Although our trip was not scheduled to begin until the 16th, computer forecast models were pointing at the 15th as being a potentially active day in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. Even as early as the 13th, the models were indicating a deep surface low moving into the Texas/Oklahoma panhandle region on the 15th, with southeasterly winds carrying tons of moisture up the Caprock. I was so optimistic about the setup for the 15th I contacted the available members of our group (Jay and Stacey) to see about starting things a day early. Jay would be unable to join us as he was at home caring for an ill pet. Stacey had no problem starting things a day early, so after getting my car serviced that morning, I went over to Stacey's apartment that afternoon to pick her up.

Today I had been expecting the best storms to occur northeast of the surface low and near the warm front around Guymon. Since we got a late start, I wasn't sure if we would make it there in time, so I was hopeful we would be able to get something further south along the dryline. We left Norman just before 3pm and headed west on I-40 towards the Texas panhandle. Shortly after entering the Texas panhandle, we began hearing reports on our wx radios of "numerous large tornadoes in Dallam County". This was about 150 miles northwest of our location. Our visibility was hampered quite a bit due to haze and blowing dust, but we soon began to make out turkey towers trying to go up all around us. Thinking that storms may begin to form around us soon, I decided to stop at the nearest gas station to top off the tank. We ended up at the Love's near Conway. When I went inside to pay for the gas, I saw a TV tuned to an Amarillo station showing live radar updates. The radar indicated several supercells to our northwest between Dalhart TX and Guymon OK and Liberal KS, with new storms trying to go up to our southeast towards Silverton TX. Now it was decision time - do we go after the existing storms up north, or do we take a gamble on the new storms to our south? Since towers in our area were still struggling to get organized, stratocumulus was still racing up towards the northwest, and we were still hearing warnings for storms to our north, we ended up deciding to make one last stab north. We ended up intercepting the storms near Perryton, but by the time we got there it was almost sunset and the storms were in the process of merging into an MCS. With darkness setting in, the chance of seeing a tornado nearly gone, and the fact I needed to be back in Norman the next day anyway, I decided at this point to head home. So no tornadoes or hail for us today, but Stacey was able to get some video footage of some close lightning strikes and intense rainfall and wind as we were overtaken by MCS cores in the Oklahoma panhandle.

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