Today, we met a new batch of guests for Tour 9 out of Denver.  This was my first tour with just 5 guests, so I was looking forward to it.

After we decided that the better storms would be a bit further south, we returned to the town of Harvey and headed south on Hwy 3.  We found a spot to watch the developing storm, and it began splitting.

Bill was wanting to drive up to Rapid City, SD, where models were wanting to initiate thunderstorms.  Along the way, we stopped in Edgemont, SD for a pit/fuel stop, and we noticed a cell a few miles away.  Bill liked the look of this storm, and it was isolated from the activity near Rapid City.  We decided to hedge our bets with this cell, and we definitely were not disappointed!

We decided to head east to investigate a cell that was looking healthy.  It exhibited signs of rotation, and the radar indicated some strong rotation within the storm.  As we pulled off the road to watch it, a friendly dog came up and tried to get in the vans.

We began today in Alpine, TX, and we were in great position for the day's festivities. Models showed storms developing to the west and moving east due to upper level winds.

What a phenomenal chase day!! The things we saw today are what all chasers dream of, multiple tornadoes dropping from the same long-lived supercell.

We began yesterday in Lamar, CO, and we were not in any big hurry to leave.  The other driver (Woody), Bill, and I took the vans to get washed, while the rest of the group had the chance to listen to one of Chuck Doswell's presentations.  This is the Chuck Doswell tour, so we get to pick his brain for the duration of this week.

Today was the first offical day of my storm chasing vacation, and our leader for the trip is Bill Reid.  We began the day in Oklahoma City (OKC), and we were on the road around 10:45 AM.  Our inital target was Dodge City (DDC), KS, as the models were showing storms to be in that area close to the time of our arrival.

I figure writing an entry about storm chasing and its associated risks/dangers would be appropriate, considering the activity that happened in NE/SD on Friday.  Many people feel they can simply jump into a car and go after storms.  Well, there is much more to that than they think.  Those people, often referred to as "yahoos", do not realize just how dangerous this hobby can be.  Not only do you have to deal with rapidly changing weather, you also have to deal with issues like other chasers, wildlife, terrain, fatigue, poor road networks, and potential vehicle break-downs.  Let me explain.

On May 22, 2011, no one knew what was going to happen with the weather.  Early in the morning, all the signs were pointing to a major severe weather outbreak somewhere in the Midwest.  More importantly, everything was primed for an extended tornado outbreak.