constant
sparks and continuous thunder.
We move west towards Lusk and come across a
remarkable hail swathe - some hail was washed into drifts almost 3' deep! The hills around
the township were coated with what appeared to be deep snow...Lusk had also been affected
by significant flash flooding, particularly on the eastern side of town. We head north
again and pass through the hail swathe with level depths of near 4". The hail varied
in size between 1 and 5" with every conceivable shape you could think of, although
mainly a mix of conglomerate, jagged pieces and perfectly symmetrical marbles (large
marbles!) We watched truck drivers plough through the hail drifts, vehicles with broken
windshields, 4WD sliding off the road, and a hapless biker losing his machine. We watched
the storm drift southeast and gradually weaken. We suspect this storm might have been a
strong right mover.
Emptied of adrenaline again, we drive back to
Alliance and rest.
Report: Clyve Herbert
Photography: Jane ONeill / Clyve Herbert |