Arriving in Hays, Kansas, late yesterday afternoon, I saw a thunderstorm approaching from the south. After crossing the east side of town, it eventually merged with a large cluster of thunderstorms over Russell, about 25 miles east of Hays.
From my room, I was treated to a broad view of the Great Plains to the northeast and watched as the Russell storms spread northward and eastward. Once the sun set, the lightning show was spectacular, with some cloud-to-cloud strikes radiating back toward Hays. Consulting the weather radar, I found that a chain of severe thunderstorms stretched from Wichita, Kansas, to the Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota. In addition, a mass of storms in northeast Colorado extended the turbulence westward; indeed, as was evident on Flight Aware, cross-country air traffic was funneled north of the Black Hills or south of Wichita.
The light show from this massive band of storms continued late into the evening, well past my usual bedtime. But one of nature's most awe-inspiring spectacles was well worth a modest loss of sleep.
