Tour #3; June 1- June 9:

 On Day #1, we dance with the elements as a complex of thunderstorms develops over the Wichita KS area. Dark clouds, lightning and heavy rain intersperse with bright sunshine, and an occasional tornado warning is called on a storm that produces a brief wall cloud.

By sunset, we end up in the Wellington KS area, feeling awe as we watch a huge thunderhead thrust into the eastern and northern sky, turning sunset colors, thrusting a squall arc outside of its center into clear blue sky. 

 On day #3, our action begins after sunset.  A huge thunderhead blossoms in the Harper Co. KS. Area, and we give chase, intercepting an awesome display of Mother Natures power and splendor.

A lightning illuminated wall cloud arises just to our SW. It’s a huge bell shaped wall cloud, and from atop its cauliflowery tower, lightning continuously slithers into clear air like snakes springing out of a box.

 As the wall cloud slides closer, hail begins to fall, getting bigger. We want to drive about 5 miles to the South to look for development, but there are no roads that take us anywhere near there. Already, golf ball hail has been reported just two miles to our SW.

So we follow the roads east and south and watch the incredible light show, keeping the wall cloud in sight. We dance with this storm until nearly midnight.

 Day #4 brings us profoundly beautiful thunderheads at sunset to our West as we are near Wichita KS.  They tower into the blue sky in massive pinks, charcoals and oranges; with gigantic anvils and rain free bases.  Shadows and sun streaks spew in between the towers and across the blue sky. This is some of the most photogenic clouds I’ve ever seen.  They swiftly collapse after sunset and the loss of daytime heating.

 Day #5 is a truly splendorous and exciting journey into the wild world of storms.

In the early morning, we core punch a massive MCC (Mesoscale Convective Complex) in South- central KS.  We delight to a showering of blue lightning bolts that curl and dance nearby, evaporating into car-shaking claps of thunder.  We pursue the storm as it continues to build eastward in massive mountains of cauliflowery grays that drop dense curtains of rain earthward.

 Eventually we enter the rainwall, and soon experience perhaps the heaviest rain that I have ever driven in.  The road literally disappears from view outside the car window.  Rain falls so hard that I cannot see at all where I am going. With wipers at full swipe, I slow to 25 MPH.  This happens again and again, alternating with places where I could see one or two dashed lines ahead of me. 

The sky turns dark as night despite it now being mid-morning. Spectacular lightning soon replaces the pounding rain.  Fiery bolt after fiery bolt lands everywhere, all directions. It is breath taking.

 We finally punch all the way through the system and watch it come through all over again.

As it passes on, the sky turns greenish in that direction. Then we drive 40 miles back west for lunch in famous Andover, KS.

 In the early afternoon, we watch as a broken line of thunderheads swiftly arises across the NW and W. sky.  We give chase to one of the storms, that soon has a tornado warning on it for the Medicine Lodge KS. area.