Storm Chase May 27 - 28, 2010: Landscape Images near Ogallala, Nebraska
chase images and log by William T. Hark, M.D.
I drove to Ogallala, Nebraska from Sterling, Colorado on May 27 and basically edited video, organized and slept. I wanted to be near a decent north road in case I chased that day. Upon reviewing the data, the best chances for tornadoes were up in Canada and I didn't bring my passport! The cap was a major problem. Even if the target was a bit farther south in North Dakota, I didn't feel like driving up there and having a "cap bust." That's when you sit, wait for storms to develop, and nothing happens except a sunburn. Forecasting whether the cap will break is difficult and some of the best chase days are when there is a fairly strong cap but a couple isolated storms develop. After two amazing chase days and decent storms on some others, I was "fat and happy" and less likely to drive a long distance for marginal chances. I felt like one of those full lions in Kenya resting in the shade and not hunting. I also used the day to take some landscape images. The following day on May 28, the chances of chaseable storms was nil. I stayed in Ogallala for another day and visited the nearby Lake McConaughy and Boot Hill. I also enjoyed a "wild-west" mock gunfight before a great steak at Front Street steakhouse. Since there was a marginal chance of storms in the Ogallala area on May 29, I didn't want to leave my location.