Date: August 17, 2015
Time: 2:45 - 5:00 PM MDT
Place: Elbert, Peyton, CO
Distance: 853 mi (362 positioning, 81 chasing, 410 to home)
Camera: T3i, GoPro3 Silver
Warnings: TOR
Rating: S5

The Chase

8:31 AM: Well, I sure did think my 2015 chase season was over. But we are just about to head out for one last chase in Colorado. Today there's an odd looking setup featuring a NW upper-level flow overtop some surface easterly winds backing up against the Rockies (a full 180 degrees change in direction with height). There should be some decent instability with CAPE over 2000 J/KG. Add to that a pretty distinct east/west outflow boundary from storms last night and it's good enough to get me out for one last Hail Mary tornado chase.

10:59 AM: Just finished the last Serial Season 1 podcast. I don't know if Adnan did it or not, but I wouldn't have convicted him. Getting close to Raton now.

12:55 PM: Getting gas at our usual spot on the north side of Pueblo, CO. Atmosphere is looking pretty primed! The old outflow boundary lays on a line from Lamar to Castle Rock - right across the Palmer divide. Couple both of those things and I bet any storm that passes there will be really capable of a tornado. Gonna grab some lunch here in Pueblo and then sit near Fountain, CO as our target.

2:02 PM: Radar blips are lining up along the OFB north and east of Colorado Springs - exactly what I want to see!

2:24 PM: Just found a nice spot on to sit on the east side of Fountain. From here we can quickly go north, east, or northeast towards the boundary. None of the blips along the boundary have taken off yet.

2:35 PM: I just noticed that there are these little orange and black beetles all over the place humpin each other.

2:44 PM: New cell is maturing quickly between Peyton and Calhan. This might be our storm - getting closer to check it out.

3:00 PM: Jeez, I didn't realize it'd take 15 minutes to reach Hwy 24, which heads NE towards our storm. We have fallen behind a little. Should also note that a new blip near Elbert is just showing up - we could possibly make a play on that were it to develop.

3:10 PM: The Elbert blip has EXPLODED in the last 10 minutes. We just passed through the town of Falcon and I can see the storm directly to our north. It's still too distant to make out detail, but there's a suspicious white feature hanging down.

3:16 PM: NO WAY!!! That suspicious white feature is a tornado!!!!! We are finally close enough to confirm. It's been ongoing for the last 6 minutes.

3:18 PM: Found a spot near the 24/217 intersection to film the distant white rope tornado. I can't believe this is happening; the storm is only 20 minutes old. Tornado Warning was just issued.

3:20 PM: It looks like the tornado has completely roped out now, but I think I see a big new wallcloud forming. Flying north on Hwy 217 to get closer.

3:32 PM: Pulled off the road 2 miles south of Elbert - just on the edge of the rain. Very intense lightning just to our north in the precip core, but overall structure isn't quite as organized now. Still gonna get some timelapse.

3:38 PM: We have been sitting about 10 feet off the highway on this little dirt road (for safety I never like to sit on the highway shoulder). But some wiener just came up and said we were on private property and needed to leave. Jeez people - at least put up a gate or a sign.

3:41 PM: Dropping south again. No good roads east from here.

3:56 PM: At the 24/217 intersection again and a new cell is going up right over our heads. This environment is much more unstable than I thought!

4:03 PM: Intense rising motion nearly overhead. Rain and hail starting to fall just to our east in Peyton. If this new storm produces in the next few minutes we will be in amazing position.

4:05 PM: Might have a funnel!

4:14 PM: Well this new cell hasn't dropped a tornado yet. We are about to punch into the rain and hail to be able to get good east road option.

4:22 PM: In the town of Peyton now getting absolutely blasted by hail. There are a lot of stones, but thankfully they're no bigger than nickels.

4:28 PM: Heading east on Judge Orr Road, which should keep us just south of the precip. Not seeing much structure right now.

4:40 PM: Dang, cells are really congealing and gusting out.

4:50 PM: Well, as fast as storms blew up today, they really got messy just a quickly. I'm calling it a chase now so we can get back to ABQ before it gets too late (work tomorrow).

6:38 PM: At the Pueblo Texas Roadhouse for some celebratory ribs. It feels incredibly good to have finally caught our 2015 tornado - even if it was distant and ropey. What a great day!

12:45 AM: Home safely - ending our 2015 chase season!

Recap, Filmmaking Notes, and Lessons Learned