There were a couple of potential targets on the day… the panhandle where a cool northeast wind had filtered into the area, but recovery was expected throughout the day… and northwest Texas where instability wasn’t going to be in question.  Being better chase territory, we decided on the panhandle.  And really, confidence was fairly high that sufficient recovery would take place.  Unfortunately, it was later and not as strong as expected.

We drove west to the Goodnight exit and started drifting north ahead of a supercell that organized near Claude.

While the storm looked like it was organizing nicely, there were signs – such as low, almost stratus clouds that were streaming in from the east.  Still, the storm acquired supercell characteristics and even produced a weak tornado as we approached Groom.  The tornado was only on the ground for a few seconds, and that was about the last the storm would do.

When it became apparent that sufficient recovery wasn’t going to occur, we started making our dash southeast toward other supercells that were developing.  We were well behind the main show and had to settle for a severe storm near Dodson that left us less than impressed.