Day 6: June 1, 2014

Total miles: 703

Total Driving Time: 12 hours and 30 minutes

It was an early start for the team chasing today! We left at 5:00 am MDT in order to be in our target location in Nebraska. On the way, we ran into dense fog around 12:20 pm CDT. We watched a storm in Lexington, NE around 1:00 pm CDT that produced marble sized hail for a short period of time. 

The first cell we went after was located near Arapahoe, KS around 2:30 pm CDT. This storm had a large shelf cloud and produced a wall cloud. The storm was a supercell but became outflow dominant. While reassessing where to travel next, we got caught in a storm approximately 25 miles WNW of Logan, KS (~3:20 – 3:30) with heavy rain and hail. At first the hail was pea sized, but got progressively larger to marble sized hail. After the cell passed, we went to measure the hail (around 1 inch in diameter). We drove through another storm that produced heavy precipitation and some hail along Rt. 283. 

 

While we were traveling to Dodge City, KS for the night, we stopped 15 – 20 miles NE of the city to watch a thunderstorm. Around 6:45 pm CDT, a wall cloud could be recognized with minimal rotation. We core punched this storm on our way to Dodge City, KS after signs of rotation disappeared on radar (radar estimated 90 mph winds). The strong winds from this storm caused some broken branches and power outages in parts of the city (including our hotel). Once we got back from dinner, power was restored in the hotel we were staying in for the night.