Sunday, May 16th

Well we are off for the trip! Today was a travel day to set up for the rest of the trip.

We were only 40 minutes away from campus before we realized we had left the wxradio at the University. The weather radio is vital to our chasing and especially for our safety. We all
waited in the parking lot of "Hicksgas" in the middle of nowhere indiana while the Pilot went back to the university. After a little frisbee and relaxing the Pilot came back and we were on the road.

In central Illinois car 2 had their antenna for their CB radio fly off, and it was hanging on the side of the van. Luckily it didn't cause any damage and everything still works, so hopefully we will not have that problem again.

We continued through Illinois and made it through St. Louis by mid afternoon. There was some pretty significant flooding along the Mississippi River that we saw as we drove through.

After a long day under cloudy skies we finally had the clouds clear and we saw the first cumulus towers of the chase in the distance as we pulled into Lebanon, MO. These clouds seemed to be a sign of good things to come.

Overall, today was a good day to travel. We didn't miss anything significant in the Plains today. There was one storm near Oklahoma City which dropped 4.25 inch hail, but that was the only cell of any significance in the area.

Here at the Holiday Inn Express in Lebanon, MO we went to the local chinese buffet for dinner (Great Wall of China buffet). We just finished our weather discussion and decided we will be leaving bright and early in the morning. 7:30 am departure so we can get to Tulsa by 11:00 am. By this time we will have to decide if we are going to head straight west from Oklahoma City or if we are going to head further south towards the Texas Panhandle.

This decision cannot be made until early tomorrow morning with the new model runs. Right now we cannot define one spot which will have significant severe convection tomorrow. There are dynamics in play to the north, and instability to the south, but we will need an area where they come together. Hopefully tomorrow morning's model runs will paint a better picture.

I need to get to sleep since we are waking up early. I hope to get on at some point tomorrow to update where we decide to go, but if I can't, you can always follow my twitter at evan_bentley.