Trentham Stormchasers
'Going to Extremes' 2011 USA Roadtrip
Report: Clyve Herbert
Photography: Jane ONeill / Clyve Herbert
21st April 2011
Day
5: Durant, OK to Abilene, TX - The Snyder - Sweetwater Supercell, Texas We awake to fog and drizzle in a pre warm front easterly breeze, temperatures struggling in the mid 50'sF/ 13C. We start our day in Durant and head south into Texas. Isolated storms are expected in the north central and western Texas areas late afternoon and evening. It's a bit of an offchance, but if a storm gets going today in that area it will feed off high Gulf moisture and strong surface heating. We suspect a dryline will be located across western Texas mid afternoon. We finally reach Hway 82 at Sherman and head west...branching off to Hway 59 through Jacksboro and then onto Breckenridge. All the time we are enveloped in fog, drizzle and low cloud. Temperatures were in the low 60'sF/17C. A warm front is moving northwards through central Texas and we head south to coast along its boundary. We are not used to warm fronts in Australia and here in Texas the transition from the cool sector to the warm sector can be startling. The low cloud and murk changes to hazy sunshine and the temperature rockets to the high 80'sF/28C. Already, ground based convection has started, but the cap is strong today. We decide to head west and eventually end up in Brownwood. Today's progs had storm breaking out in central and NE Texas however as usual, the weather thumbs its nose at predictions and a supercell develops near Fort Stockton in the Texas Big Bend region. The cirrus shield from this storm is spoiling convection to its northeast, but we spot what looks like a dryline convergence to our west, and we eventually end up at Bronte along Hway 158. We continue west to Robert Lee where we sit under the dryline. Turkey cumulus breaking the cap struggle but we notice better development ot our NW around Snyder. It's getting late and as usual the first larger development along the dryline is becoming dominant very quickly. We race north across the I-20 and for the next 2 hours we follow a spectacular supercell dropping funnels, golfball and tennis ball hailstones, flash flooding and tremendous vistas of the storm backlit by the setting sun.
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Pre warm front fog & drizzle - N Texas, Hway 82 |
Township of Breckenridge, west of Dallas |
Western Texas is experiencing one of its worst droughts on record..... |
Downtown Robert Lee |
Cap breaking, S of Colorado City, Texas |
Splitting supercell, Snyder |
Flanking line of the Snyder / Sweetwater supercell |
Hail shaft E of Snyder, Hway 180 |
Illuminated hail shaft, NW of Sweetwater, Hway 180 |
Almost!! Funnel descends form wallcloud, NW of Sweetwater |
Western edge of Snyder / Sweetwater supercell |
Watching the power - studying the storm |
Rock hard golfballs NW of Sweetwater |
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Hail structure - this stone was cracked in half |
Hail covering, N of Sweetwater |
Golfball carpet, N of Sweetwater |
Flash flooding paddocks along Hway 180 |
The business end of the Snyder / Sweetwater supercell. These images show the RFD and rotating wallcloud. |
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Rapidly rotating wallcloud NE of Sweetwater |
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N of Abilene - funnel spins in the meso overhead |
West Texas storms decay as fast as they form - leaving behind a brilliant rounded anvil |
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Stay tuned for tomorrow's episode... |