USMA Severe Weather AIAD

 It seems like just yesterday we left New York and barely knew each other. But on the morning of June 3, the end of our trip had arrived and we all felt like the closest of friends. Although we didn't have the greatest breakfast in Roswell, the waffles were shaped like aliens! We soon got into the van for the last big drive. By lunchtime, we arrived in Amarillo, TX at the Big Texan. Dr. Kalkstein said he'd visited this place every time, and that it was a must-see. Inside, we were hit in the face by a wall of Texas - and the menu didn't disappoint. We all got steaks (of course) and were serenaded by the guitar man. Nobody was hungry afterwards, and we only had a few more hours to go. The drive to Oklahoma City passed quickly and we checked into our last hotel. Our last real meal together was at an Indian restaurant, since we wanted to expand our taste buds. It contrasted nicely with the Texas beef from earlier, and before we went to bed we had to clean out the van (it held u...

 As the trip began to wind down, we planned carefully to fit in a few last base visits and fun things to do. We knew that we would have to start heading back to Oklahoma soon, but we could still explore some of New Mexico. On June 2, we used up the remaining West Point gifts for the forecasters we visited, which were both at Holloman AFB. Since we didn't have to go anywhere from the hotel, we had a relaxed morning before meeting the weather team on base. They had a similar mission and duties to other forecasters that we'd visited, but they explained some of the unique challenges of their situation. Being in a valley surrounded by mountains, Holloman can get strong thunderstorm outflows that change direction, making flying very dangerous. New Mexico also experiences seasonal monsoons, which will start in a few weeks. The 1LT in command was a recent USAFA grad, and she told us that their team is stretched thin during the monsoon months. We were able to relate with some of her exp...

 We had come to the point in our AIAD where the weather had settled down, but we could still learn a lot from military bases and national parks in the coming days. On June 1, we targeted Fort Bliss and White Sands National Park, diving deeper into the Southwest. We ate a quick breakfast in Van Horn and drove west to El Paso, TX where Fort Bliss is. MAJ Hughes brought us to the Biggs Army Airfield's 3rd Weather Squadron, a group of Air Force meteorologists similar to other bases. We spoke with an airman who explained how he interacted with the numerous helicopter pilots stationed at Bliss, and that wind gusts and dust storms were their primary concern. El Paso is far less threatened by severe thunderstorms than the Midwest bases, but these factors can still prevent aircraft from flying safely. We learned how the topography affects weather conditions, and how Bliss serves as a sort of forward outpost for Midwestern forecasters. After our visit, we ate lunch at the PX food court and c...

 As one of our last opportunities to see severe weather, we needed to carefully decide our target for May 31. A dry line had set up in East NM and West TX, which would initiate some strong thunderstorms. The SPC was predicting an area south of Hobbs, and Dr. Kalkstein agreed that we needed to go back to Texas. After breakfast, we drove through the oilfields of the Permian Basin once more and into the Texas desert. Some strong cells were forming near Fort Stockton, so we ate lunch there and got into position. From a vantage point 15 miles away, we observed one storm organize itself and form a significant rotating wall cloud. We got on the move and intercepted it, hoping to see a tornado. Although there was none, it boasted a menacing dark green color and turbulent downdraft that came with heavy rain. Once it passed, we backtracked through the hail that had dropped, and there were some golf ball sized stones. Being that the road network in West Texas was very spread out and unreliabl...