May 9, 2023

Statistics

Initial Target
Start
End
Storm Intercepts
Tornadoes
Hail
Wind
Features
Miles
Russell, KS
Mount Pleasant, IA 10:59 AM 5/8/2023
Hays, KS 6:27 PM 5/9/2023
Paradise, KS
0
0"
0 mph
Gust Front, Mammatus
938

Summary

Chased AM squall line across nrothern Kansas noting gust fronts and outflow followed by evening mammatus.

Crew and Equipment

Chase partners: Jennifer Brindley Ubl. Equipment: Sony AX100, Canon 60D with EFS 10-22, Samsung S9.

Video

Map

Details

May 8 was a travel day for us as we drove from Mount Pleasant, IA to Salina, KS. This put us in good position for a morning squall line intercept north of Russell, KS near the tiny town of Paradise. We got off the highway and setup for shots on a gravel road as the dramatic gust front approached.
"No Hunting"

Gust Front Pano
5 miles WNW of Paradise, KS
11:25 AM
I believe this line was tornado warned, but the outflow was icy cold and surging out from the storm, cutting off any chance at a real tornado play.
We ran east down I-70 as east to west clusters of storms expanded with embedded supercells. We saw a lot of whale's mouth texture and scud, but nothing tornadic, despite some funnel cloud reports in the area.
The east apex of the line wrapped up with what might have been a big QLCS or bookend type tornado, but we were way out of position for that. Green precipitation cores to the north:
Outflow dust and dark gust fronts with balmy blue skies to the south:

Mammatus
Hays, KS
8:54 PM
We called the chase and headed into Hays for the night where some mammatus started to poke out overhead at the hotel.
The mammatus photo booth:

Sunset Mammatus
Hays, KS
9:15 PM

Conclusion

A fairly lackluster chase stormwise, but it still managed a few photogenic moments with dramatic gust fronts and another mammatus show at sunset.

Lessons Learned

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