Saturday is Chase Day!

FINALLY... After two days and 1,200 miles of traveling, chase day has arrived!

Here's what we're tracking:

There is a Slight Risk for severe t-storms from Central Nebraska, south across Kansas and Oklahoma.  The StormTrackerWx Team arrived in Junction City, Kansas early this evening.  Our position is just west of where storm initiation will likely occur Saturday afternoon.  This means we'll likely have to travel a few miles west to Salina, Kansas and wait for development to begin there.

There is a large amount of CAPE (Convective Available Potential Energy) present across much of Central Kansas and Oklahoma.  Think of a lid on a boiling pot of water.  This same scenario holds true in nature.  When a temperature inversion is present (warmer air aloft), it "caps" the environment, suppressing energy needed for storm development near the surface.  When large amounts of CAPE are present- on the order of 2500 j/kg or more, this adds buoyancy to the atmosphere.

Under the right conditions, this cap can break transferring energy upward.  This momentum is what aids in thunderstorm development.  The more momentum, the more energy that is transferred.  Long story short, this is what we'll be looking for tomorrow afternoon and early evening.

The other big factor we'll be looking for is a highly sheered environment.  For this, we look at helicity, which is simply the amount of rotation found in a storm's updraft.  Lots of rotation and momentum transfer are key ingredients for tall storm structure and rotating updrafts favorable for tornadic super cells, all of which will be available in minute amounts for tomorrow.

How you can track us:

Pay attention to our status buttons, which are posted on our home page at StormTrackerWx.com.

NO SVR: Severe t-storms are not forecasted or if they are, then A) The probability is less-than 15% or B) They are just outside our chase window.  Streaming Weather Content will remain offline.

STAND-BY: Severe t-storms are possible, and deployment is likely within the next 24 hours.

ACTIVE: Severe t-storms are likely to occur within the next 24 hours, and the StormTrackerWx Team has already deployed.  Streaming Weather Content is online.

Keep in mind that as long as we are in transit, the tracker map will always be available online at live.stormtrackerwx.com.

Stay-tuned!