Eastern New Mexico: June 13, 2019
Yesterday’s storm chase targeted northeastern New Mexico for the expectation of a few supercell thunderstorms in the area. Since low-level moisture was fairly limited, this storm chase was more focused on documenting storm structure, as opposed to looking for tornadoes, as the latter seemed very unlikely.
I watched an initial supercell develop near Roy, New Mexico around mid-afternoon. Storm motions were slow and the storm was also slow about intensifying. I dropped south to get a better look and by that point, I found myself in a data hole with no radar or internet access. To make matters more challenging, the road network was very limited.
The choice was to either drive about a half hour around to the south to document the storm from that side, or shift back north to watch storms developing near the Colorado/New Mexico border. Realizing that low-level moisture was somewhat more favorable to the south and that visual cues indicated that the southern storm had more potential to evolve into a well-organized supecell, I went south.
Once I got down to the Mosquero area, it was clear that there was a rotating supercell to the east. I did not realize it at the time, but after reviewing radar data once internet access returned, but there was a cluster of three storms in close proximity. The photo below captures two of those supercells in the distance, as I came down from the higher terrain near Mosquero.
I continued to track the storm back east toward the Texas panhandle. A tornado warning was issued for a time, but aside from displaying mid and upper level rotation, nothing indicated to me that a tornado was imminent. With daylight running out and a long drive ahead of me back to Oklahoma City, I called the chase off. Or at least I thought I did.
I made a brief stop near Amarillo, TX to document some lightning to the north. As has been the case with many storm chases in the southern High Plains this year, the chase wrapped up as a convective system moved into the Amarillo area.
