June 24, 2015

Statistics

Initial Target
Start
End
Storm Intercepts
Tornadoes
Hail
Wind
Features
Miles
Chanton, IA
Coralville, IA 10:37 AM 6/23/2015
Lincoln, NE 10:45 PM 6/24/2015
Massena, IA
0
0"
0 mph
Gust Front
450

Summary

Low end tornado play in Iowa with mixed storm mode favoring an MCS. Intercepted storm near Massena noting a large gust. Called the chase as large MCS formed.

Crew and Equipment

Chase partners: Sean Casey, Mike Browne. Equipment: Canon 60D, Canon t2i, Canon EFS 10-22, Canon EF 50mm, Sony HDR-xr500v.

Video

Map

Details

The season was winding down, and we were wrapping up shooting a Sean Casey Tornado Intercept Vehicle IMAX film. This day and the next few looked super marginal and folks had to get home, so the TIV was sent to Oklahoma with Justin Walker and Herb Stein after the June 22 chase. Sean Casey, Mike Browne, and I continued on in the Doghouse, TIV's support vehicle. Storms looked to develop over much of Iowa by mid to late afternoon with upscale growth and a transition to an MCS. A tornado or two was expected among a whole mess of storms, so being at the right place and time looked like it would be difficult. We targeted Chanton, IA where shear and instability parameters looked maximized.

Doghouse
2 miles SE of Ankeny, IA
11:41 AM
"Mad Mike" Browne getting Doghouse ready for the day's chase:

Gust Front
2 miles W of Massena, IA
8:46 PM
We loitered in Chanton for the afternoon with other chasers in the area before storms erupted to the northwest. A brief tornado report came in on the initial activity but we didn't see any photos or hear much about it. By the time we got on the storms, a large gust front was already forming. It looked dramatic, but it meant that the tornado show was probably already over, and our chances of getting a usable shot for the IMAX film were bleak.

Sunset
8 miles E of Griswold, IA
9:02 PM
As the storms started to congeal into a messy and weakening complex, we decided to call the chase and make for Lincoln, NE for the night. Passing pretty sunset thunderstorms along the way:

Conclusion

This was a pretty lackluster bust for us, even by Iowa standards.

Lessons Learned


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