21 June 2023
Sundance, WY to Yuma, CO
We were on the go by eight and I wasn’t sure why so early, but they knew there was construction that might delay us.
We had a briefing that showed a 5% risk of tornado in northeastern Colorado and area. We loaded up and drove less than a block to a NAPA auto parts store for a couple of new windshield wipers. They kept the passenger side one as a spare.
Then as we left, one client couldn’t find her phone. We were still close to the hotel and she found it in her room. Luckily, she noticed early. I know what it’s like to be without a cell phone.
We drove south and only had a short wait at the construction site.
We had a choice between Wyoming and Colorado for storms and Bill opted for Colorado. There were a lot of chasers, including the photo tour, on the Wyoming storm, and while it produced nice structure, it eventually fizzled.
We picked up a journalist named Christina who wanted to follow us for a couple days in her Chevy Tahoe. She picked two great days for it and her segment aired in October.
We headed into Colorado where the storms were initiating. A tornado had been sighted in nearby Akron as we entered the rain near Brush, CO.
There were several cells swirling next to each other and we targeted the strongest one. As we got under the anvil, one client asked if that was a tornado to the south.
Sure enough, there was a white tornado that was barely visible in the distance, possibly the Akron tornado.
Then we got into the rain again and we started seeing short lived funnel clouds and tornadoes all around us.
One was unmistakable.
When we got out to watch that, others were forming in the distance, including one that roped out and one that just skipped across the horizon.
Rotation was coming and going around us but pics were hard due to the rain.
Then an emergency service car came by and suggested we find a place with better visibility for approaching cars.
As we drove away, our driver was on the radio telling Bill to watch a descending vortex just ahead. Then as our van went under it and my ears popped just as a very strong wind buffeted the van in one direction and then another.
Yeeehaw!
We drove through weak tornado. Everyone’s ears had popped due to the difference in pressure between the inside and outside of the vortex.
We drove to Akron and found the roads cut off to the east and south. The east had a bridge out and the south had tornado damage from the earlier storm. So we ended up going north to the interstate and back south to Otis before turning east.
By then, it was getting late, so we stopped at Mama’s Café in Otis for a late dinner. They were twenty minutes from closing but agreed to stay open for us.
We finished up by nine and headed to the Nelson Inn in Yuma.
I was out cold early.
Bill Reid’s entry for 21 June.
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