Stormchasing: 5 July 2005

Eastern/Northeastern CO

A completely impromptu chase that led to two rotating supercells near Burlington and Sterling, CO, respectively. Mid-level issues with the instability kept things from really getting rocking: I thought there might have been an undiagnosed inversion layer that held things back, although other theories exist. Both storms were severe warned, and the Sterling storm had a tornado warning issued. Hopefully Dan and Russ saw something on the Sterling storm - we got there later as we had to race north from Burlington after the first storm fizzled.

Another fine outing for the D70s; I'm slowly learning how to use all the features. I had a pleasant surprise near the end of the chase: an opportunity to use a *real* Singh-Ray graduated ND filter - the results are *way* better than my digitally-simulated attempts. Looks like I need to start selling plasma or something. :)

Total miles: ~600. Chase partners: Lyle Pakula, Chris Rozoff, Erin Morris, Natalie Tourville, Matt Masarik, and Brant Dodson. :) Restaurant recommendation: Cable's in Fort Morgan; they serve a mean chicken fried steak.