Sunday, June 28, 2009

06/27/09 Central Illinois Linear MCS

Linear MCS north of Annawan, IL

Saturday, consisted of a very short local chase in Henry County, IL along I-74 and I-80 to intercept a very healthy MCS as it crossed the Mississippi River. Originally, I planned on targeting an area north of Davenport, IA, but with such "marginal ingredients" i.e. shear-wise I decided to nowcast from home most of the day instead. As far as the target: Well, as initiation occurred near Anamosa, IA a supercell did develop with a brief hook, but was undercut by its very own outflow. If there was gonna be a tor report on this day that's where it would have been. Anyhow, convection continued to congeal and I followed the MCS along I-80 for the most part to keep ahead of it and I later called it a chase near Bradford, IL. It appeared the MCS was beginning to weaken especially on the northern-end at that point. Also, road options with heavy construction near I-80 kind of forced my hand to end the chase abruptly. Nice to chase something different than tornadic supercells every once and awhile though!

First view of the shelf as it approached Geneseo, IL
Tis' the season now for the "shelf"
A very picturesque whales mouth near Atkinson, IL
Shelf as it crosses I-80 in Henry County, IL
Whales mouth yet again moving overhead...
View southeast of Sheffield, IL
View from behind the departing MCS
The previous nights sunset
Cirrus clouds illustrating a possible pattern-change this past Friday night?
...in this case...Yes, as another 24hrs told the story!

 
I added a short YouTube time-lapse as the shelf first past overhead (above)

Looks like a break from any severe weather for a good while. Check back every so often for new projects and local weather events however!