The first official chase of 2002 — and the maiden voyage for my new vehicle, The Storm Tracer! Jerry Clemmons out of Abilene kept me updated through the day as storms fired near Lubbock Friday afternoon.

My first intercept came at McPherson, Kansas, where I met the strongest storm of the trip — mostly by accident as it crossed my path. It unloaded heavy rain and small hail, dumping nearly four inches in some spots and dropping a possible tornado near Lyons shortly before I drove through.

Later, on I-44 near Chickasha, Oklahoma, another storm hit with blinding rain before I pushed through and continued south. The day wrapped up in western Texas, where I played a bit of “storm chess” with a pair of dying cells near Guthrie and Plainview. One fizzled before reaching me, and the other faded into mammatus as I pulled into Plainview for a well-earned Sonic dinner under the fading light.

Highlights

First chase of the 2002 season

Maiden voyage for The Storm Tracer

Intercepted heavy rain and small hail near McPherson, KS

Observed mammatus near Guthrie and Plainview, TX

Logged ≈ 1,700 miles across five states

Original Notes (2002 Archive)

“After verifying some information with Jerry, I hauled from Wichita Falls down to Guthrie where a few storms were heading. One, a Supercell, had split into a pair of storms, both still a ways away. I opted to hang close to a cell which was looking all right for a time, heading toward Guthrie from the southwest. The storm fizzled out before it reached me, leaving me with nothing more than some mammatus and a drop or two of rain.”