9/9/27 Storm Chase

Early Sunday morning I took a look at the National Weather Service Storms Prediction Center forecast products. It said for my area a moderate risk for severe weather with a slight tornado possibility. Being the storm chaser I am I was pumped. It wasn’t supposed to be until evening though.

Throughout the day I would check back to make sure the forecast was still holding, and it was. Towards dinner time our local forecaster put on his Facebook that there was just going to be a few isolated weak storms before the front passed through. This was in direct contrast to the NWS forecast and discussion. All the ingredients seemed to be there.

I watched through early evening as storms fired to the north. Then just before sundown started popping to the west. I was indeed looking at a few isolated non severe cells. With what I was looking at, I saw slim chance at them going severe as they got closer. Finally, they got close enough after sundown to take a short drive and watch them roll in.

I got about 3 blocks and got pulled over by the cops. My headlight is out. 15 minutes go by as I watch some lighting flashing to the north. I finally get out to the country and there is some lightning to the west and to the east with starry skies above. I set up the camera and began to film the storms to the west. They were not following the previous storms patterns of west to east.

One cell split into two, one moving more southeast and the other seemingly stationary. Then a north wind kicked up, outflow obviously from the earlier storms to the north that had already gone by. These winds pushed the south cell further south and stalled the west cell. They were both still producing lightning so it was cool.

So I found myself under a starry moonlit sky watching these two small cells when it begins to rain. Not a cloud within 10 miles of me, but raining none the less. I put the camera in the car and pack up the tripod when all of a sudden it stops raining and the air becomes dead calm. This is weird.

I watch as both cells die out and decide top head home where I find a tornado watch had been issued while I was out. Well, the southern cell that I thought would die, reinvigorated and sucked all the energy from the split cells I was watching and did approach severe limits. It’s all good though as I wasn’t prepared for a longer distance chase.

There won’t be too many storms left this year so this could have been the finale, ending the year with a police stop and wrong choice. I do hope for another chance before the snow season gets under way, but I am not going to hang my hat on that chance.