2005 National Storm Chaser Convention

February 2005 -- Denver CO

I had a great time at the 2005 NSCC in Denver! I hadn't been to Colorado for quite some time, so it was nice to see the state again. We took a little longer route from OUN to DIA, by going through the Texas panhandle, northeastern New Mexico, and north on I29 to Denver. I greatly enjoyed many of the presentations, including talks from Dr. Wurman, Dr. Bluestein, Dr. Rasmussen, and others. It was nice to be able to meet (face-to-face) many of the folks I talk to online (StormTrack, WX-CHASE, and elsewhere). Below are some pictures taken during the trip.

Most of the drive through western OK and the TX panhandle was dreary and damp. Driving through northeastern New Mexico, however, the clouds began to break up.

This is a view from a hill of the Denver skyline.

Some convective snow showers dumped some relatively heavy snow in the mountains, though didn't move off the mountains.

Dr. Wurman and others put the D.O.W.s on display.

There was a very nice photo opportunity that presented itself while heading south of I29 in eastern Colorado. Unfortunately, I missed the best pull-over spot, and thus we were stuck with being able to view only the very top of this mountain. At the time, it looked like the "Paramount Pictures" logo.

On the way back to OUN, we stopped at Mt. Capulin (the nearest volcano to OUN).

Here's another view of Capulin, though a bit closer-up.

Here's a "mound" to the south of Capulin.

I think this sums up the Texas panhandle pretty well: isolation

On the way through the panhandle, we had to stop to watch an awesome sunset.

By the time we got to Amarillo, we were pretty hungry, so we opted for an Amarillo classic -- The Big Texan -- where you can take the 72oz. challenge! Yum...