This was our last chase day. The threat area was close to the easten TX/OK border. We left Medicine Lodge, after having a good breakfast at the diner next to our hotel. US-281 took us into Oklahoma, and we switched onto US-183 near Seiling. At Clinton, we picked up I-40 and headed west to Sayre. Bobby was already in Sayre, waiting at a truckstop and watching the cumulus field build. We grabbed a quick, but decent lunch at the truckstop.
As cells began to fire, we headed east along OK-152. I should mention our logic at this point: There was a dryline that was expected to move east from the TX/OK border, upper level dynamics all over the area, and a frontal boundary that was moving southeast from around Shamrock, TX to Wooward, OK. We wanted the place where the dryline and front intersected, and we traced a path based on what we thought the current motion of these boundaries would be.
Somewhere, Bobby went north and we headed south. He figured he'd stay out of some of the storms (that ended up being weak) that had formed to the south, and we tried to trace where the intersection would be. Instead, we both busted today. The frontal boundary never moved, it became stationary, as did the dryline. No intersection, no strong storms.
We began the long trek back to Tucumcari, where we spent the night, en route to CA for a conference.
Summary of 2008: We busted most days, seeing very little. This was a short trip, combined with fast moving storms and a few busted forecasts. As always, storm chasing is a learning experience. For instance, fast storms- stay put, don't try to 'catch' them. Also, watch your boundaries; don't expect them to just migrate as they were expected to. We also fought some equipment difficulties, which will be remedied for next year.
Despite some of the setbacks, we had some victories as well. I made 409 QSOs from 40 new counties. We also managed to make it through risk management here and get partial funding for our trip. And, as usual, the more time spent driving around storms, the better. Now I'm looking forward to next year....