DAY 9: June 1 - Down day for travel - Texas to Kansas

Wednesday, June 1 - The severe risk today was way up in the Dakotas, much too far for us to reach in time. Furthermore, the next few days look very good for Kansas and Nebraska, so we don't want to stray too far north anyway. We're in Liberal, Kansas now, after driving the 5 hours from Lubbock. We needed the down day to rest up, as the next few days look to be very active. Thursday looks like a good storm photography day right here close to where we are, so we likely won't have to travel far tomorrow.

Our storm photography expedition prospects look to be finally turning around, with the severe weather patterns returning to the Plains. A strong trough is digging into the western USA and will stay in place for the next week or two, providing day after day of severe storms. And on another note of good news- thanks to some gracious coworkers who were willing to swap work dates, Matt is going to be able to come out and chase with us after all. We were able to get him a reasonable last-minute flight from Raleigh to Manhattan, Kansas on Thursday. We'll be picking him up after the expedition tomorrow, and he'll be with us until at least Tuesday.

Our expedition has definately had its ups and downs. We've endured bad weather patterns, cold viruses, work scheduling frustrations and weeks of waiting in uncertainty. And our patience is paying off. We've already scored one tornado and some amazing sights, and the upcoming week looks exciting.

Had a little time today to start on the scrapbook of photos centered around the expedition vehicle - click to view.