After leaving work on May 21, I prepared for what would be my second marathon drive in a week's time to meet up with Project HailSTONE for the first time in 2012. I departed ICT for Watertown, SD around 3:30 pm and finally arrived shortly after midnight on the 22nd. After a short night of sleep, the PI's held the morning briefing deciding on a target area of Bismark, North Dakota.
The team departed Watertown, SD ~10:30 am to get in position to wait for convective initiation north of Bismark. After a few car issues (including my data card antenna getting blown off of my roof again), ice cream sandwiches for good luck, and footraces down dirt roads, the cold front had overtaken us without convection initiating due to abundant stratus clouds in the area. Taking this into account, the team repositioned to the east and was able to salvage the day by intercepting a cluster of storms south of Jamestown, North Dakota during the evening hours.
The team decided to trek eastward across South Dakota and brave gusty outflow winds (measured ~50mph; 5-10mph error) from collapsing storms to return to Watertown, SD for a short night's rest.
No comments:
Post a Comment