5/15/02 Today started with sunny skies and dewpoints in the low 40s. Obviously, we were less than thrilled, but it's what we were dealt. We killed most of the morning cleaning up the chase vehicles and doing laundry (yeah, just like in Twister... ha ha). Tiring of the boring chores, we decided to go have some fun in the nearby Gyp Hills. Just west of Medicine Lodge are some breathtaking views of plains and mesas loaded with off-road-type dirt roads. So we took the Grand Caravan for a little trip testing it to the fullest. It performed flawlessly and took us to some beautiful overlooks atop red mesas. Once done with the little journey among the Gyp Hills, we stopped into "downtown" Medicine Lodge to pick up 4 large pizzas and rented a movie (Rat Race) and a VCR so we could watch it in the hotel room. Conveniently, once the movie was over, the evening storms we anticipated 36 hours earlier were finally on their way. The distant storms. anvils were blocking out the sun and the western skies were darkening. We anticipated doing some lightning shots only, as we were quite convinced that nothing of any huge interest could possibly develop out of these storms. At about 7pm we headed west toward Coldwater, but turned north on a small County Road through the tiny town of Wilmore (population 70). We continued up through Belvidere and finally found a terrific vantage point 12 miles west of Coats in east central Kiowa County. We spent about 3 hours there, watching a storm dump copious rain/hail in front of a beautiful Great Plains sunset. Once night fell, that same storm provided us with some photogenic CG lightning. Then, as a bonus at the end of the day, that same storm eventually developed a mesocyclone that showed up incredibly well in the nighttime lightning. The isolated cell which was now in northern Pratt County was completely and visibly circular (visible thanks to very frequent lightning). We got some amazing photos and video of the spacecraft-like meso. a great and unexpected late night treat. So, we're still in Medicine Lodge, and might just be staying here again Thursday. As the cold front sags south, there is a temptation to actually stay BEHIND the front and wait for another round of nighttime lightning shots. Tonight proved how entertaining and rewarding that post-frontal activity can sometimes be. However, looking at the 0Z ETA runs, it looks like the warm sector will not be as capped as SPC is forecasting. So it looks like we'll probably be working the front, cruising the OK/KS border along the boundary. We will also be paying close attention to an outflow boundary moving southward that was created by tonight's MCS that stretches from just north of Wichita to southwest of Emporia. On a personal note, we are having a blast. The MESO Gang, Brian, Nancy, Chris, Allan, Josh, and Grizz www.mcwar.org