| June 9, 2006 |
Statistics:
| Initial Target: | Sioux City, IA |
| Departure: | Bolingbrook, IL 8:00 am CDT |
| Arrival: | Lorah, IA 12:00 am CDT June 10 |
| Intercepts: | Cherokee, IA |
| Tornadoes: | 0 |
| Hail: | None |
| Wind: | Non-Severe (not measured) |
| Features: | Rain Shafts |
| Miles: | 691.5 |
Summary:
| Chased marginal setup targeting Sioux City, IA. Drove all day through miserable heat with no air conditioning. Intercepted weak storms/showers, but impressive surface winds in Cherokee IL. Witnessed high contrast rain shafts bent by strong surface winds. Called chase a bust and headed to I-80 to camp out for the night, preparing to chase MO the next day. |
Crew and Equipment:
| Solo chase. Equipment consisted of a TH-F6A Tribander, and GPS/Cell Phone equipped laptop. Photography by Skip Talbot. |
Details:
| Sadly, the Shibster was wrecked for the last time in May.
This was my first chase with '99 Chrysler Voyager minivan. The setup
was marginal, but school had just gotten out and I had one weekend free
before my summer research program started so I went for it. The target was Sioux City, IA near the triple point where a warm front was lifting across Iowa. Marginal instability and shear with a cap was forecasted. SPC went with only a 2% tornado threat. |
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| The van handles a lot nicer on the highway than the Shibster did. The only problem was that the van's air conditioning was out. I baked all the Sioux City,my shirt drenched when I stopped for gas. Skies were blue all the way to the target area, the cap holding tight. I stopped out on the east side of town at Wendy's to get a drink and cool off in the air conditioning. I brought my laptop with to monitor the conditions. Scattered storms were going up in extreme southeastern South Dakota. Some of them were severe warned with large hail, but they were north of the warm front, not surface based, and looked rather disorganized on the radar. These storms turned out to be the best the day had to offer, but I didn't go after them. The conditions looked better to the east and I waited for initiation along the warm front in Iowa. | |
| Scattered showers started to pop up in northwest Iowa. Hoping that the show was about to start I left Sioux City and went after them. The storms never intensified, however. I caught up with some of the showers near Cherokee, IA and pulled off for some pictures. The sun was starting to set at this point, contrasting rain shafts under the showers. Surface winds were quite strong, gusting to 30 mph or so. The gusts are apparent in the curving shafts. |
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| I called the chase a bust and started heading south. There was another setup the next day in Missouri and I wanted to be in position to chase it Sunday before heading for home. I stopped for a late night dinner at Burger King in Fort Dodge (I think). Near the I-80 onramp at Lorah, IA I gassed up and found a cozy spot off the side of the road to spend the night. I was about a mile from the highway on a gravel drive. There was a gurgling creek nearby, distant lightning, and about a million fireflies. With the seats out of the van, I spent the night there in a sleeping bag with the windows cracked. The next day's forecast didn't materialize so I just headed for home. |  |
| Conclusion: Long, lonely bust. I had the day off and it would be one of my last chances of spring/summer to chase so I had to go for it. COD intercepted the South Dakota storms spotting little structure.
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Lessons Learned:
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