Day 6, May 20th 2002

Route: From Roswell, NM, through Colorado toward Cheyenne, Wyoming, approx. 580 miles Highlights: Scenery in New Mexico and a hazy passage through Denver. Text: Jules Geirnaerdt

A definite driving day today, with a mere 600 miles in front of us. Because of the possibilities of severe weather in Wyoming and Montana on Tuesday, we head north through New Mexico toward Colorado, where the landscape is realy dry from this spring's drought, and a south-easterly breeze makes it a hazy end of the day.

So the alarm clock goes off at 07.00 CDT. It's Coen's turn to prepare the weather briefing. A quick look reveals there isn't a remote chance of thunderstorms or supercells today, as we already expected. With the record cold in the northeast of the US and the strong high pressure situation in the Midwest, that was the easy part. The second question was where to go to get into a good position for Tuesday. Coen directs us to Cheyenne, Wyoming. It appear that Tuesday will see a slight possibiltity both in eastern Wyoming and south-eastern Montana, but from experience we know that the situation might be upgraded. So it's into the van, drive safely, enjoy the landscape, and relax a little before things will get busy later this week.

From Roswell to Colorado takes most of the morning, starting with a desert-like picture to more mountainous scnenes. The passage over the Raton Pass to Colorado (el. 7500 ft.) is especially beautiful. It's been cloudy though, but just around lunch time the sun is out and gives us a nice relaxing break. Driving through Colorado, there are a few big cities to pass. There's Colorado Springs, and then its bigger brother Denver. But we aren't nervous about delays, because the American road system has never let us down. In the Netherlands, it would be different story. Calculate 2-3 hours of traffic jam in this situation! Denver gives us some delay, but I-25 takes us right by the Denver Bronco's Stadium and along the Business district. The weather is cloudy again but moreover, it's very hazy as south-easterly breezes trap the industrial pollution along the mountain range. And we can clearly see that it has been a very dry spring here. Vegetation is barely starting to grow, even at this time of year. However we're delighted that this 580 mile journey is going rather smoothly.

We get to Cheyenne around 6.30. At the start of the day, we still had a vision of a dip in the pool with some sunshine, but it's cloudy in Wyoming with a temperature of only 45 F. No wonder the pool's closed. It's also hard to imagine there will be thunderstorms tomorrow, but you learn to trust your own forecast. And that's what we do.

Regards,
WeatherBug StormChase Team 2002