Most likely she added the last part because he was squinting at her with a what-the-fuck-is-coming-out-of-your-mouth stare. He had no clue there was so much science involved in this stuff.
“In weather-for-dummies terms, the higher the number, the more likely a storm will be severe.” She traced an area on the screen. “This area here is very unstable, which is good for us. We also have agitated cumulus clouds developing on the satellite, which means storms are going to start firing along this line soon.”
He studied the black and white image. The clouds looked like pulled cotton—not really very menacing.
“Rick, let’s stick with the main routes, stay out of the convergence for now. I’m hoping most of them will be drawn farther south into the panhandle, which is also looking very promising. We’ll end up bottlenecking soon enough. Let’s avoid them for now.”
The other man nodded, put the SUV into drive, and pulled back onto the road. As they drove through a very rural part of Oklahoma, Gayle kept a close eye on the data.
“Got a couple of cells finally forming on radar, Rick. Take the road coming up on your left. We need to veer south.”
The excitement vibrating in Gayle’s voice made Mac swallow. She leaned over and turned the volume up on NOAA weather radio.
“The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for portions of western Oklahoma until 9:00 p.m. Those storms can produce winds over seventy-five miles per hour and large hail,” she told him.
Mac glanced out the window. The clouds were definitely thickening and darkening in the distance. He tried to block out the constant updates from the weather radio and gibberish filtering in from other chasers on the CB until the word “warning” caught his attention.
“Radar indicates a thunderstorm moving northeast at twenty miles per hour capable of producing heavy rain, damaging wind, and large hail. People in the warning area are advised to seek shelter.”
Gayle glanced over her shoulder at him. “We’re right on top of this sucker. You ready? Because things are about to get real.”
No. No, he was not. He gave a jerky nod anyway.
Tension crept into his body and he spent the next few minutes fighting it back. Just when he thought he had it under control, Gayle let out a breath, and said, “Oh, God, it’s beautiful. Look at it!”
Certain it was a tornado, he stared at the headrest in front of him and inhaled deeply, then he made himself look out the window. Air gusted from his lungs when a twisting mass was nowhere to be found. What was she talking about? Then he glanced into the distance and his mouth dropped open.
What. The. Fuck? In all his years in Kansas, he’d never seen anything like that. Maybe because he’d never really paid attention. Maybe because he’d never been out in the open when a storm was brewing. But there was nothing beautiful about the sci-fi monstrosity of a cloud they were approaching now.
“Pull over,” she said, slapping Rick on the arm.
He parked behind a line of other vehicles. Gayle jumped out with her camera and stood on the side of road, taking pictures. The wind was blowing so hard her clothes pressed tight to her body. He made himself get out and go stand beside her. The strength of the wind stung his eyes, and he had to put his hand in front of his face to ward off the worst of it.
“What is that?” he yelled.
She lowered the camera. “That’s what we call a mothership supercell.”
Yeah, it definitely looked like a prelude to a flying saucer bursting forth. Fucking eerie. The huge, circular cloud with protruding rings hovered above them in a black mass of menacing raw power. Seriously. This was shit they put in movies to scare the hell out of people.
What kind of horrific memories would that storm trigger?
He pushed the question away. That was the whole point of doing this. Take the power of the storms away from his past.
As she chatted away with her explanations, he didn’t like the positive way Gayle spoke about all this storm shit. It turned his fucking stomach.
After she snapped a few more pictures, they returned to the SUV. She immediately grabbed the hand microphone off the ham radio, pressed the button, and said, “This is Gayle Matthews. Storm chaser and meteorologist for WKKS News. I have visual on a rotating wall cloud moving northeast along Sam Brown Road in Mint, Oklahoma at an estimated twenty miles per hour.”
Lowering the mic, she studied all her equipment for a few moments. “There’s a road about half a mile down on the right.”
That’s all she needed to say. Rick nodded and pulled back onto the road behind a few other cars that were also leaving. Mac was a little taken aback as those vehicles turned onto the same side road. He guessed he shouldn’t be. They were using the same stuff Gayle was, so it would lead them in the same direction.
“Who were you talking to?” Mac asked.