06/25/13 Central Illinois Convection

Convection erupts along a remnant outflow boundary along the

Illinois River east of Lewistown, IL  

On June 25th, I once again spent most of the day at work in Peoria, IL. I kept a close eye on the weather situation again. I noticed some severe convection developing along a remnant outflow boundary during the afternoon in central Illinois. These storms were severe-warned, but I decided not to chase these once I got off work around 4:00pm. I chose to hang back and await new convection to form along another boundary left from these storms farther west in west-central Illinois along the Illinois River. This area featured a destabilizing atmosphere with 3,000J/kg of CAPE, 0-6km shear approaching 40kts, and a moist boundary-layer with dew points reaching 72°F. Storms did form but struggled for most of the evening however to maintain their vigor. Nevertheless, I spent most of the evening along U.S. 24 along the Illinois River snapping photos of the developing convection before heading back to Peoria, IL shortly after sunset. These storms looked the best during the evening hours east of Lewistown, IL. They struggled to become surface-based however until the better forcing arrived after dark. Once the sun went down I called it another night in Peoria, IL. I've added a few photos from this particular evening below:

Anvil debris moving overhead...

These storms really struggled during the evening...

Another shot of the storm's anvil overhead (looking north)...

A rainbow appears under the anvil to my south!

Closer-view...

Wide-angle shot of the convection along a Illinois farm field!

And another...

Interesting colors in the sky near sunset!

A pretty cool shot of the large anvil from this storm (looking east)...

This was a rather quick chase once I got off work. Hopefully, I'll be back to this area sometime soon along the Illinois River since it's quite photogenic especially if a good storm is in this area. I'll be working on more posts over the summer. From this point forward however I'll be storm chasing locally when opportunities present themselves in the coming months. Stay tuned for future updates.

06/24/13 Illinois Derecho

A derecho races across Iowa and takes aim on central Illinois

north of Peoria, IL 

On June 24th, I was working till 5:00pm in Peoria, IL. I kept tabs on the weather situation however through most of the day at work knowing I might be out in the evening. Severe storms tracked across much of Iowa during the morning-hours and would enter an unstable environment later in the afternoon across Illinois. The area out ahead of this developing derecho was characterized by 3,500J/kg of CAPE, 0-6km shear increasing to 30kts, and a moist boundary-layer once again with dew points near 72°F. Luckily, for Peoria, IL the apex of the derecho went to the north of town producing widespread wind-damage across northern Illinois. Once the shelf cloud passed I called it an evening since this derecho was screaming east at 60mph! You couldn't chase that thing if you tried too. Frankly, you'd be the one being chased in this instance. Anyhow, I've added a few photos and a short time-lapse of the shelf cloud that accompanied the derecho below:

First view of the grungy looking shelf cloud as it progresses

into Peoria, IL 

This derecho did produce some confirmed tornadoes in

Iowa and Illinois...

Here she comes with cool outflow blowin' in from the west!

The whale's mouth rolls in (looking east)...

Quite a photogenic whale's mouth on this derecho!

Gusty winds move-in as well as the rain-curtains...

 
I've added a short YouTube time-lapse (above)

That wraps up this day. I think I had about 15 minutes of photography before this derecho was long gone racing east. Crazy! I did head out to chase after work on June 25th as well. I'll update with that post in the coming days.

