Week in Review & Look Ahead

Started the week on the road, heading to Denver, CO to return the vehicles from project TWISTEX, left Ames, IA around 7:30 am CDT and arrived in Lakewood, CO at 5:45 MDT. Ate supper at the Samaras household, featured grilled cheeseburgers, potato salad and some green pepper chili which we all attempted to eat before realizing it was simply too hot for our tastes. The evening featured tornado video and talk about several things related to weather and research projects that were ongoing and expected to occur. I ended my night around midnight, while other members met up with previous classmate from Iowa State to head downtown. This left me with a little extra sleep and the opportunity to wake up early on Monday to take in the views that the Denver surrounding had to offer. Here are a few thumbnails of the picture I have to offer, more can be seen in the Denver, CO Photo Album.



The return trip left Denver by 9:30 MDT, traveling to Ogallala, NE for dinner and refuel; then blasted through the remainder of the state and halfway across Iowa to arrive in Ames by 8:45 CDT. Didn't stay long there as I still wanted to make the trip home that night, the 2 1/2 hour long trip seemed like nothing after traveling nearly 11 hours the day before and already that day. Arrived at my girlfriends house around 11:30 PM that night, ending the travels for the TWISTEX project this year.

I've spent the rest of the week doing random things, enjoying the holiday with 2 firework shows and a concert up at the Iowa Great Lakes. Now relaxing for the rest of the month, or at least for another week or so... Some severe storms moved through on the 3rd, nothing much to see however structure wise or even as far as hail sizes go across northwest Iowa. A nice shower moved through yesterday as well, creating a nice scene for the sunset last night. Expecting hot conditions for the weekend over the state, with highs in the 90s and maybe even a couple 100 readings. The next chance of rain will move in for the work week, with scattered thunderstorms becoming possible along with our next cold front moving through. The forecast doesn't look great for severe weather, however I wouldn't rule it out quite yet.