Annual Chase Trip - Days 1 and 2 Summary

The first thing I want to do in this post is introduce the 2015 chase team. This years team consists of 6 people - lead meteorologist and chase director, Jason Berry, assistant chase director, Ashley Ellis (that's me!), Cora, Makyla, Bailey, and Darci. Cora and I are from Pennsylvania, while the rest of this year's chase team reside in Indiana.

A group photo of this year's chase crew.

A group photo of the entire crew at Buffalo Wild Wings in Owatonna, MN. 

I know this post is late (I really wanted to update every night, but simply didn't have the time!), we have been so very busy on the road. Here's a recap of what's been going on during our travels for the first few days.

A tree that was obviously hit by the tornado. The limbs are
snapped off just above the trunk, and all the leave have been
ripped off. Photo credit: Ashley Ellis

The group left Hartford City right around 8 am on Monday morning and spent the day traveling, so that we could get in position for Tuesday's area of interest. On our travels to Illinois, we came across a recent damage path from an EF4 tornado that leveled the town of Fairdale, IL. This specific tornado occurred on April 9th, 2015 and took the lives of 2 people. I've said this before and I'll say it again, we as chasers absolutely hate hearing about these tornadoes that level small towns and take lives. We like to see tornadoes spawn in open fields and not damage any property or take any lives. Last year on the trip, something very similiar happened. Though I have experienced this type of thing before, everyone else in the van had not. It's a very sobering sight. You just can't comprehend what your eyes are seeing. I didn't think I'd come across a sight like this again this year. Here at StormTrackerWx our thoughts go out to everyone affected by the April 9th tornado.

After seeing Fairdale, we headed back to the highway and ran into a small cell that produced pea sized hail a few miles down the road. We quickly stopped at a nearby gas station to take a few pictures of the hail and surrounding clouds. Once we got back on the road it was all smooth sailing to our destination for the night. Our journey ended up in Portage, Wisconsin that night. For this leg of the trip we traveled about 7 hours and 380 miles.

A meeting with Jason to discuss plans for Tuesday.
Photo credit: Ashley Ellis

Lead meteorologist, Jason Berry, holding pea-sized hail
produced from a cell right out side of Monroe Center, Illinois on Tuesday.
Photo credit: Ashley Ellis

We left the hotel in Portage, WI at 8:30 am with a game plan of staying in Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the night. While traveling through Minnesota, we came across a cell that pretty much "chased" us. We got ahead of it and had an opportunity to stop and take some photos while keeping an eye on it. There was a very well defined shelf cloud and the photos that came from this stop were just breathtaking. I think the surroundings in this area just made the photo op so much better. Here are a few, check it out for yourself!

StormTrackerWx lead meteorologist, Jason Berry, snaps a photo of an impressive shelf cloud in Minnesota.
Photo credit: Ashley Ellis

The group taking photos of a shelf cloud in Minnesota.
Photo credit:Ashley Ellis

After our encounter with this amazingly photogenic shelf cloud, we drove on the fringe of it for a while, and eventually out of it and toward our stopping point for the night. Our trip for the day ended in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I personally found being in South Dakota to be pretty cool because I know that, for me, I will probably never be there again. I can mark that off my bucket list! Keeping track of mileage and hours, this leg of the trip racked up 403 miles and 5 hours 48 minutes of driving time.

The next post will contain a summary for days 3-5, keep checking back for updates!