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May 10-17, 2009 Midwest Storm Chasing Trip

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N2KNL / M

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May 11-12, 2009 - Day 1-2

Quiet sunny weather days

Driving from Cape Cod, MA to Syracuse, NY....370 Miles

Driving from Syracuse, NY to Utica, Illinois...755 Miles

 I departed Cape Cod on May 11th for Syracuse and visited friends and family. Severe Weather was forecast on May 13th in Illinois and Missouri. On the 12th, I drove 755 miles from Syracuse to Utica, Illinois. As I approached Joliet, Illinois that evening, skies were overcast. I could see scattered thundershowers on my WXWORX Mobile RADAR in central Iowa. I stayed at a Love's Truck Stop on I-80. Thundershowers began after midnight with the warm front. The next day I proceeded west into Iowa to await severe weather. The cold front was entering northwest Iowa.

1-Cape Cod,Ma to 2-Syracuse to 3-Utica,IL.  1125 miles

May 13, 2009 - Day 3

Severe Weather Outbreak for IL, IA, MO and KS.

Driving from Utica, Illinois to Davenport, Iowa and back to Utica, Illinois..

May 13, 2009 - Day 3- Weather Data...

   Slept at a campground near Utica, Illinois across from the Love's Truck Stop at Exit 81 on Interstate 80.

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  Departing Utica, Illinois the morning of May 13th after a night of thundershowers and cloud to ground lightning as the warm front passed to the east. A Tornado Watch was issued for Southern Iowa and Northern Missouri after 1pm while on my way to Eastern Iowa.

 

Driving on Interstate 80 west in Illinois while in the  the Tornado Watch area.
Crossing The Mississippi River on Interstate 80 west entering Iowa.

 

A second Tornado Watch for Northern Illinois. No Tornadoes but high winds and golf ball size hail reported.

 

May 14, 2009 - Day 4

Departing Utica, Illinois to Davenport, Iowa to Kirksville, Missouri....322 miles.

1-Utica,IL to 2-Davenport.IA to 3-Galesburg,IL to 4-Keokuk,IA to 5-Lancaster,MO to 6-Kirksville,MO- 322 miles

Crossing The Mississippi River again, in Burlington, Iowa. Driving to Kirksville, Missouri to see the tornado damage.

 

US 61 South entering Missouri

 

The May 13, 2009 Kirksville, Missouri EF 2 Tornado Damage..

First view of tornado damage entering Kirksville. Jim Robertson Car Dealer ahead. Lakeside Estates to the left across US 63.

 

Lakeside Estates, a direct hit ...

Lakeside Estates entrance with  destroyed trees...

I met Bart Comstock from SevereStudios.com who was the only person that filmed the Kirksville Tornado on May 13th. Bart and I chased storms on the 15th into Kansas. See Bart's Video on the SevereStudios.com website..

2 x 4 stud embedded 2 feet in the ground. 

 

Flying object shaved the ground. Area 16 inches wide by 36 inches long.

 

Jim Robertson Car Dealer Damage ...

More than 50 new autos were destroyed with building damage. The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore did a live feed from the NBC Satellite Feed Truck.

 

    Notice the Water Tank (below photo) and Cell Tower (above photo) sustained no damage as they were in the direct path of the tornado. An hour later, I spoke to a Cell Tower Employee at the site,  he said the facility was receiving and transmitting cell calls okay but was on a back-up generator due to power lines down. Aluminum and fiberglass insulation was imbedded onto the tower. Dr. Greg Forbes from the Weather Channel mentioned the Water Tank did not sustain any structural damage.

 

May 15, 2009 - Day 5

 Another Severe Weather Outbreak for MO, KS, OK and TX.

Driving from Kirksville, Missouri to Garnett, Kansas

1-Kirksville,MO to 2-Columbia,MO to 3-Garnett,KS-292 miles

1-Garnett,KS to 2-Parsons,KS to 3-Pittsburg to 4-Joplin,MO to 5-Rolla,MO-331 miles

May 15, 2009 - Day 5 - Weather Data...

   After a clear weather day on May 14th, we woke to scattered thunderstorms in Kirksville as a warm front moved north from Texas. Several storms passed with dime-sized hail and 1.25 inches of rain with some street flooding. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) forecasted severe weather south of Kirksville to Kansas. Our target area today was south and west of Interstate 70 into Kansas.
Morning thunderstorms entering Kirksville.

