Archives for April 10, 2008

I”m on the road with my storm chasing partners Bill and Tom Oosterbaan and Kurt Hulst, headed for the Missouri bootheel and northeast Arkansas. Today”s impending weather has generated a lot of squawk, with several people comparing it to the 1974 Super Outbreak. However, the latest model runs have modified that picture a bit. The potential still exists for widespread tornadoes, but I doubt we”re going to see six EF5s out of this setup. It”s certainly worth hitting the highway for, though.\r\n\r\nAs I write, we”re near Buckley, Illinois, making our way south down I-57 through the rain. The time is nearly six a.m. CST, the sky is beginning to lighten in the east, and we”re expecting an update from the Storm Prediction Center any time now. At the moment, our two options seem to be to head south to Arkansas, which seems our likeliest bet, or else play farther north in Missouri around Columbia, where there”s a narrow strip of 1,500 CAPE progged for this afternoon. The next model runs could change everything, though.\r\n\r\nEnough for now. Regardless of what the afternoon and evening brings, it”s springtime, it”s storm season, and it”s good to be on the road.