Yesterday brought our second “go” day with more favorable weather conditions than the first day. We left Childress, TX moving northeast back towards Clinton, OK, grabbed lunch, and then continued towards Canton, OK. We waited at a school parking lot in Canton for convection to begin. Once it began we started to target a line of storms in Okeene. There was no dominating cell so we deployed a head of the line to allow the DOWs to scan. The DOWs detected some midlevel rotation to the south, so we un-deployed and headed towards Watonga. During this time a wall cloud developed with some rotation. Since the storm line kept changing, the new targeted required deployment in Binger, OK. The DOWs continued to detect midlevel rotation, but all VORTEX2 operations were ceased due to darkness. The disappointment of the night came about an hour later when a tornado was reported Southwest of Oklahoma City from the same cell we were tracking.

Today was a down day in Yukon, OK. DOW 7 received a drive shaft tune up and hydraulic work, while DOW 5 needed its generator repaired. The other team members worked to repair and modify tornado pods. Tomorrow appears to be a “go” day.

Also, some of you have been wondering about hotels. We have been lucky enough to be staying in some awesome hotels thanks to Dr. Josh Wurman’s wife and Logistics Coordinator Ling. I have included some pictures below of the room from the Country Inn and Suites.

I am closing with a panoramic shot of most of the VORTEX2 fleet in Canton, OK. (click for full resolution)
untitled_panorama1