Harriers passing through our Panhandle Skies

I got a tip from a buddy of mine that some Marine Corp AV-8B Harriers were going to be dropping in and spending the night in Amarillo, so (being the aircraft buff I am) swung out to the airport and shot a few photos as they came in. I thing there was 11 total. If you are interested in seeing them yourself, be out at the airport and watch them leave ( sunrise -ish) and net some photos of these amazing aircraft yourself.

-Steve Douglass

He's everywhere!

You never know where that pesky rodent is going to show up!



LINK

Late August Storm

B-52 in the pattern tonight.

Glad to see one of these venerable bombers in the local pattern. Heard him talking over my aero-band scanner and popped my head out the door and there he was. I think he was on his way to Red Flag exercises in Nevada, working the pattern and waiting out the storms to our Northwest.

-Steve

Lenticular clouds - pretty but dangerous.

Lenticular clouds are stationary lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes, normally aligned perpendicular to the wind direction. Lenticular clouds can be separated into altocumulus standing lenticularis (ACSL), stratocumulus standing lenticular (SCSL), and cirrocumulus standing lenticular (CCSL).

Power pilots tend to avoid flying near lenticular clouds because of the turbulence of the rotor systems that accompany them, but sailplane pilots actively seek them out. The precise location of the rising air mass is fairly easy to predict from the orientation of the clouds. "Wave lift" of this kind is often very smooth and strong, and enables gliders to soar to remarkable altitudes and great distances. The current gliding world records for both distance (over 3,000 km; 1,864 mi) and altitude (15,460 m; 50,721 ft) were set using such lift.

Family Fun Opportunity September 12th

My good buddy Ken Hanson wanted me to put out the word the annual Panhandle Antique Tractor Association "Tractor-Fest" takes place on September 12th at the High Plains Children's Home on south Western.

Who knew one could have so much fun playing with farm machinery!

There will be dozens of antique tractors on display, food, games, contests, giveaways and fun. Bring the kiddos and bring your camera!

There's no charge for the show (unless you want to partake in the grilled hamburger lunch) with the proceeds benefitting the High Plains Children's Home.

Video Link:

Oh what a beautiful morning ...

Crest of the blue wave.

Another couple shots from tonight's storm.


(C) Steve Douglass

Arcus Cloud Video Panorama

Video doesn't do it justice.
C) Steve Douglass

Storm Bow

Photographed tonight looking SW of Amarillo. This is a composite of four frames.
It looked a whole lot meaner than it was.

-Steve Douglass

Ragged Before The Rain

It amazes me that we have been so blessed with wet weather recently. Usually (in August) we do get a few storms that drift out of New Mexico and if they hold together we receive a few one hundredths of an inch of rain and a bit of lightning.

But over the last few weeks I've received (in my personal rain bucket) over three inches. if the moisture pipeline remains open, and when the cold fronts start coming down from canada in the fall months, we may be in for one heck of a secondary severe storm season.

Stay tuned!

-Steve

Severe Weather Chance Today!

.CNTRL/SRN HI PLNS TO MID MO VLY...
CONTINUED EWD MOTION OF OH VLY TROUGH WILL ALLOW UPR RDG TO REBOUND
OVER THE SRN/CNTRL RCKYS TODAY. THIS FACT...AND EXISTING
EML...CASTS SOME UNCERTAINTY REGARDING POTENTIAL FOR LATE AFTN/EVE
STORM ALONG LEE TROUGH OVER THE CNTRL HI PLNS INTO THE OK/TX
PANHANDLES. NEVERTHELESS PRESENCE OF PREVIOUSLY-MENTIONED WY
IMPULSE WITH UNIMPEDED HEATING AND SUSTAINED CONVERGENCE ALONG LEE
TROUGH SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT FOR AT LEAST ISOLD STORMS.

MODERATE INSTABILITY /SBCAPE TO 2000 J PER KG/ WILL DEVELOP ALONG
LEE TROUGH AS LIGHT SSELY LOW LVL FLOW MAINTAINS SFC DEWPOINTS IN
THE 50S TO LOW 60S F. 25-30 KT NNWLY MID LVL FLOW IS FORECAST OVER
REGION ON NE SIDE OF SRN RCKYS RDG...RESULTING IN HODOGRAPHS WITH
AMPLE DEEP SHEAR AND LOW LVL TURNING FOR ORGANIZED/ROTATING STORMS
WITH HAIL AND LOCALLY DMGG WIND.

THE THREAT FOR HAIL MAY REDEVELOP NEWD INTO PARTS OF NEB LATER
TONIGHT/EARLY THU AS LLJ STRENGTHENS AND VEERS IN RESPONSE TO
CONTINUED EWD MOVEMENT OF WY IMPULSE. ALTHOUGH AMPLE MOISTURE AND
ELEVATED INSTABILITY SHOULD BE PRESENT FOR ISOLD SVR HAIL...WEAK
CLOUD LAYER SHEAR SHOULD LIMITED STORM INTENSITY/LONGEVITY.

In case you missed tonight's sunset ...

A report from the scene ...

Caysi reporting on last night's "toad floater" in Potter County.

First time for everything ...

I went for a nice walk with Caysi (my grand daughter) after the rain tonight. She's eight (going on nine) and is very smart, loving, outgoing and inquisitive.

