Day 9 – All hail to the weather..!

After yesterday’s long drive to North Platte, Nebraska I predictably cannot sleep. Our late arrival at 23:45 was compounded by an internet outage that turned checking in into a tiresome ordeal at the less than super Super 8. The paper thin walls and ceiling let through any noise: snoring  (Roger), either a small child or dog squealing at 01:30, my sons continuing a text conversation at 04:30 and my mother trying to Facetime me at 06:45. Not sure they get time zones. I “wake up” tired with suitcases below the eyes.

I had a decent breakfast at the Lincoln Highway Diner with sausage links, sour dough toast and a gallon of black coffee. It’s a little bit more expensive than usual but I have colossally under spent as the incessant chasing has meant many more truck stop grab and go “meals” than usual and not so many sit down lunches and dinners; thank God for the breakfasts. I’ll have some cash left over when I get home which will be a new one.

This morning the SPC has issued a now revised enhanced risk with three separate tornado hotspots. The two within our chasing sphere are a 5% risk in the eastern Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles and another 5% risk being an upslope event in south western Nebraska, south eastern Wyoming and north eastern Colorado. Up slope essentially means that the topography as we near the Rockies forces air and moisture upwards as opposed to the usual converging air masses – this is known as orographic lift. We initially choose the latter area with a target of Scottsbluff, Nebraska which is just off my South Central Plains map.

There’s time for a visit to the Golden Spire Tower, a volunteer run 8 story building dedicated to the North Platte Rail Yard, the largest rail yard in the world which it overlooks. There’s a great panoramic vista from the 7^th floor outdoor viewing platform. We head west on the I80 interstate with a stop at Starbucks on the way which I decline. Too much coffee already. We join the US26 at Ogallala heading north east towards Scottsbluff. The countryside is pleasant with Lake McConaughy to our north and gently rolling green down land giving way to the extensive Sand Hills, small continuous, undulating dunes put down by an ancient sea. I momentarily get a 4G signal but shortly after it reverts to a combination of 3G and “no signal” that has so far characterised all of Nebraska.

A quick Subway top at Bridgeport and we arrive at Scottsbluff National Monument, drive to the top and take some snaps of the vista. It reminds me slightly of Lordstones Café back home, similar walk through some bushes to a view of the Tees Valley, in this case the Plains; no rattlesnakes back home though. It’s also chilly at 60f with a biting wind. Not shorts and t-shirt friendly. As we return back to the SUV I’m trying to figure out why my Z7 has drained the battery in less than three hours while sat in my camera bag. Hopefully some changes of stings will sort that out.

As we descend back down to the Plains a tornado warned cell has appeared south west of La Grange so we head south then west to intercept it and enter Wyoming which is state number 6 for this trip. We bolt south on US85 then go east on Highway 216  then south towards Burns, stop and take     some photos then dive under the I80 to Carpenter. There is a storm in front of us and one beyond both of which have wall clouds with slow rotation apparent on the nearest one. They’re not going to produce so we head east on the I80 towards a bigger storm that has had small funnels reported earlier and has attracted the usual chaser convergence. It’s heading east, so are we; whatever happens we’re also heading back to North Platte and the Super 8.

Well this is a bit surreal…this storm is barreling east on the I80 at 30 mph and we are slowly reeling it in. It has a humongous hail core showing 3” hail with intense precipitation and is still tornado warned. Jan puts on the title track “Wings” from Picture’s soon to be released 12^th Album which passes the time. We pass through a contra flow and need to slow down, it’s absolutely lashing it down and it’s a bit dicey. A new tornado warned storm has sprung up to our south, the boiling updraft visible through the rain.

We can’t get past this storm; its hail core is straddling the length of the I80 like it is running on rails so we pull into Big Springs services for a break. There’s hail everywhere and the car park is full of cars with destroyed windscreens and sun roofs with bodywork like the surface of a golf ball. Some of these cars are write offs.

We gingerly pull back onto the I80; there are dozens of smashed cars littering the interstate, some in ditches and trees denuded of all foliage with fallen branches everywhere. We pass a cattle facility containing hundreds of cows. That beef will be tender…There’s hail covering the interstate including some huge lumps. A snow plow appears on the other carriageway; we edge up behind the core and follow it as close as we can at a snail’s pace. We’re still 40 miles from our hotel. Another hail core has developed, it’s getting hairy so we pull off at Paxton to try and find cover - there isn’t any so we pull back on to the Interstate. This storm is  like the truck in Spielberg’s Duel. The hail core gets bigger and this bizarre storm sticks faithfully to its route. We stop as does everything in front of us. The sky is lit up with lightning. The other storm to our south is still tornado warned and reports of tornadoes come in. That storm is heading directly to North Platte and our hotel. That could really bugger up check in…The semi-trucks (articulated wagons in UK speak) belt past – nothing will interfere with their schedules. We crawl on, hazard lights flashing in the night. It’s now 21:00 and well past dinner time and hail is falling on us…

Eventually we find a way through the hail and find a steak house and a well earned sirloin and a couple of 23oz amber ales and it’s time to book back into the Super 8 – and all the power is out! I’ve got the world’s supply of stuff to charge and no power so I plug everything in – in the dark – and hope the power comes back on during the night. I’ve got 22% left on the phone, hopefully that will be enough to last until my 07:00 alarm…this will have to be loaded up later.

Total miles TBC