Day 3: Meandering to Tucumcari

Firstly- old business. There was a confirmed touchdown on Monday's New Arkansas/Newkirk tornado. As we checked out of our hotel in Woodward this morning, they were even talking about it on the Weather Channel. Although my photo wasn't as obvious as the one below- at least I can say that my tornado was legit!

This morning I'm writing from the familiar confines of the Ashmore Inn, here in Amarillo. Three days out of the week I spent chasing in 2016 were spent in and around Amarillo- hiking Palo Duro and Capulin on down days. It's nice to be back, and it was equally pleasant to be back in New Mexico yesterday.

There's something about crossing the western border of Texas into New Mexico- it seems like the state becomes prettier, somehow. After our group joined Roger's new tour group here in Amarillo, we set a brisk pace towards our target- the town of Tucumcari. Try saying that three times fast! The meteorological set up seemed a little sloppier than Sunday or Monday, but the scenery and eventual storm structure made up for the cells' lack of organization.

Evolution of a New Mexico storm- the 4th picture in this line up is my favorite. The white stuff on the ground in the last picture is hail!

As our storm worked to absorb other cells nearby, we repositioned several times to see what different views had to offer. The landscape alone seemed to defer to the dynamic energy of the storm. I also took a moment to pay more attention to the ground than what was going on above me- the next image is for my mom, who takes photos of flowers the way I take pictures of the sky.

But wait- there's more! We had our third consecutive day of rainbow-y goodness on our way back towards Amarillo, after Roger decided to call it a day.

Amarillo seemed to welcome us back with open arms- and a sky filled with glorious mammatus clouds that started off looking like marble and slowly deepened into orange as the sun set. The view from my sweet suite wasn't bad, either. 

Today's the final day of chasing before I have to head back to vacationless reality; after several days of cooperative weather and good company, I truly couldn't have asked for a more fulfilling experience. I can't wait to see what today will bring. I know it's going to be a long day- we have to end up in OKC for Thursday's departure, so my final chase day post may not be until Thursday afternoon or evening, after I've returned to Chicago.

Music: Koto, ODESZA

Mood: Grateful