06/23/13 Peoria, IL: Shelf Cloud

A photogenic shelf cloud traverses through Peoria, IL

On June, 23rd, I ended up chasing some severe convection that developed in west-central Illinois along a remnant outflow boundary. This boundary which was leftover from overnight convection in Iowa was entering quite an unstable atmosphere to its southeast. I ended up heading out along the Stark/Peoria County-line during the mid-afternoon as convection began to explode in a rather unstable atmosphere near Galesburg, IL. Upper-level winds were rather weak aloft so most of these severe storms were instability driven and outflow dominate. The area out of ahead of these severe storms featured 3,000J/kg of CAPE, 0-6km shear at 25kts, and a very moist boundary-layer with dew points near 71°F. Once I headed west out of Peoria, IL reaching IL Rt. 78 the storms had already become outflow dominate. They did however, send out a new outflow boundary that began to sag into Peoria, IL by mid-afternoon. I quickly began to head back to Peoria, IL knowing this would provide the focus for additional severe thunderstorm development with a very unstable atmosphere in place. Upon arriving back to Peoria, IL (northwest-side) the boundary lit-up overhead providing a few photogenic photos which I was quite happy with. Once the severe storms passed I called it a day and spent most of the evening relaxing as I was due back-in to work the following day. I've added photos from this local chase day below:

Outflow boundary overhead and a lowered updraft base (center)...

Boundary begins to push farther east providing some stormy lookin' skies!

Shelf cloud directly overhead in this parking-lot...

Looking east as severe convection begins to initiate along this boundary!

Precipitation starting to begin about a mile to my east...

Notice the rain and even hail shafts developing under the base...

Good stuff!

A wide-angle shot of the convection and hail shafts off to my east...

One last photo along U.S. 150 featuring the base of one of the updraft's...
 
I've added a YouTube time-lapse of the shelf cloud from a GoPro
camera mounted on a flagpole at my parent's house
outside Kewanee, IL (above)

This was a fun local chase day since it produced some interesting photos within a hour of home for myself. It's always a treat not having to go far to grab some good photos near home. The following day I left work early as a derecho was taking aim on central Illinois. I'll update with a future post regarding that day soon.

06/17/13 Summer Sunset

A photogenic sunset on this evening southeast of Kewanee, IL 

On June 17th,  I was home in Kewanee, IL and spent the evening doing some photography. Some photo-ops presented themselves as some towering cumulus (TCU) was building near sunset. It never mounted to any convection in this area, but it did help to provide a few decent photos throughout the late-evening. I've added a handful of photos from the evening below:

Building towering cumulus (TCU)...

(Canon 28-135mm zoom-lens)

A pretty cool shot here with marginal instability just before sunset...

(Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom-lens)

A wide-angle shot of some towering cumulus (looking north)...

(Canon 28-135mm zoom-lens)

Instability beginning to wane with the loss of surface heating...

Some nice shades of red were featured in the western horizon

at sunset!

Another nice shot...

My favorite shot on this particular evening with the red glow

 (background) and the lighthouse (foreground)...

One wide-angle shot as I call it an evening...

I made back to Peoria, IL on June 23rd to photograph some severe convection. I'll update with a post regarding that day in the coming days. Stay tuned.

06/14/13 Iowa Elevated Supercells

Elevated supercell at dusk along I-80 west of Des Moines, IA 

On June 14th, I had my sights set on northeast Nebraska and far western Iowa for another chase day. By mid-morning, I began heading west along I-80 in Iowa to find a destabilizing environment which would set the stage for the possibility of discrete supercells later in the evening. A low pressure system helped to back winds across northeast Nebraska and western Iowa along the warm front, but a strong cap was in place throughout most of the evening near the triple point. I spent most of the afternoon waiting and waiting at a rest stop along I-680 south of Missouri Valley, IA not getting too greedy. This would allow me to use I-29 to find exactly the right crossing along the Missouri River. It appeared by late-evening the cap would hopefully break a county or two to my northwest. This obvious target for this chase day featured 4,000J/kg of CAPE, 0-6km shear at 40kts, a moist boundary-layer with dew points around 70°F, a supercell composite of 28, and the significant tornado parameter approaching 3. By 6:00pm, the cap began to show signs of breaking so I hopped on I-29 crossing the Missouri River at Decatur, NE as a supercell began to explode to my west. I ended up on U.S. 77 heading south near Oakland, NE, but vehicle issues ended this chase pretty quick. I knew a potent supercell was on the triple point to my west near West Point, NE and it eventually would progress to my location so I stayed east fixing the power issue. By the time I discovered and fixed the issue it was already close to sunset. I shot a couple photos of this supercell's anvil and mammatus for a few minutes. Shortly after, I began to head back to Illinois quite disappointed I missed out some incredible supercell storm structure. With that being said, I tried to stay ahead of developing convection along the warm front that was elevated at dusk. I nearly got cored on the interstate west of Des Moines, IA as severe elevated hailers were developing nearly overhead. Since I was in no hurry to get to Illinois and not in the mood to core-punch I stopped along the interstate to stay out of the hail and shoot some lightning photos to salvage the chase day. Once I could find a weak portion along the line of elevated severe storms I decided to core-punch on I-80 so I could get home at a decent hour. I arrived back in Illinois shortly before 3:00am. I've added a few photos I was able to capture at sunset in northeast Nebraska and at dusk in Iowa below:

