MESO reconvened in May 2004 for its seventh annual storm chase trip in the Great Plains. For the second year, we will be traveling with ECHO, our second-generation mobile lab. Our newest member, Radar, is also our team mascot... a black lab puppy who loves the storms probably more than we do!

5/8-10 UPDATE
5/11-13 UPDATE
5/14-16 UPDATE
5/17 UPDATE
5/18-22 UPDATE

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5/9: The 2004 chase team... Bose, Denzer, Detrich, Griswold, Howell, Jans, McNoldy, Nielsen, Sebastian, and Radar. (Photo: A. Detrich)	5/9: Strong storm near Prior Lake, MN. (Photo: J. Jans)	5/9: Mammatus clouds from that storm seen from Union Hill, MN. (Photo: A. Detrich)
5/10: Sunset-lit rainshaft near Kilkenny, MN. (Photo: A. Detrich)	5/11: 40-50mph winds stirred up major dust storms across much of South Dakota. (Photo: A. Detrich)	5/11: Rain/hail shaft from a severe storm at the "triple point" near Akaska, SD. (Photo: A. Detrich)
5/11: Cloud base was showing signs of rotation, both visibly and on radar. (Photo: J. Jans)	5/11: Thunderstorms grow explosively to the east of the previous storm along its outflow boundary. (Photo: J. Jans)	5/11: A close-up of the cloud tops seen in the previous photo. (Photo: A. Detrich)
5/12: A growing supercell near Coldwater, KS . (Photo: A. Detrich)	5/12: Two explosive supercells compete for inflow (previous photo is the left [northwest] storm seen here) as seen from near Medicine Lodge, KS. (Photo: A. Detrich)	5/12: A tornado forms a couple miles south of Hwy 160 between Sharon and Medicine Lodge, KS. (Photo: A. Detrich)
5/12: The tornado matures and picks up more dirt from the ground. (Photo: A. Detrich)	5/12: In its dissipating stage, the tornado formed a spectacular well-defined rope. (Photo: A. Detrich)	5/12: A sample of some of the hail stones that fell near Sharon, KS. A few were 3.5" in diameter. (Photo: J. Jans)
5/12: A large tornado touches down a few miles east of us and ends up hitting a house in Attica, KS. (Photo: A. Detrich)	5/12: A house that was hit... a couple was inside but survived with barely a scratch. (Photo: A. Detrich)	5/12: While MESO members and the owners were seeking shelter in the remnants of their house, more funnel clouds formed almost overhead. (Photo: J. Jans)
5/16: Rainshaft from a severe storm in Gosper County, NE. (Photo: J. Jans)	5/16: A short-lived tornado touches down south of Elba, NE. (Photo: A. Detrich)

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