May 16, 2023

Colby, Kansas.

The Storm Prediction Center forecast showed a chance of storms along the Colorado-Kansas border this evening. So, I got up and got myself organized and drove from Independence to Colby, Kansas.

If you look at a standard map of the United States, generally you’ll find the left side of the map is brown and the right side is green.

Personally I prefer the brown side. Obviously I love the desert. I enjoy the mountains. And I really dig the high plains. Driving across Kansas, the transition from the “green side” to the “brown side” is evident along US 160 when a driver westbound climbs atop a ridge around Grenola. It’s west of Hutchinson when it’s evident that you’ve fully made that transition, but you really start to see it when you climb that ridge.

A few storms organized along the Colorado-Kansas border as predicted earlier in the day; they were small in nature and small in number.

Approaching storm at sunset.

I followed the approach of this storm as I drove north of Colby along K-25. I stopped for a moment to get a lightning shot, but Mother Nature is still a bit fickle, and all I got was this little bolt in the left hand corner of this shot from the little storm that could.

Small lightning bolt.

Along the way I stopped in Great Bend, Kansas to walk the downtown area and stretch my legs. Folks were very pleasant to the person they didn’t recognize and several people said hello. That’s nice.

Tomorrow I’ll head down toward the panhandles as severe weather is predicted for tomorrow night and especially Thursday afternoon and evening.

I appreciate that Mother Nature is starting to get her act together for this trip.