Day 4, May 18th 2002

Route: From Kerrville (west of San Antonio) to Fort Davis in SW Texas.
Highlights: Dust devil hits the van and small thunder storm in Fort Davis
Text: Eric Terpstra

Today we do not expect any severe thunderstorms so we decide to take a little vacation. The weather maps promise some activity in New Mexico or Colorado on Monday so we decide to go west, to the Davis mountains in SW Texas. But, as many times, a day off can still bring some interesting weather. Our van even got hit by a dust devil.

In the morning hours we drive west on I-10, the weather is fine with small cumulus clouds and temperatures rising into to mid 70's pretty quickly. While driving west, the landscape becomes drier and drier and we finally end up in the desert. We see quite a few small dust devils. Near Balmorhea we take an hour or so to sit at the lake with the same name. In the nearby Davis mountains clouds are rapidly rising, but a storm does not develop yet. The water is pretty warm, but none of us dares going for a swim. Then suddenly Rob starts to scream: Look, look!!! As we turn our heads, we see a large dust devil making its way across the road just in front of us. It hits the van, but fortunately it's just a dust devil and not its bigger brother, the tornado.

While driving to Fort Davis the clouds start to develop further into a storm. In the early evening we even see some mammatus clouds and hear a rumble of thunder. People in Fort Davis are extremely friendly. A guy at the Stone Village Motel called all other motels in town because we need telephone and his doesn't have one. A great guy. The day ends with a nice dinner and a few drinks. Hopefully the weather will turn for the bad the next days and we will see some big storms, with perhaps a tornado or two.

Regards,
WeatherBug StormChase Team 2002