Awakened in my car in the parking lot of the Ogallala Best Western, and was still invited into the hotel for breakfast despite not being a paid stayer there. Great way to start the morning. Target was about 45 minutes east in North Platte, and that’s where I set up shop, making my usual stop at the local library for morning data. Turns out I was not the only one with that idea as chasers such as Mike Hollingshead, Tim Baker and Al Mohler.
We spent too long yapping with them, listening to their war stories while storms were going up to our west. By the time we finally left and made the 45 minute drive back to the west, the Big Springs tornado was ongoing and myself and Mike caught the last 30 seconds of the tornado as it was roping out.
After that storm, Todd S. and myself made a loop around the lake and decided against pursuing that storm any further. We shot back into Ogallala for gas/data and a visual check of a new storm forming. Radar began to show a hook trying to go, so we opted to jump on Hwy 30 eastward to catch up to this now tornado warned storm.
It did nothing; we jumped back east on I-80, catching a new tornado warned storm; it, too, did nothing. Continuing east on I-80, I merged in behind Tim Samaras and Carl Young and we punched through the line of storms which sent small dents in the side of my car from horizontally driven hailstones 😯 .
We got off at Exit 211 (Gothenburg) and met with Roger Hill and his group among many others while observing what Tim dubbed a scud bomb. The oddest series of cloud dancing above us as we jotted a hair east back to NE-21 and on I-80. With darkness falling, I split off in Lexington, turning around and heading for home..
Mucho thanks to many people; Todd S. for a fun chase partner, the North Platte library for putting up with a crowd of us. To many others whose names are in my brain which is now snoozing.. so much for a quickie.. I’m going to bed.. it’s 1:40am.. but that’s the jist of things..
Goodnight from Denver where no hail fell today!
