27may (Memorial Day)    Ankur

Memorial Day was a working day for those of us in the field.  Despite
iffy weather in the morning, we ended up going with our mission to not
make the same mistake as the day before.  A large mesoscale convective
storm over Oklahoma and Texas gave us worries initially, but eventually we
decided the cirrus anvil behind it would clear up.  I got to fly on the UW
King Air over southern Kansas, which was real fun; the support team and
pilots for the plane are great.  I spent my time in the co-pilot seat
watching for towers and crop dusters as we flew along at 90 m/s at 200
feet above the ground, calculating boundary layer heights from soundings
on the funky touch-screen display, and checking out the great data we were
collecting despite clouds popping in and out.  We had the P-3 with the
Leandre Lidar fly overhead 5 times.  I had visual site of it many times
but tried not to look straight up into it.  The P3 later flew out west and
apparently got some huge boundary layer gradients (1-8 g/kg water vapor
mixing ratio, winds from 1 m/s to 11 m/s).  Can't wait to see that data.
Anyway, for more details on the King Air flight, read the King Air Mission
Summary for 27 May.

Tomorrow is a convective initiation plan - the boundary is way to the
southwest, but they're planning to throw the entire armada at it.  The
secondary mission is boundary layer studies over central Kansas.  We'll
find out sometime after 7:30 am tomorrow what will happen.
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KEN DAVIS

No mission was flown on 26 May due to forecast clouds.  It turned out to be
clear in S. Kansas.  A N-S line of storms broke out the night of 26 May/morning
of 27 May right across central KS and OK.  This might be a case where forcing of
the land surface makes a difference?  Or where additional ABL and H2O data from
a 26 May daytime mission might have improved a simulation of the convection that
happened that night?

Ever since the CI mission of 24 May there have been storms and precip breaking
out around the region (through 28 May).

Reported 80 mm of rain at site #1 ISFF station on 27 May!!

(A few mm to 10 mm reported at other sites over the past few days.  Heaviest
precip appears to have been in the west?)