5/24/02

Nancy awoke before everyone else this morning, popped over to the SPC
convective outlooks, and nearly fell off the bed when she saw a MODERATE
RISK for the area just slightly south of where the team had lodged (Alva,
OK) the night before.  The forecast tornadic probability and severe
weather indices were all looking well above average.  It was very tough to
wait for the others to wake up, and there was probably a bit more door
slamming and luggage banging this morning than was necessary.   

We left Alva early, and went to Arnett, OK, which was just SW of Alva by a 
couple hours.  We wanted to get out ahead of the front and south to where
the indices seemed more favorable, and the cloud cover was breaking up.
We grabbed a room at the Circle C Hotel in Arnett, knowing that we
wouldn't be staying, but also knowing that on a holiday weekend, you take
what you can get when you can get it.   

It certainly was easy finding the front.  Within minutes of leaving Alva
and moving south, the temp soared from 56 degrees to 82 degrees and the
dewpoint went from 49 to 65.  Those of us who had left Alva with jeans,
jackets, and sweatshirts were dropping clothes like a bad habit.   

There was a line of convection building down toward the SE base of the
Texas panhandle, and that's what we headed for.  Our original target was
down toward Mangum, OK... but we caught two cells just as we were passing
through Sayre.  The first cell was huge, well-organized, and VERY high
precip, but passed without showing us much.  The second, however, showed
what looked like a bit of a hook on radar, and was a little further south,
where there was a bit more instability.  We had to pass through the hail
shaft of the first cell to reach the second, but a little hail is good for
the soul.  We got nearly perfect position on the second cell, and it
looked like it had a pretty healthy wall cloud, but it just sort of died
(updraft cut off by precip).   

The storms quickly formed a squall line, with some healthy storms imbedded
within it.  We're not wild about chasing squall lines, but we're just
getting so damned GOOD at it after this year... and it was our last chase
day together this year.  We figured, what the heck, and proceeded to try
to move out in front of the line, and head south to intercept some of the
healthier cells.  This required a jog to the east, towards Elk City and
then to Clinton.  It took us about that long to realize that we were
really grasping at straws.  These cells really weren't doing much but
making 0.5" hail, heavy rain, and wind; average thunderstorms.  We
broke off active chasing at about 7:30 and headed north from Clinton to
pursue our NEXT favorite thing to chase: FOOD.   

The rest of the evening was spent in a wonderful little place called the
Flying G Steakhouse in Seiling, OK.  Great food and the accumulated
fatigue from the past few days resulted in overt silliness and hijinks
within the team.  We ate till we were stuffed, and laughed 'til our sides
achedâ?¦ with many references to the squally, chilly year we had out here. 

Tomorrow will be our last chase update, as we prepare to go our separate
ways.  Though not as dramatic a year as we had hoped for, wherever
something was happening, we were there.  Didn't miss a call, and we're
proud of that.  We got some great footage for our documentary, learned
tons, and had a blast.  We want to thank all those who helped with remote
data when we were running blind (Chris, Allan, and Bill, we love you) and
we also want to thank all you folks who "rode with us".  We received a
record number of letters from our mailing list subscribers, and we will
get around to answering them all within a few days.  Thanks for those
letters.  Many times, we were so bone tired (and wet, and cold) that
getting the updates out was a pure labor of love.  It was wonderful to
hear how many people really appreciated them.  It kept us going and on our
toes.  We will announce the update of our 2002 gallery once we get all the
film developed. 

Cheers from western Oklahoma, 
Nancy, Brian, Josh, Lisa, Mark, and the rest of MESO 
www.mcwar.org