5/21/2014 - Adams County, CO Supercell

We left DKB at 3:30 am to make the target of Denver-Limon by initiation time on this slight risk day. Despite this early leave, we were still late since a storm formed near Denver very early in the afternoon. We made it to the storm as it rotated east of Denver International Airport. It featured a rain-wrapped low-level mesocyclone that shrouded any tornadoes that may or may not have been inside. We planted to the northeast of the storm for structure shots and to stay away from the green ants. The storm wrapped up a few times, even putting on a very convincing looking tornado show once. Eventually, we shifted south to get a bit closer to gas along the interstate. Unfortunately, as we did that, the RFD surged just as we neared US 36. You can see this surge on the radar animation here. This was bad timing as that surge coincided with a mass of chasers heading east to get out of the potential wind driven hail and circulation. It made the decision to get the hell out of there and grab some gas along the interstate easy.  After the gas-up, the storm congealed with other convection moving in from the southwest and took on a less organized appearance on radar. We peeled off and headed to Denver to overnight.

r

Our view, from the northeast looking southwest, as we approach the rain-wrapped mesocyclone