June 18, 2025

I was setup to chase this day, but the kids were at a morning day camp at the community college. Cells erupted south of town and went tornado warned just as I was scheduled to pick them up. Sirens wailing and low clouds streaming past, I arrived to see that they had been moved... somewhere. The staff couldn't tell me where they actually were taking shelter. I could only stand around feeling helpless and frustrated while the forward flank of the warned cell tracked overhead, the business end well to the south. Radar showed it cycling once or twice and then it was done. I had no view of it through buildings, trees, and rain like some kind of bad dream where I'm just trying to see an unexpected tornado. We were finally led to a building across campus. It was a hassle getting everyone out of there, followed by a sprint back to the car before the forward flank of the next cell in the line hit.

We chased northeast for a while noting some lowerings and gust fronts, but we had pretty much missed the show and were falling behind as well. We called the chased and stopped in Clinton for lunch with a few other chasers that were in the area. Clear skies and howling westerlies behind the cold front greeted us as we left.