5/26 UPDATE

   After an exhaustive day of checking models and data, and then
rechecking and replanning, we decided to base in Vernon, Texas for
Saturday night. It turned out to be a great call.  Though we weren't able
to track the storm online (due to poor cell phone coverage), we exited
dinner at Golden Corral to find a huge growing cell to our northwest.  
    Years of working together have made our actual deployment time
admirable.  After a quick stop at the hotel to pick up our gear, we were
on the road, deciding initially on a southern intercept route.  Without
the ability to track the storm by any other means than visually, it was
hard to gauge exactly where we were in relation to the storm.  The anvil
was huge.  We had noted that the storm motion was almost due southeast,
so we held to our southern route.  We did a quick jog to the west to gain
a better angle of approach, and it was a good call.  Stopping just
southwest of Aspermont (Stonewall County, TX), we witnessed at least two
wall clouds, a brilliant show of absolutely huge mammatus at sunset, and
a great lightning show. And of course, the thrill of standing in humid
inflow on a 90 degree day is always exhilarating.  We met some chasers
from Arkansas on the way back to Vernon, shared notes, and discussed
western Oklahoma as a target for Sunday.
    Tonight's message will be brief, as we are sitting here in the hotel
room at 2:15am under a severe thunderstorm warning. The warnings are
coming more frequently... we have made preliminary safety precautions and
have discussed where to shelter and what actions to take should this
storm "produce a tornado without warning".  Having been in this situation
before, if we are actually in jeopardy, we generally split up and spread
the alert to as many other guests as we can before taking cover
ourselves. 

Nnacy Bose and Brian McNoldy, MESO
http://www.mcwar.org