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First chase of the year completed! Full chase report and pics below!
March 25th-
Moderate Risk
(Steele, Rice, Goodhue counties, Minnesota)
It was really nice to get out again so early this year! we left
Blaine, MN around 11, got to Owatonna (my original target)
around 12:30, sat around there, got some data, had a bite to eat. Headed south
to Albert Lea. Sat around the gas station down there for a while, watched a couple different areas of CU, saw the Faribault storm go up. Finally decided to chase it after realizing that the trend for the IA/MN border
area wasnt good, Booked it up to Owatonna, got off 35, took some back roads. Tried to get our way through
rural areas to get the best view of the storm.. Booked it east and north on the pitiful road networks in Rice/Steele county
(never realized how hard it is to chase a storm that is moving northeast at 50 mph). Finally caught up to it. From about 4:30-6:15
we didnt have radar because we thought we had lost our connection, Turns out it was radar problems at MPX, if we had known
their radar was down, we could've just as easily have used La Crosse radar if we had known. Got into Goodhue county,
tried following it, end up calling it a day just west of Red Wing as we really didnt want to chase a weakening storm in to
WI. All in all, it was cool to meet some new people, especially some of the more experienced chasers. Felt good to get out
again so early as well, and atleast it wasnt a clear sky bust for us. Did see atleast 1 well defined wall cloud and possibly
2 other weak ones. Stats 3 counties (Rice, Steele, Goohue), no tornadoes, no hail, howling wind (probably 25+ sustained
surface winds before initiation), 1 tornado watch, 2 severe thunderstorm warnings, 276 miles
August 11th (Early Morning)- Slight Risk
(Ramsey county, MN)
A very powerful squall line raced through the Twin Cities metro area during the hours from about 2-4 a.m. It produced
winds up to 80 mph in Eagan and considerable tree damage in the southern metro. On the northern side, we got a great lightning
show but I only picked up a wind speed of 21 mph on my anemometer. This was also my first successful lightning attempt.
Pictures below:
August 11th (Afternoon)- Slight Risk
(Wright, McLeod, and Carver counties, MN)
Rich Gudmenson and I headed down towards Mankato around 3:00 after the SPC issued an MD for the southern
half of Minnesota. Things didnt look good up until mid-afternoon, but then things changed. It wasnt long after we got to Mankato
that a cell popped just west of Buffalo (only about 50 miles west of both our homes, instead of 90 miles south to Mankato).
We headed back up to Buffalo as this storm just blew up right in front of our faces. Meso markers started showing up and stuck
on it even after the warning was cancelled for the storm. Around 6:00 we finally intercepted it around Montrose and watched
as the shelf cloud pretty much hugged the ground. After we watched the shelf, headed back west to an area where we both thought
we had seen a couple hooks try to form. End up not seeing much of anything once we got there, but a lot of SLC's. I have
to say, this was on of the weirdest looking storms I have ever seen on radar, and cant even count the number of times we saw
this thing cycle. Started heading home around 8:00 and got some more pics on the way home of other storms in the area. None
of my pics are really that great, I picked a bad time to try and play with the settings. Stats: 1 severe storm watch, 1 severe
warning, 1 storm, 236 miles.
August 13th- Moderate Risk
(West central Minnesota)
Chased solo today for the first time, targetted Glenwood, got some nasty looks from the people in that town, not sure
why. Talked to Rich about whether or not to chase the cell in Wadena county, finally decided to head back east towards Sauk
Centre but by the time i got back to 94, the anvil was already starting to die, the storm was starting to line out, however
(i think) the inflow winds were still quite strong, even for being a ways away. Ran in to Eric Whitehill at a gas station
in Sauk Centre, Rich told me to go find Chris, i did but he was headed for the highway by the time i caught up to him. Got
some pics of the anvil from the storm up to the north, tried heading north to intercept the line moving SE but i ended up
way out of position. Was pulling 75-85 mph the entire way home to try to get in front of the line, ended up just missing it.
Headed out to watch the lightning, got some hail up to penny size in Columbia Heights. Got some pics of the lightning showing
off the shelf before it came through, got some terrential rains and a wind gust up to 38 mph (not sure that was the highest,
i wasnt running my anemometer the entire time, had a little fight with the camera). All in all, BUST. should've headed north
when i first heard the warning for Wadena county come out. Will get pics up by tomorrow and some video of the lightning. One
other thing; While driving home on 94 during the TOR warning for Anoka county, i could've swore i saw atleast a wall cloud,
only problem was the lightning never flashed in the right place to light it up completely. Miles: 302, and big thanks to Rich
for nowcasting, shoulda listened to ya! My-Cast worked great when i wasnt in the extended network, same with Verizon's GPS
system.
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