August 1, 2003
Storm Chase
After
having several frustrating chases this season, Dave Szozda, and I decided
to head out on our 6th chase of the year. We left my house at 6 o'clock
pm. Our target was the area just west of Stratford. A squall line was
moving eastward towards this region. CAPE was 2000 J/kg, with a Lifted
Index of -6. We took hwy. 86 northward, then cut west. By 7:10, we ended
up a little further west than originally planned... we were in Mitchell.
Ahead of us, the sky was dark looking. We saw the leading edge of the
storm. Before we knew it, the heavy rain had hit. There were also a
bit of lightning and outflow winds. I wasn't too impressed, because
I was expecting the squall line to be a bit more severe.
Besides the heavy
rain and wind, nothing much else was happening, so we decided to turn
around and head back towards Stratford to get some gas and have a coffee
at Tim Horton's. We figured the storm had fell apart. There was nothing
much out there to support it, and the lake breeze boundaries had probably
already moved inland. Dang, talk about a wet bust or what? It didn't
really surprise me... with the luck (or should I say bad luck?) we have
been having this year. We got back to my house at 8:45. Overall, this
chase season has not been very good. Oh well, there's always next year!
Total hours: 2 hours
45 minutes
Distance: 198 km