 

    Bart and I drove south 70 miles on US 63 and encountered heavy rain and vivid lightning until we passed the warm front in this photo north of Columbia. The temperature and dew point was 59. After we passed the warm front, the temp jumped to 87 deg and the dew was 73. We stopped at a Wal-Mart in Columbia to check the latest synopsis. The Storm Prediction Center issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for West Central Missouri to Kansas City which later became a Tornado Watch. A mesoscale discussion was issued early afternoon and 30 minutes later a second Tornado Watch was posted for Eastern Kansas covering the Interstate 35 corridor. That's Bart ahead of me in the photo.

 

A strong line of thunderstorms training 15 miles north of us on Interstate 70 east of Kansas City with a wind outflow of 50 MPH. The severe line of storms formed ahead of the cold front from Pampa, Texas to Chicago. A strong 800 mile squall line!
Side view of the squall line north of us on Interstate 70.

Hello Kansas!!!

     Driving southwest on Interstate 35 along the severe line of Thunderstorms. At the Olathe, Kansas interchange, I stopped and recorded the outflow winds at 56 MPH! As the line of storms moved northeast to Kansas City, they slowly progressed east. We needed to leave i-35 quick to avoid the storms. We exited at US 59 in Ottawa and drove 23 miles south to Garnett, Kansas. Our original plan was to go to Wichita as a tornado warning was in effect for an hour. That warning had been cancelled by 6pm.

 

Fueling in Garnett.  Heading south in a hurry!!  (my 5th fill-up since Cape Cod. MA. 1,600 miles!).

 

Bart and I met the KOLR-TV 10 Springfield, Missouri Mobile Weather lab reporters/chasers. A few minutes before this photo was taken, the Tornado Intercept Vehicle and 5 chase vehicles passed by. We saw them fueling in Iola, Kansas.

 

The Tornado Intercept Vehicle (T.I.V.) fueling in Iola, Kansas.

 

South on US 169 near Chanute, Kansas.

 

Rotating Supercell south of Garnett, Kansas. Outflow winds were 48 MPH.  Looking Northwest.

Almost dark

Time to go home...

May 16-17, 2009 - Day 6-7

Rolla, Missouri to Buffalo, NY...856 Miles

Buffalo, NY to Cape Cod, MA...520 Miles

    As this active cold front moves east tonight, this will be the end of severe weather for almost two weeks as polar air invades the country. I began my trek east on Kansas US 400 to Joplin, Missouri and arrived at a Love's Truck Stop in Rolla, Missouri along Interstate 44 at 2am. The next morning the cold front moved east to central Indiana. I caught up with the front between Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio on Interstate 71. That severe line of Thunderstorms in Kansas last night reformed in Western New York the next day and a confirmed EF 1 Tornado touched down in Georgetown south of Syracuse. I drove from Missouri to Buffalo, NY that day. Woke up to 35 degree temp. That front stalled in the Jet Stream here on Cape Cod for two days and finally went out over the Atlantic Ocean.

     I didn't see a tornado on this trip but I had a great time seeing the Kirksville tornado destruction and chasing storms in Missouri and the largest supercell I  have ever seen in Eastern Kansas. The Weather Channel Vortex 2 team chased from Texas to Oklahoma and didn't see much during that week of May. I was hoping to see them, maybe next year as I plan to chase from Nebraska to Texas. Oh yes, the Ford Explorer ran great! Didn't burn a drop of synthetic oil on the 3,573 mile trip!  C U next year tornado alley!!

1-Rolla,Mo to 2-Cleveland,OH to 3-Cape Cod,MA-1367 miles

Total Trip  3,573 Miles

 

I will miss the vanilla shakes and burgers at the Steak and Shake restaurants. Ate at this west St. Louis location off I-70.

 

Interstate 70 east in St. Louis

 

    Catching up to the Cold Front-Interstate 70 east. A strong north wind, rising temp and dew point. I passed the Dayton, Ohio Hamfest exits as it was closing and chatted with a few hams on their way home, on 146.52 MHz simplex to Columbus.

 

N2KNL / M