June Storm Chase Tour Recap

After 7 days, 7 states, and 3,700 miles, the June Chase Tour has come to an end.

Here's a quick recap.

Day 1:

Chase members departed Indianapolis for the Great Plains.  Our destination was extreme western Nebraska.  The Storm Prediction Center had issued a Slight Risk for severe thunderstorms for Day 2 that included the Sioux Falls region of South Dakota.  Our mission was simply to get in to position for the following day.

After more than 500 miles, we pulled off Interstate 80 in Council Bluffs, Iowa and enjoyed a nice dinner, before heading to bed.

Day 2:

We awoke to find the best location for severe storms had shifted further west toward Rapid City.  This included a 5% risk for tornadoes (5% risk of a tornado occurring within 28 miles of a point).  It was in agreement that we would travel northwest from Council Bluffs to Valentine, Nebraska.

After another 5 hours in the van, we arrived in Valentine with time to spare.  Following a quick bite to eat, we checked the latest weather model data and decided to move north to South Dakota, in pursuit of weak convection near the remote Indian Reservation of Rosebud.  However, the atmosphere was strongly capped, preventing large scale ascent needed for storm development.



A tornado warned supercell forms to west of Alliance, Nebraska on June 11,

2013.  Photo by Jason F. Berry.

About 45 minutes later, we headed west on Highway 20 toward more promising storms in the Nebraska Panhandle.  Two hours later, we pulled off on Highway 87 just outside the town of Alliance, where a supercell was showing signs of lowering and strong rotation.

Not soon after, the cell we were tracking prompted a Tornado Warning and we were in excellent position!  Our team was treated to classic textbook storm structure, including a wall cloud, mammatus, and LOTS of lightning.

After the warning was allowed to expire, we decided to rest in Alliance for the night.

Day 3:

With the high pressure "death" ridge building further north towards the Canadian border, the best area for storm development had once again shifted to our north and west.

Following Highway 2 out of Alliance, we eventually hooked west and followed 20 into East Central Wyoming.  Needless to say, the higher terrain of the Plains is a desolate area for storms, due to lacking low level moisture (more on this later).  However, it is one of the more pristine areas to chase in.

After stopping for lunch in Buffalo, we decided to head east on Interstate 90 toward Gillette, where the terrain was a bit flatter and the environment looked ripe for storm development.  Once in Gillette, we managed to find a suitable place to pull off just outside of town.  Soon after, a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for a strong cell tracking in our direction.

Back to the part about the high Plains being a bleak environment for robust supercells.  With weak winds aloft and lacking low level moisture, the cell quickly began to decay.  About 30 minutes after the warning was issued, rain cooled air had effectively choked off the storm's updraft.  After 45 minutes, the cell was dead.

What was once a promising severe storm had vanished in the wind, with little or no precipitation.  We were still treated to some of the best storm structure of the trip, however.

With daylight fading with the storms, we decided to call it quits in Gillette.

Day 4:

This was mainly a recreational day, as storm development was too far to our west, and we needed to get in to position for the following day.  We departed Gillette for South Dakota, destination Mount Rushmore National Park.  After stopping in the quaint town of Keystone for lunch and sightseeing, we partook in all the Park had to offer.

Mount Rushmore National Park, South Dakota.  Photo by Jason F. Berry.

Soon after, we headed south toward Custer State Park, where it's safe to say the buffalo roam free... Literally!  Traveling along the main drag that winds through the Park, we encountered many bison a long the way.  We also spotted many other park inhabitants, including prairie dogs and deer.

Custer State Park, South Dakota.  Photo by Jason F. Berry.

Our sightseeing was cut short by dwindling daylight and the need to head 250 miles east for the next day.  After a 3-4 hour drive, we finally arrived in the town of Chamberlain for the night.

Day 5:

Back to chasing, this time we were headed to Nebraska.

Out of all the days, this day showed the most promise for tornadic supercells.  Our journey led us out of Chamberlain on Interstate 90, before hooking south on Route 81 toward the town of Norfolk, within the heart of the 5% tornado risk.

We arrived in Norfolk early.  So, after stopping for lunch, we took up shop at a local McDonalds, where we continued to monitor weather model data.  Everything looked good for storm initiation, with surface based CAPE values over 3,500 j/kg, and effective bulk shear.  In fact, other veteran chasers were headed north to our location.

After about an hour, we decided to head north to Pierce, where Highway 81 intersected 20.  This gave us the option to go north, south, east, or west.  After waiting another hour or so, storms began to fire to our south, a long the surface cold front.  Soon after, the Storm Prediction Center issued a Mesoscale Discussion highlighting a heightened risk for tornadic supercells just to our east.  Our location provided quick access south on  Route 15 toward the town of Wayne.

Storms to our south were quickly evolving into an MCC (Mesoscale Convective Complex).  This created a problem for two reasons: 1) We were too far north to intercept anything tornadic, which meant we would need to punch the core (storm chasing slang for driving through the strongest part of a storm), and 2) Storms were robbing inflow necessary for development to our north.

We pulled off Route 15 south of Wayne to wait for the storms.  Once they arrived, our van was swallowed whole by a "Mothership" that produced heavy rain, wind, and small hail.  After waiting in upwards of 15 minutes, we decided to press on through blinding wind driven rain.

By this time, a Tornado Warning had been issued for the city of West Point.  We were in position to intercept.  However, circulation looked rather weak and rain wrapped, and racking further east meant possibly driving in to a tornado.

Having effectively avoided the storm's mesocyclone, we continued through heavy rain, vivid lightning, and minor flash flooding.  We eventually arrived in the town of Fremont, where a very exhausted crew took refuge for the night.

Day 6:

Our final chase day.

We departed Fremont on Highway 30 south on Interstate 29 toward Cameron, Missouri.  Once again, the Storm Prediction Center had issued a Slight Risk for severe thunderstorms within a broad area covering Central and Northern Missouri, as well as Central and Southern Iowa.  This included a 5% risk for tornadoes in extreme Northeast Missouri.

By the time we stopped in the town of Cameron however, the environment was less than suitable for storm development.  Low level moisture was more than abundant, but cloud cover was suppressing surface based CAPE needed for large scale ascent.  After stopping for lunch, we decided to continue east on Route 36 toward Kirksville, where CAPE values approaching 3,500 j/kg looked promising for severe storm development.  Having arrived in Macon, we waited patiently for storms to fire.

Within the hour, numerous discrete cells began popping-up on radar.  Each showed signs of intensifying, but once again a multi-cell cluster of embedded thunder was developing just to our south and east.  Instead of driving north to Kirksville, we decided to continue east on 36 toward the town of Hannibal.

Map illustrating our 3,700 mile round-trip chase from Indianapolis, Indiana.

Around 45 minutes later, we arrived in Hannibal, only to discover the storms we were tracking had rapidly evolved into another MCC, something we had hoped not to encounter on our final day of chasing.  After a lengthy discussion, the decision was made to head south on Highway 61 toward St. Louis.

We did encounter one severe cell, however.  Shortly before dinner, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for our location, a fitting tribute from Mother Nature for our final night together as a chase team.

#ChaseOn