Day 2: OKLAHOMA!

Well, today was a relatively quiet day out in the Midwest (other than some quick morning rain showers). It was mostly a day to drive to get to our intended destination of the Texas Panhandle for anticipated severe weather on Friday, which so far looks to be interesting (more on that in a second).

We drove from our hotel in Richmond, Indiana (thank you Best Western!) to Illinois where we stop at the visitor center on I-70 to stretch out and take a break. From there, we drove through Missouri and got to see the Gateway Arch from a good viewing distance. Seeing the Gateway Arch for the first time in person was awesome, even if it was in passing! It was much larger than I had expected it to be.

For the majority of our drive through Missouri, the class participated in an van-vs-van trivia game with Dr. Decker reading the trivia questions over walkie talkie. Unfortunately, Scarlet was beaten by Goose this time around, but there’s hope for a trivia victory for Scarlet. We then proceeded to play games within our vans to pass the time. After several hours of driving, we ended up stopping at an Olive Garden in Joplin, Missouri for a nice sit down dinner together. We then proceeded to our final stop of the day: our hotel for the night in Claremore, Oklahoma. As we approached the border of Missouri and Oklahoma, we couldn’t resist blasting Oklahoma from the musical Oklahoma! as we passed into Oklahoma.

So now today’s recap is done, let’s talk weather; the reason for this whole trip! We’re aiming to chase some thunderstorms that will likely form in Eastern New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle. The main threats for these thunderstorms will be damaging wind gusts and severe hail (tornadoes are not likely due to the lack of wind shear likely to be present during this time, but it’s not impossible).

There is the possibility of discrete, or separated thunderstorms to start over Eastern New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle. With this and the open space of the area, viewing these thunderstorms will be very easy and we can track from a far. For that reason, we will be heading for this area tomorrow first thing in the morning so we can get there before or as thunderstorms begin to initiate.

Yours in Weather,

Kyle David