May 26, 2001
Storm Chase
Texas Panhandle
Editor: Putnam
Reiter
Team 1 - Andy Wallace and
Putnam Reiter
Miles Driven - @400
Departure Time - 11:00 CDT
Return Time - 23:00 CDT
The Chase -
Andy and I had planned to chase
this day for quite some type. Memorial Day weekend usually provides some fun
for chasers in Oklahoma. I drove up to Lawton from Houston to visit and
hopefully chase. Seeing that SPC had a slight risk up in the Texas panhandle,
we decided to head west. We drove west out of Lawton on Highway 62 towards
Hollis. Getting into the Texas panhandle we turned on Highway 287 towards
Amarillo.
Storms developed to our south and
north. We ended up heading south towards the central Texas panhandle.
Unfortunately we ended up in a farmers field. This was a complete accident and
a result of the Delorme software. While great much of the time, don't blindly
trust the red lines.
We met up with Jay Holsenbeck and
several other people. Seeing that the storm was dissipating, we decided to head
home.
Lessons Learned -
- Better analyze GPS software
before committing. Going an extra five miles may be a better option to
taking a short cut.
Encounters -
Engaged Storm:
No
Funnel: No
Hail (larger than 0.75 inches): No
Tornado: No
Wall Cloud: No
Wind above 57.4mph: No
