Violent Wedge Tornado & Mesocyclone near Coleridge, NE June 17, 2014
Violent Wedge Tornado & Wall Cloud near Coleridge, NE June 16, 2014
It’s a cliché statement on websites and blogs, but it’s been way too long since my last post. Above are 2 photographs taken on June 17, 2014 showing one of the most powerful tornadoes Juston Drake and I have ever witnessed near the town of Coleridge, NE. Juston and I performed a damage survey 3 days later and discovered a large region of severe ground scouring from this tornado north of Coleridge. This was one of many tornadoes from the most productive 3 days of storm chasing during the Spring of 2014. This Spring was slow to say the least for chasing storms. It’s inactivity was probably only eclipsed by the slow Spring of 2013. Several powerful tornadoes did occur despite the low numbers. Most severe setups during the Springs of 2013 and 2014 were weakened by a strong Capping inversion and/or dry air mixing into the boundary layer. It’s difficult for significant tornadoes to develop in the absence of deep boundary layer moisture. The presence of a strong CAP may have aided the few very intense tornadoes the past 2 years. Incredible instability developed aided by a strong CAP when deep moisture was present (i.e. 15-31 May 2013, 27 & 28 April 2014, and 16-18 June 2014). I’ll make an effort to write “2014 Spring Recap” and “Hurricane Arthur” posts soon.
