The Happy Dust-Eater

Less than three weeks before this image was taken my heart stopped. While driving. I passed out, ran off the road, came to a stop in a small lake, and two hours later was the owner of a pacemaker.

The day after my 28th wedding anniversary, the day of the photo and last day of my recovery before returning to work as a television meteorologist, I was watching radar from home as storms developed across the Panhandle of Texas. I stepped out front and saw a beautiful storm structure in an otherwise clear sky. Still prohibited from driving after the accident I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to chase. Fortunately my wife, Tracy, was up for the challenge.

We headed southwest from Canyon, TX and quickly realized we needed to get farther east before heading south to get ahead of the storm. I remember the anxiety all chasers probably feel about choosing a route. Going through town would surely be slower but get us moving south sooner. Going farther east to the interstate would take longer but ultimately moving faster. We chose the interstate.

I’ve looked at hundreds of storm structure diagrams over the years so I know the mechanics, but there is nothing like seeing them at work in person. Warm moist air flows inward along the surface and rises. As we moved just east of the storm we noticed a dark haze on the horizon. Racing south to stay ahead of the mesocyclone we realized we could see the haze changing and moving, rapidly.

Dust is ever-present in the Panhandle and plowed fields add to the supply. The highway just south of Happy, TX is pretty flat but there is enough rise and fall to block the view of the base of a storm at times. The horizon opened up and I fired the camera shutter. I love this image because of the gentle arc created as the dust rises into the largely rain-free base. How it narrows to such a fine point as it enters the cloud. And how the blur of the grass shows the speed at which we chased. The flatness of the base still amazes me.

A large print of our “Happy Dust-Eater” now hangs in our home and I’m happy to have been blessed to be alive to see nature at work in-person rather than on a diagram.

Thanks to Tracy for driving!