VORTEX 2 Bust?

Alright, so the VORTEX 2 crew has been chasing for a month now and they have only intercepted one really good storm and that was in Wyoming last Friday. The video is very good, so if you haven't seen it, check it out:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94qCoLdpRIQ

I was hoping Kansas would come through with a good tornado for them to study, but alas, we get beat by the Cowboy State.

The only difference between this video and the one from the movie Twister is that there are no flying cows and combines in the video. And, this is not a very strong tornado, so image how it would be inside of an EF-5. This just hasn't been a good year to study tornadoes. We spent the last half of May under a huge ridge of high pressure, which meant no storms in the central or northern US. VORTEX 2 was in Kansas on Tuesday and guess what, there were no good storms for them to intercept.

We had some isolated storms pop up over parts of Kansas Tuesday afternoon. Just one tornado was reported in southwest Kansas near Greensburg. Mother Nature is just playing dirty with the residents in Kiowa county, so luckily we didn't have any major damage. The storm structure was quite amazing and that's the picture that I have for you this week.

By the way, the float trip in Missouri was fun. The weather was nearly perfect and fortunately, I remembered my sunscreen. Millie came back dog tired on Sunday. Have a great week.

Storms Return

After a rather quiet weather pattern the last few weeks, we are seeing a change in the weather pattern and getting back into a stormy period.

We watched a few storms roll across southwest Kansas on Tuesday that produced a few tornadoes. There was no damage to report and more importantly, we had some nice rainfall in areas that always need moisture. Harvest is getting closer for farmers in southern Kansas. Hopefully we don't have any real crazy weather between now and then.

Millie is enjoying the warm, summerlike weather. We are going to make an appearance at a KFDI event this Friday. Then we are off to Missouri for a float trip down the Niangua River. I'm sure I'll have some pictures for the blog next week. Enjoy the rest of the week.

In my last blog update, I touched a little bit on the changing weather pattern and how it will look more like July than late May. Well, interestingly enough, we have seen a rapid drop off in severe weather for the last few weeks. I'm not really complaining, but it is interesting to see how things have really quieted down over the central US. The Storm Prediction Center went 10 days without issuing any watches for the United States, and in the month of May, that is VERY unusual. The storm track has been so far north and it's probably going to stay there for several more days.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Lebanon,+MO&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.939885,56.25&ie=UTF8&ll=37.514083,-92.504883&spn=2.060849,3.515625&z=8&iwloc=A

Now that summer is unofficially here, are you planning any summer trips? Millie and I will be headed to Lebanon, MO soon for a float trip down the Niangua River. I've been on the river before, but it was back when I was in college. It's been about 6 or 7 years, but it was so much fun and relaxing too. The scenery down the river is quite amazing and I'm sure I'll have some pictures to post when I get back. I'm going to see if Mother Nature will accept my offer to keep the storms away during those particular dates that I'll be down there.

Have a great week.