6/7/2012

      Starting location was Cody, Wyoming where we woke up and left to head toward the Nebraska panhandle.  This was our prime location for chasing since the SPC gave it a five percent chance of producing a tornado. Our destination was 6 hours from where we started in Wyoming.

                Storms began firing around 12 p.m. Mountain Time in eastern portions of Wyoming.  A watch was issued fairly early in the day.  By the time we reached Nebraska around 2 p.m. Mountain Time storms were really starting to fire. The first tornado warning was issued around 3 p.m. location was Platte co. Wyoming. Originally we were headed toward this storm until a second storm formed just south east of the warned storm. This storm showed signs of progression and strengthening. The team decided to go ahead and chase after the developing storm; however this storm slowly died out. Our next step was to figure out how to get back to the original storm. We headed west and then back north toward this monster storm with TVS and strong shear. As we started heading north a new storm started to develop, we were sure to core punch this storm before it decided to intensify. This storm grew quickly and started to show rotation, TVS was indicated. We followed this storm for most of the evening, not letting us down completely; the storm dropped a brief tornado and had great structure. The mesocyclone was well developed and the wall cloud was very easy to see.  Scud was moving into the storm showing signs of strong inflow. This storm never did drop a tornado after the first brief touch down, but it kept its structure very well. After a while, the entire meso was rotating and became rain wrapped.

                Soon after we gave up on following storm, we noticed rotation on another cell just east of that storm. Two mesocylones were very prevalent and we positioned ourselves in the middle of the two. This was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. As we headed out of the super cells we drove straight into the storm that spun a brief tornado. The mesocyclone was positioned right above us and the clouds were still rotating.

                Storm reports from the SPC indicated hail up to four inches and a major tornado. This tornado was not yet rated. As we continued throughout our evening we headed toward Cheyenne, Wyoming for dinner where I witnessed some of the most impressive lightning. Then to Casper, Wyoming; on our way we saw slight damage and hail which had gathered on the side of the road. Storms will continue throughout the evening in the southeastern portion of Wyoming.