During my 4th day in the plains, the SPC issued a moderate risk for severe weather along with a 15% hatched tornado risk area. This was the highest risk day of the chase. However, prior to the main outbreak during the evening, a lone Low Precipitation Supercell developed late in the morning and moved across northwestern Kansas in the early afternoon. This supercell did not produce a tornado, but it displayed a beautiful laminar updraft structure for its entire lifespan. The striations in the storm structure were likely due to comparatively stable layers of air being forced up to the dewpoint as they encountered the storm's rotating updraft. This time lapse also does an excellent job of revealing the rapid change in wind direction (directional shear) with height. The low level flow into the storm is out of the southeast, however, wind profiles rapidly veer to southwest in the mid levels and west toward the top of the storm. As air is ingested into the updraft it forms very pronounced striations giving the storm an almost lenticular appearance.