She wants to be a storm chaser some day like her grand dad, We walked up the road and we talked about the clouds. I pointed out some cloud structure and tried to describe what was going on in the atmosphere. I talked about updrafts and downdrafts and she seemed to understand.

Topping the hill we saw the beautiful departing storm at sunset and she wanted to take a photo of it, so I helped her set up the camera on a tripod and this was the result.

Not bad for a eight year old! Heck, not bad for anyone of any age! I think she has a fine future ahead of her.

Please leave a comment of encouragement.

-Steve Douglass

Polk Street Cruise Night 2009

Its just a strip of road, right? I must have traveled down its length hundreds of times and never given it a second thought.

Polk street is the main street that runs through downtown Amarillo a street like any other - but on this special "Cruise Night" I can't help but feel like I am visiting and old friend. The festive atmosphere, classic cars, the sights, the sounds, the pretty girls, it all comes rushing back.

"Do you know John so-in so? He goes to Tascosa doesn't he?" "Meet ya at the Pig Hip!" "Last one to Stanley's buys the cokes."

But as much as I remember "cruising" "dragging" or "scraping" Polk as a teen, I never ever saw it as alive as it is tonight. Hundreds of people line the street.

Beautiful vintage and not-so-vintage cars, trucks, motorcycles and even bicycles parade by in an endless loop of steel, metal flake paint and DVD players all playing golden oldies.

All I can say is "this is amazing" a dazzling homage to an era of teenage social interaction that was killed off a long time ago by shopping malls, cineplexes and the ever outward urban sprawl of Amarillo, away from downtown.

Way back "when dinosaurs ruled the earth" I cruised down Polk in an ugly brown Buick Electra which my friends dubbed the "big rolling turd." I didn't resent the moniker because at least I had a car they could disrespect. Most of my high school friends were "sans wheels" and it was either the "turd" or a long walk home.

But the cars cruising Polk tonight are light years beyond my old Buick and are more like moving pieces of kinetic sculpture. Idealized versions of the cars we always drooled over when we were kids, MOPARS, muscle cars, GTOs, Stangs, Vettes and Camaros.

Most have been lovingly restored, awash in metal flake and polished chrome wire wheels. A far cry from my brown Buick, that although it had two doors that I couldn't open and burned oil at a rate that would (especially now) make an oil sheik worry, I kind of miss.

Stop me before I digress any further ... Don't get me started telling Polk Street stories ... I have too many.

Tonight's "Cruise on Polk " - sure brought back memories both good and bad - but now blessed with a thing called "perspective" - even those memories of the bad things we did - seem tame by today's standards.

Those memories of my "ill-spent" youth reminded me of who I was- way back when which brought me down the long road to who I am today.

Sure, sometimes we got into a little trouble (we never said we were angels) but we never landed in jail, no one ever got hurt and more importantly our shenanigans were never mean-spirited in intent.

No one went to jail for mooning a cop, pulling a prank in front of the Paramount Theatre or water-ballooning the crowd outside the Esquire.

As much fun as it was, watching the parade of heavy metal on Polk, I couldn't help but feel a touch of melancholy for the proceeding generation of teenagers who never got to cruise Polk, who never got ticketed for doing a burn-out or experienced the all-American fun we had on this short expanse of asphalt in downtown USA.

I'll never reclaim my youth - but for a few hours tonight i was young again.

Thanks Panhandle Council of Car Clubs for bringing it all back.

-Steve Douglass

Wires

Waves

Shot south of town - not severe but very pretty. Even tame storms can offer unique photographic possibilities.

-Steve Douglass

Today's Severe Forecast

.WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE CENTRAL/SRN PLAINS...
MORNING WV IMAGERY SHOWS FRAGMENTED UPPER WAVES MOVING SEWD FROM THE
WY/NEB BORDER SEWD INTO NRN OK. HOWEVER...ONGOING CONVECTION OVER
NRN KS AND MODEL FORECAST SUGGEST SYSTEM NEAR THE WY/NEB BORDER
SHOULD BE THE MAIN FEATURE FOR CONVECTION ACROSS THE CENTRAL/SRN
PLAINS. SUNNY CONDITIONS AND WARMING/DESTABILIZING BOUNDARY LAYER
THIS MORNING WAS OCCURRING OVER SERN CO/SWRN KS/NWRN OK AND THE TX
PANHANDLE. ACROSS THIS AREA...THE BEST OVERLAP OF LOW LEVEL FRONTAL
CONVERGENCE...WARMING AND LIFT ASSOCIATED WITH UPPER WAVE WOULD BE
OVER SWRN KS/NWRN OK AND TX PANHANDLE. OTHER STORMS ARE LIKELY TO
DEVELOP OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF SERN CO/NERN NM WHERE STRONG
HEATING OF MOIST BOUNDARY LAYER WILL OCCUR. AFTER STORMS
FORM...MODERATE INSTABILITY AND 30-40 KT DEEP LAYER SHEAR SHOULD
SUSTAIN MULTICELLS AND POSSIBLY A SUPERCELL OR TWO. THE MAIN THREAT
WILL BE HAIL...THOUGH THE WIND THREAT WILL BE HIGHER THIS EVENING AS
STORMS CONSOLIDATE INTO ONE OR TWO LINEAR CLUSTERS.

Cold Air Funnel

Sighted over Amarillo this afternoon. This is a short-lived tropical cold air funnel cloud. Rarely dangerous, always impressive, prompting lots of calls - but basically a sheep on wolf's clothing.