July 3-4 Western Alberta storm trolling
Plenty to see in the area the past two days.
A cold front swept across the province early on the 3rd, shortly after noon it began to dig to the west, initially a shapeless mess high in the sky, it fired up to the south first, then lit up in a huge squally mess from Drumheller to Lac La Biche and beyond moving east at 60km/h. I skipped this line and waited for the next set which started moving out of the hills north of Rocky.
I picked up the tail end near condor just as it was developing a clear slot on the back end, 60-70kmh rfd winds pouring out the south side and a healty core got me running. I may have missed a funnel during the flee, hard to tell for sure from shoulder checks, the price you pay for solo spotting on fast moving storms. I stayed just south of the action end of the storm as it tried over and over to spin up, until it started to dump out near Sylvan.
A few more little hailers formed up after that, spitting some peas on us and allowing for the first canola in bloom shots of the year.
The 4th brought some of the best treats of the season so far.
Watching the upper winds stretch all the clouds into waves and lennies all afternoon, it really didn’t look like much would happen, but a touch of foothills magic and away it went. A standing wave along the foothills usually spells doom for storm formation, but gap winds seem to be able to stir up some very interesting situations.
A small plume of convection building out of the Ya Ha Tinda/Panther gap boiled up just as the bbq was warming up, and kept building. Before long it was looking supercellular, so I yarfed down dinner and headed south. The first cell was parked over the QE2 by the time I got to Olds, there was another stack of plates building west of Cremona, so I jogged over to 2a and south, getting a nice view of both. I chose to focus on the new storm to the west and got to watch it for almost two hours as it spun away towards Carstairs. Some mid level rotation in it, but it was way up there and the bottom level wind was not cooperating, moving the scuddles underneath against the flow above. It never did build a serious wall cloud. Still a beauty to sit and watch, much more my speed too. Only the mosquitoes were a disappointment, giant clouds of them up your nose and in your ears, and photos. Lots of lost shots last night, polluted with mozzies.
Hoping for a day off today, before it starts again tomorrow.
Hello from Tianjin, China! Very nice photos Pat and very jealous!! I’ve been trying to keep up with whats going on weatherwise there but the 14 hour time difference makes it tough. Hopefully it doesnt start to ridge when I get back on the 10th…!
July 5th, 2011 at 4:44 pmHiya Brandon
July 6th, 2011 at 11:12 amNice of you to stop in from the other side of the planet
I’m sure there will be lots of goodies left when you get back.
you need to put social media button links so we can link your blog posts to our Facebook page so more folks can see your pictures. one or two in this post are amazing and need to be seen more.
July 6th, 2011 at 7:06 pmThanks for the tip Dave, never thought about it before.
July 6th, 2011 at 9:23 pmAdded a few, hope they are the right ones
Just tested it on my FB page and it works.
I’ll use that from now on ’cause we like to share neat shots. 
Thx
July 7th, 2011 at 9:58 amWow…jaw is on floor about that sundre storm…was that you who reported the nado? So disapointed I missed this! Looking forward to photos!
July 7th, 2011 at 5:50 pmAmazing photos as usual Pat.
July 7th, 2011 at 9:45 pmDon’t worry Brandon, I missed the Sundre one too. Looks amazing from the internet though eh!
I reported a couple today Brandon, workin on photos now.
Thanks Brad
July 7th, 2011 at 11:21 pmFantastic shots, Pat… as always. Envious of your structure.
July 10th, 2011 at 9:36 pmThanks Dann
July 10th, 2011 at 11:38 pmThe hills out there churn up some great stuff.