Today is going to be our chase day for this year.

We set off from Dodge City, Kansas and the roach motel heading for Beaver, Oklahoma. The idea was to get on line and find out where the mid-level moisture was at its richest. The local chaser phoned up the Storm Prediction Centre and found that Perryton, Texas was the prime initiation point, where storms would develop. So we topped up with fuel, put our foot on the gas and headed for the Texas border. It wasn't long before the storm cells exploded upwards we watched as they built up tp 55,000 ft. They look like atomic bomb mushroom clouds the way they burst upwards. We were on the north side and punched through the core of the storm to get into clear air on the southside. We turned and watched the rear of the storm cell where the warm moist air was being sucked in to feed this ever developing monster. The back of the cell was rotating and was trying to form into a tornado. Then we had what was the experience of my life because we drove north down into the "Meso" and parked on the hard shoulder. The air was swirling, rotating and doing all kinds of amazing things. Had the tornado actually have formed we would have had a ring side seat but before it formed it became " Rain wrapped" (engulfed in rain). We had to pull back until it crossed the road ahead of us. Our options then were limited. We then took a great risk and drove north through the core of the next storm without knowing what size hail awaited us. We were lucky some cars ahead of us went into 4" hail and had their cars severely damaged. The most I got was torrential rain, wind and lightning. I was happy to get to clear air on the north. However that was short lived because our leader took us back through the core south eastwards to try and keep up with the area of rotation on the storm. We made it back into clear air and watched as the storm made attempt after attempt to produce a tornado. As we sat and filmed the storm which by now was a monster decided to chase us for a while by doing a right turn. We were now it the firing line 80 mph winds, large hail and the most intense lightning I have experienced. We had to move and move fast we raced along on the small tracks at 60 mph with the storm closing in. It was throwing everything at us. Lightning bolts hit all around the car it was like being in a mortar attack. Bang, bang bang. We had a scary moment because the road was completely water logged and I went into a very large pothole at speed. We all considered what would have happened if we had to start changing the wheel. It was bad enough me not being able to see because of the temporary repair to the drivers side window. I had to rely on the other lads to keep my informed about traffic to my left. The tyre was ok and we made it to safety. It was an exciting day and once again tested my BP tablets. We ended the day in Woodward Oklahoma and we were under a tornado watch as another severe storm approached the town. Tomorrow the cold front will have pushed through and any chance of decents storms gone. Time to clear out the van and its minging.