VORTEX2 intercepts a tornado in SE Wyoming on June 5, 2009.

VORTEX2 intercepts a tornado in SE Wyoming on June 5, 2009.

VORTEX2 intercepts a tornado in SE Wyoming on June 5, 2009.

VORTEX2 intercepts a tornado in SE Wyoming on June 5, 2009.

VORTEX2 intercepts a tornado in SE Wyoming on June 5, 2009.

The tornado seen in the presvious images has now dissipated.

Later that evening, the remants of the tornadic storm are seen with a radar antenna in the left foreground.

The tornadic storm observed earlier was accompanied by large dangerous hail which smashed the windshield of this National Severe Storms Laboratory instrumented vehicle. Note leaves and mud on side of truck.

The tornadic storm observed earlier was accompanied by large dangerous hail which smashed the windshield of this National Severe Storms Laboratory instrumented vehicle. Note leaves and mud on side of truck.

VORTEX2 tornado investigators planning operations in vicinity of thunderstorm.

VORTEX2 tornado investigators stopping at sunset. Field command vehicle to left.

VORTEX2 tornado investigators peering through a windshield cracked by hail.

SR-1 passing NO-XP to position before a storm

NO-XP sets up at Fairbury Municipal Airport

NOAA/NSSL X-Pol Mobile radar uses a 3cm wavelength to detect smaller particles including cloud droplets. This radar can distinguish tornado debris clouds from precipitation.

NOAA/NSSL X-Pol Mobile radar uses a 3cm wavelength to detect smaller particles including cloud droplets. This radar can distinguish tornado debris clouds from precipitation.

NSSL's Ted Mansell pulls out plates to help stabilize the NOAA X-Pol mobile radar.

NOAA/NSSL X-Pol Mobile radar scanning before the storm.

NOAA/NSSL X-Pol Mobile radar scanning before the storm.

NOAA/NSSL X-Pol Mobile radar uses a 3cm wavelength to detect smaller particles including cloud droplets. This radar can distinguish tornado debris clouds from precipitation.

NOAA/NSSL X-Pol Mobile radar ready for operation.

NOAA/NSSL X-Pol Mobile radar after the storm has passed over

NSSL retired scientist Don Burgess pioneered the concept of "nowcasting" by using radar to direct an NSSL research team during a tornado intercept and lead the discovery of the "tornado vortex signature" seen in radar displays. Burgess leads the NO-XP mobile radar team.

Nebraska storms looking to southwest from NSSL MV.

Nebraska storms looking to southeast from NSSL MV. The team was between two storms at that time.

Viewing storm looking to the southwest

Viewing storm looking to the southwest

Spectacular thunderstorm and super cell clouds observed during VORTEX2.

Rainbow following storm passage

Weak rotation

Weak rotation

Sunset with contrails after a day of studying storms on VORTEX2

The Tornado Dome, home of Clinton, Oklahoma, high school sports audtiorium.

Clinton, Oklahoma, home of the Red Tornadoes.

The field command vehicle passing the SMART-R radar outside of Canute, Oklahoma, on I-40 heading towards Texas.

SMART-R radar heading toward the storms outside of Childress, Texas.

Storm clouds seen over a wheat field near Childress.

Terra Thompson (OU grad student), Mike Biggerstaff (OU), and Conrad Ziegler (NSSL) discuss the SR-2 radar image.

Mike Biggerstaff of OU being interviewed.

Rack of weather instruments attached to mobile mesonets

Rack of weather instruments attached to mobile mesonets

An image from the Situational Awareness Severe Storm Intercept software showing the position of each research vehicle in relation to the target storm.

A team from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana deploy a disdrometer, better known as a particle probe.

Texas Tech University scientists will deploy the B probe (a.k.a. Probe 2 or P2) featuring a Vaisala "all-in-one" instrument. This instrument includes a sonic anemometer, acoustic precipitation sensor, hail count, temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure sensors.

CU-Boulder's unmanned aerial system

CU-Boulder's unmanned aerial system

NCAR and NSSL will launch instrumented balloons to measure the pre-storm environment and help refine the V2 forecast/target for each day. They will also measure pre-existing boundaries, and their interactions with the storms, and also storm-environment interactions.

Launching a weather balloon

Tornado PODS. Tornado PODS are a 1 meter tall tower of instruments with a flat base to measure wind velocity and direction at ground level, ideally in the core flow of the tornado. Twelve PODS were deployed during the Center for Severe Weather Research during VORTEX2.

Texas Tech Stick-Net