January 16, 2023
Statistics
Initial Target
Start
End
Storm Intercepts
Tornadoes
Hail
Wind
Features
Miles
Carthage, IL
Springfield, IL 1:22 PM 1/16/2023
Springfield, IL 7:39 PM 1/16/2023
None
0
0"
0 mph
Rainbow
144
Summary
Cold core, cold front play in western IL. Targeted Carthage, IL for afternoon rotating storms. Only weak showers resulted, dwindling before sunset.
Crew and Equipment
Solo chase. Equipment: Samsung S9.
Video
Details
Iowa lit up with a TORR just before I arrived at my target only to see rows of mediocre cumulus. I knew I was hosed and missed the show almost immediately.
I stuck it out, chasing 20-30 dbz rain shower blips for a couple hours hoping they would eventually take off.
Everything in the region fizzled, however. I called the chase about a half hour before sunset and starting heading back to home.
Conclusion
This was a low expectations chase, but a disappointing bust as the cold core setup had my hopes up, and I missed a dramatic tornado west of Iowa City. I thought the far end of the cold core target up in central Iowa had too many uncertainties to commit to that kind of distance. It was way too late to catch the 2 pm tornado by the time I was getting ready to leave anyway.
Lessons Learned