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May 4, 2012 Ord Nebraska Supercells

This day never looked crazy, but it looked like it could work out in north central NE. Early morning featured storms pushing across southern SD. Sooo many times I've seen this result in unfriendly outflow boundaries pushing through O'Neill before I get there. Sure enough. I hit the boundary around Inman NE. I didn't even bother with the couple storms that had formed off it in NE, as they were quickly north of it. I then sat on the "Inman road" just off 281 south of O'Neill for an hour or so. Eventually I wind up on a tornado warned supercell that formed nw of Brewster NE. Wasn't long later and it was completely undercut by the outflow boundary and cut off, left to die near Taylor. That would be the above image.

It figured, I had just raced way west out there past Ericson to Taylor, only to now notice the storm on radar back over there by Ericson seemingly taking off. This is it as I quickly got back over there to it. This one tried pretty hard to plant a tornado back there in the rfd notch. Several times a cone would get carved out, start to reach down, but then get undercut.

As that 2nd tornado warned supcercell was starting to wind down(always had north winds in front of it, as it too was undercut by the outflow boundary) I noticed a huge base back due west of it. So back that way I went. This would turn into the "storm of the day". This one would not soon be undercut, but instead move southeast finally with the boundary.

It's northwest of Ord yet. I'm on a road you wouldn't want to be on in the rain, or get your tires much off it even while dry, as it was a whole lot of sand. The spotter network icons had this highway here pretty plastered by now. Yet this whole time for the next couple hours and up to now was never annoying. I know why. People are allergic to gravel roads. They won't even use them to pull off on from a highway. Instead pulling on the grass on the highway shoulder. Fine by me. I used a gravel road, which there aren't many of here, on the 1st supercell, the 2nd and now this one here. I had ONE car pull on one of them with me.

You could tell this was trying to produce. The left side in there would try to get a notch going. Never could balance out and get it done though. Not wanting to lose any windows or get stuck here, I was soon on my way, but what way to go.

You either drove at it now, to go south to Ord, or you stayed on this highway and went east. The North Loup river goes south through here, so it's either be east or west of that. I chose at it now as I thought it had a chance right now.

You could tell it had a hook just watching the notch cut in and precip wrapping round. Kept thinking it might get it done in there now, but doesn't seem it ever did. This now just north of Ord.

I had to be behind and off of it for a bit as I went southeast from Ord, then back east. I did not really expect it to look very good once I got back ahead of it, but I was surprised. This was northeast of Scotia NE now. Soon as I pull in here I notice there are actually really strong east winds raging into this thing. All the action on the first two storms had north winds ahead of them, as they were behind the boundary. It was getting pretty menacing looking now too. Lightning frequent enough up there I got 2 on accident just taking these stills at like 1/20th a second. I'm wondering if this building housed pigs or chickens. Seemed like it was pigs. It was damn noisy so not for sure.

It was really trying to wrap up inside there now.

See there was another accidental bolt catch. You know they are frequent when you keep catching them in the daylight.

The area in there that was wrapping up some and trying to lower is now getting surrounded by a green core.

Green now becoming very prevalent. No signs of that lowered wrapped up area now.

The coloring was outstanding right now as it closed in at sunset. Light being filtered to red on the left, green in the core, and yellow on the right in the vault.

I moved south and stopped again here. As I drove down this gravel road there was an intense cloud to ground lightning barrage. I set up and let the camera keep taking 2 second shots while stopped down, hoping to get one but no, the barrage stops soon as I get setup. The sky was highly orange.

I had a room in O'Neill that night for the next big day(that would blue sky bust) so I drove north now. Soon as I cleared the anvil precip I stopped to shoot this scene. Weren't many cloud to ground bolts at first.

Here is 4 or 5 stacked, so the mammatus wind up stacked too.

Several stacked and then one mammatus image blended in instead of showing all the stacked mammatus that move over the shots. Not a bad chase day.

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