June 25, 2013

Statistics

Initial Target

Start

End

Storm Intercepts

Tornadoes

Hail

Wind

Features

Miles

Sioux City, IA

Hartford, SD 9:00 AM 6/25/2013

Springfield, IL 10:29 PM 6/26/2013

None

0 mph

None

912

Summary

Weakly sheared warm sector chase on the NE, SD, IA corner. High res models had isolated storms developing by late afternoon along an elongated surface trough. The cap held however and we cap busted. Made the long journey home afterwards.

Crew and Equipment

Chase partners: Jennifer Brindley Ubl, Sean Casey, Nick Nolte, Jonathan Williamson. Equipment: Canon 60D, Canon t2i, Canon EFS 10-22, Canon EF 50mm, Sony HDR-xr500v..

Video

Map

Details

Our fifth and final day out on the plains with the TIV crew. We had yet to see a tornado, but wanted to give it every last shot. High res models had discrete supercells forming on an elongated surface low and trough in central SD down into NE. We decided to head west out of Sioux City and wait for one of these storms.

We found a dirt road off the beaten path and then waited for initiation, and waited some more. Sean Casey is a fireworks fanatic. We passed the time watching him blow off fireworks.

At least we got a show.

7 miles NNE of Utica, SD
4:00 PM

The cumulus was all gone by late afternoon and it was obvious we were going to cap bust. We decided to call it a trip and split ways. We got a group shot and then said our farewells. Over dinner in Sioux Falls, we saw the nose of the surface low in north central SD initiate and a tornado report come in. That would have bene a decent target, but it was hundreds of miles away and only marginally better than where we were.

Conclusion

Our chances for a good supercell and tornado on this day were pretty low and yet we were hopeful. The models were a little too bullish, initiating storms at our location, but the cap was stronger than predicted and the lift less. A small supercell and tornado did form right on the nose of the elongated surface low, however, up by Bowdle, SD in the north central part of the state. Had we we really been pushing ourselves to chase every last chance to its maximum potential, we might have seen that area as the best target and gone for it. It was hundreds of miles out of the way for a very slim shot, however, and our initial target could have fired instead. We had a great time on the trip though. Lots of chase memories and fun with friends.

Lessons Learned

You have to push yourself to the limit to get some tornadoes, but low probabilities of scoring might make some chases just not worth it

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