April 29, 2017
Statistics
Initial Target
Start
End
Storm Intercepts
Tornadoes
Hail
Wind
Features
Miles
Litchfield, IL
Springfield, IL 2:10 PM 4/29/2017
Springfield, IL 8:00 PM 4/29/2017
Dorchester, IL; Bement, IL
0
0"
0 mph
Shelf Cloud
264
Summary
Warm front setup in Illinois. Targeted cells coming out of St. Louis, intercepting line with shelf cloud west of Litchfield before targeting tornado warned cell near Decatur. Failed to get ahead of cell noting only fog and rain on cool side of the boundary north of storm.
Crew and Equipment
Solo chase. Equipment: Sony FDR-AX100.
Video
Details


12:02 AM

12:02 AM

12:13 AM
A cluster of cells was coming out of St. Louis. I hoped to catch a more discrete one as it crossed the 55 corridor, but a line had already formed. A shelf cloud was the first thing I spotted once I had a visual on the storm, not a good sign for a tornado chaser.
I let the line approach to get some shelf cloud shots before heading back up 55 north to get something more discrete heading for the warm front near Decatur.
A cell passing south of Decatur went tornado warned. I was approaching on 72 but Decatur was in the way and routing around the city is difficult. I wound up going south through the east end of town, which slowed me down quite a bit, before I could head east to catch up to the storm. I was behind it by then and still north of the warm front. Visibility was terrible on the cool side of the boundary, and I never obtained a view of any structure, just a wall of rain and fog. The storm rocketed away to the east and I realized I'd never get ahead of it so I called the chase.
Conclusion
With just a mediocre shelf cloud and then tornado warned fog, this was a solid bust in terms of storm structure. However, it was a success for the equipment test. The PVC stand still needed to be rebuilt, but a large touchscreen monitor is workable in a Subaru Forester.
Lessons Learned
- Make sure you're well ahead of a fast moving warm front storm when intercepting it because there will likely be no view if you fall behind it.