On June 6th, I spent most of the afternoon and early evening washing and waxing my Ford Escape enjoying the spring weather southeast of Kewanee, IL. A few "pop-up" thunderstorms were in the forecast on this day so I kept a close eye on things not expecting to see much of anything truthfully. I'd check the radar every once and awhile during the afternoon as weak instability began to build. I was sitting in an area featuring only about 500J/kg of CAPE, 0-6km shear at 30kts, and moisture somewhat lacking with dew points just below 60°F. With that being said, a weak low pressure center was overhead with instability showers developing by late-evening. I was outside shooting some photos of some of the towering cumulus (TCU) when I noticed what appeared to be a funnel cloud to my south. I pulled out my Canon 70-300mm telephoto-zoom lens for a better look. Sure enough a legit cold-air funnel under the updraft's base was visible in the southern horizon. It was a nice surprise that lasted a couple of minutes. I spent another hour or so shooting some more towering cumulus in the eastern horizon near sunset. I've added a few photos from this unexpected funnel cloud below:
cold-air funnel (looking south)...
on this evening!
I've added a YouTube time-lapse from my GoPro's
from May 30th as well (above)
I've added a YouTube time-lapse from my GoPro's
from May 30th as well (above)
I'll update once again here soon with a rare HIGH RISK chase day for northern Illinois on June 12th. Stay tuned for that later post as well.
