Day 9: Wichita, KS

We weren't sure we'd be chasing today at all, but here we are, in Wichita, after chasing. We weren't feeling at all great because of the brutal hotel last night--it stayed hot all night despite the cranked air conditioning, some of the toilets didn't flush properly and some of the showers didn't drain properly. The "swimming pool" was an under-construction mess that looked really creepy at night, and the reception at the desk in the morning when confronted with these problems was not courteous.

I will not be staying at the Lubbock in ever again. Neither will anyone on the trip.

Anyhow, after getting out of there, most of us with 2 or 3 hours' sleep (although me being the only one used to it on this trip), we stopped at IHOP in Plainview--both to get some coffee and to clear our minds to think. We looked at information and decided that the risk for good storms was high enough to stick around for most of the day.

And boy, were we rewarded.

We got a supercell pretty much right from initiation in the Oklahoma panhandle and followed it, as well as a sister to it to the northwest, for the better part of 4 hours. The main one had, at times, a great RADAR presentation. However, the northwest one looked very beautiful, pretty LP-ish. Anyhow, we were getting close to the time we had to leave and so we delayed moving for a bit; our decision was quickly made for us as we all had to pile into the vans in a hurry--big hail began to fall. A lot of quarters and loonies; there were some golf balls and maybe some baseballs, too; I wasn't confident enough in that, though, so the report we made was of golf balls.

We are in Wichita, KS and we will be back in the Chicago area tomorrow evening. Pictures won't be forthcoming tonight, sorry, because I didn't sleep well last night and that bed is calling my name.

Pictures will be on their way, however.

Good night.