After chasing the previous day in central Iowa another short chase looked to be in store after reviewing the numerical computer models early in the morning (June 9th). I had to work most of this day at Best Buy in Peoria, IL which usually isn't a good thing when time is of the essence on a potential chase day. We all have to pay the bills though! Once I got off work around 4:00pm I analyzed the convective situation as I hit the road to (hopefully) chase some severe convection in west-central Illinois. I quickly hit I-74 south and hopped on I-72 west to intercept a discrete severe thunderstorm on radar in eastern Missouri that was going to cross the Mississippi River near Louisiana, MO. This severe thunderstorm was entering a destabilizing environment along the I-72 corridor in west central Illinois. This area featured increasing instability along an outflow boundary with around 2,000J/kg of CAPE along this corridor, 0-6km shear around 40kts, and an increasingly moist boundary-layer. Anyhow, I continued west intercepting this severe thunderstorm east of Louisiana, MO near Pittsfield, IL. Unfortunately, upon arrival the severe thunderstorm quickly fell apart as the downdraft began to choke off the updraft. So the drive was pretty much all for not, but that happens from time to time when storm chasing. I took a couple photos outside Pittsfield, IL of the decaying convection and some time-lapse video as well. Afterwards, I made the relatively "short" drive back to Peoria, IL. I've added just a couple photos of the brief chase and some time-lapse video below:
View of the decaying updraft in west-central Illinois...
One more shot as the storm fizzles near sunset...
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I've added a very short YouTube time-lapse (above)
That wraps up this chase day account. I got "bit-up" more by mosquitoes than I saw storms on this evening actually. I did manage to chase the next day as well in west-central Illinois however. I'll be posting that chase account shortly...