An old-fashioned windmill beneath a supercells anvil with

some mammatus featured at sunset!

I couldn't pass up this classic windmill as I knew it would

make a good photo-op...

One of these days when I get my own house in a rural-area

 I'm getting one of these for the backyard!

Elevated severe convection showing off its lightning display...

I was waiting to get a really good bolt in this shot...

This storm kept teasing me!

Meh...ok, some cloud-to-cloud is alright I guess!

A quick CG, but man I was surprised how tough it

was to get CG's out these storms...

Another CG in the eastern horizon briefly illuminating a shelf cloud!

One more as this storm wouldn't quite cooperate

with intense CG's like I was hoping for...

Forecasting was spot-on on this chase day, but boy it was frustrating having power issues which caused an abrupt end to the chase early. I'm working on another post and I'll post that one shortly in the coming days.

06/12/13 High Risk Northern Illinois Supercells

A supercell begins to develop near Mt. Carroll, IL

On June 12th, a rare HIGH RISK was issued for portions of northern Illinois as conditions looked to be coming together for tornadoes and a potential derecho later in the evening. I started the day in Kewanee, IL and by mid morning I was already out the door headed north on IL Rt. 78 with a target near Stockton, IL. I spent the early afternoon in Rochelle, IL (farther east) before progressing west toward my initial target. This day featured a warm front in northern Illinois with a strong cap in place across much of central Illinois. The area along the warm front I was targeting featured 3,000J/kg of CAPE, 0-6km shear at 40kts, a moist boundary-layer with dew points near 72°F, and a supercell composite approaching 16. By mid-afternoon supercells began to develop. I headed south on IL Rt. 78 toward Mt. Carroll, IL getting a good view of a developing supercell. This supercell would not produce a tornado and many storms would struggle initially. Explosive development also occurred farther east toward I-39 and also much farther west in Iowa where some tornadoes touched down. I was quite aggressive on this day with fast storm speeds initially so I tried to keep up with the initial round of supercells that developed and moved east toward I-39, but they quickly became outflow dominate. Unfortunately, before I could get back to my "target-area" along the warm front in northwest Illinois I was already too far out of position. This put me way behind and I called it a chase knowing I'd be giving up a shot at a tornado in the late evening. Indeed the target would later verify with a tornado near Mt. Carroll, IL. Ouch, that one hurt! I still was somewhat happy to get some decent structure and a nice supercell out of northern Illinois. How often can you say that in this area?! I shot a few more pics at sunset as the cold front began to light-up to the west. I've added a few photos and a short time lapse video below:

Towering cumulus (TCU) trying to break the strong cap in place...

A supercell begins to develop along IL Rt. 78 north of Mt. Carroll, IL

I found a nice "lonesome" spot to get one of my

best structure shots of the season!

Updraft losing a little bit of its vigor...

Convection erupting along the cold front at sunset!

A wide-angle shot of thunderstorms in the western

horizon at sunset...

 
I've added a short YouTube time-lapse (above)

Overall, the HIGH RISK actually busted, but I did see a nice supercell on this chase day. Best of all, I was home by sunset which usually is never the case! I ventured out once again on June 14th and I'll update with another post from that chase day accordingly.