Chase Plains 2010

29th May 2010
Day 13

29/05 Day 13

The Valentine Power Washer

After our day of sightseeing, it was back down to business today as storms were predicted in the Central & Northern Plains. Yesterday's cold front was lying through Nebraska and the Dakotas, with storms due to fire within close proximity of the front during the afternoon and evening. We left our hotel in Rapid City and headed eastwards through South Dakota, before dropping southwards into Nebraska. We lunched in Mission at the local Subway (where else) before moving on to Valentine where we would ultimately be staying tonight.

By mid afternoon, towering cumulus were firing along the length of the cold front, and it wasn't long before these were reaching maturity. Whilst parked up in a truck stop south of Valentine, we watched weak but rapidly firing thunderstorms chucking out thunder and occasional blobs of rain. To our south-west, one particular storm cell began to look stronger than the rest, so we moved to intercept it about 30 miles southwest of Valentine.

We arrived to see the storm merging with several others and forming a huge squally line of storms filling the entire western and southern horizon. The huge gust front was decked beneath signs of a mid level mesocyclone, and the whole storm looked positively evil as it raced towards us at about 80mph. Lightning was continuous and was largely behind a rain curtain, giving a strobe light effect. We stayed outside as long as we dared, until the rain curtain was within half a mile. We then dived into the car and awaited our fate..... The storm hit with amazing fury, hurling 60-70mph winds at the car, together with torrential rain and pea/penny sized hail. Visibility was reduced to less than 10 metres, and the wind was so strong it was sending rivers of rain water streaming up the hill rather than down. At one point, it looked like someone was jet washing the road as the rainwater whipped up into a white, foaming spray. Once the core had passed (with reports of cricket ball sized hail nearby) we followed the storm northwards. We witnessed continual cloud to ground lightning strikes within a mile of the car, and a couple within a hundred metres or two, giving terrifying blasts!

It became clear that the line of storms would focus south of Valentine overnight so we retired to the hotel by late evening. However, some weak thunderstorms continued even after midnight in the area. One of these put down a lightning strike at the end of our road, only 400 metres or so away, and the noise of this shook the hotel. Our evening meal was of the classy type, in the local McDonalds, but it finished off a good day's chasing.

Total mileage: 303 miles

Ready for the off at our hotel in Rapid City, South Dakota. It was rather chilly and cloudy with the cold front having already moved away to the east.

We stopped for lunch at Subway in Mission, South Dakota, which was full of local characters. One turned up in this truck, complete with a plastic dead deer on the roof and a boot full of antlers. Nice.

We approached the cold front boundary from the west and parked up north of Valentine on the Nebraska border. The cold front was lined with popping towering cumulus.
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Paul demonstrates which way the clouds are about to go, whilst maximising upper arm tanning.

Off they go! The clouds rapidly began erupting skywards by late afternoon, heralding the impending threat of storms.

It didn't take long before the towering cumulus was forming fully grown cumulonimbus. This one over Valentine was already producing growls of frequent thunder and was barely a few minutes old.

This was our hilltop location about 30 miles southwest of Valentine. A very active and rather evil thunderstorm was spanning the southern and western sky, and was heading right for us!
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This was the view southwards as the storm surged eastwards south of our location. This gust front was travelling at a very impressive speed and lightning lit up the rainsheets behind.
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As the storm base drew nearer and nearer at alarming speed, we were joined by a number of other chasers on the hilltop. Rain curtains were already smashing the distant hills.
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The rain, hail and lightning wall was racing towards us at speeds probably approaching 80mph and was now within a couple of miles. For the chasers, it was a race to turn around and drive off, fast!
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We realised there was no point trying to outrun something faster than us, so stayed put. This is the last shot as the hail bounced off the road in front. Moments later, 60-70mph winds and driving rain/hail slammed into the car and visibility was so low even the nearest pole in this shot disappeared.

Being in a car in 70mph wind and driving hail was scary enough, so how these poor blighters must have felt boggles belief. For mile after mile, cows had congregated at the far eastern side of every field, clearly having tried to flee the incoming stom only to be blocked by the fences. Poor buggers!

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