11/22/2010 REPORTS: MO/IL/IA/WI

[Rob Gardner]

Chased the tornado warned cell in Bureau County. The storm went tornado warned right as we were approaching the storm going north on 40 through Bradford. Interesting enough one of the photos taken while driving shows a slightly contrasted cone underneath the base. This picture was taken almost 2 miles north of bradford and would line up with the time frame of the movement of circulation with the issued warning. It`s hard to see and way too hard to tell if it was a tornado for a brief time, but would be curious if any one else has opinions on what that looked like. I wish I had seen it at the time perhaps I could have gotten a better look.

Following this we went 2 more miles north and got east of the circulation. The circulation was lightly rain wrapped at this point and once the initial curtain of rain passed very unorganized. There was lots of rising air and some rotation but no visible RFD in behind and the base was not well defined at all..

If that was a cone in the previous image it dissipated rapidly and by the time it passed over us it was falling apart. Did observe some pretty intense winds following that, but no damage.

Here is a high contrast version of the first image....

 

[Skip Talbot]

Nice little backyard chase, and my shortest of the year distance wise at only 134 miles. Intercepted near Waterman, IL noting a grungy HP-ish rear flanking core. Stayed just ahead of the storm in what should have been the inflow notch but was picking up rain, some one inch hail, and lots of outflow. Storm went tornado and briefly tried to organize with a mediocre looking wall cloud, but it quickly became rain wrapped and I had to abandon the storm at highway 47 as it was approaching the suburbs.

 

[Adam Lucio]

Intercepted the same storm as Skip with pretty much the same results. I hung a little further east once I had a view of the base and the wall cloud to allow myself maximum viewing time since I knew storm speeds approaching 60 would make keeping ahead of it difficult.

A good chase for late November. Was nice to be sitting down the road from a growling meso with a wall cloud underneath. Ive missed that feeling!

Full account: http://aerostorms.com/112210-Illinois-Severe-Weather.php

 

[Scott Weberpal]

Short: Right storm wrong time.

Long: I got done with work at 2:30 pm, and with a quick glance at the mesoanalysis, the became apparent that there was a strong likelihood for a few tornadoes in northeast IL or southeast WI. ~1000 j/kg SBCAPE and 0-1km helicity approaching 400 m2/s2 east of I-39 was enough to get me out the door. Storm motions would prove difficult (55+ mph), especially in an area speckled with lakes and a relatively dense population. I had to pick an intercept point and hope the storm was tornadoing when it passed. After hearing of a confirmed tornado near Capron, IL and the storm approaching fast, I put myself on Hwy 50 just east of Lake Geneva hoping to catch a glimpse of something as the storm flew past. I managed position myself within a mile of the updraft base and watched weakly rising tendrils of condensation as the storm quickly raced to the northeast. Unfortunately, I positioned myself in the worst possible place in regard to tornado production - tornado #1 ended approx. 5 miles to my southwest, and tornado #2 developed about 5 miles to my northeast, UGH!! I take solace in hearing eyewitness reports that both tornadoes were heavily rain-wrapped unlike the Rockford, IL tornado.

I entered the town of Union Grove, WI only a matter of minutes after a weak tornado struck. There was sporadic tree damage with telltale signs of a tornado - insulation and sheet metal wrapped in some trees, along with minor structural damage. I was in town before any emergency response commenced, so I initially drove the first few blocks of town making sure everyone was "ok" and checking for any potential hazards such as gas leaks and downed power lines. Within the next 5 minutes, emergency responders was on site, so I left town and headed home.

It was nice to get out for a short and sweet gentleman's chase in late November, but I'll have to check my sanity at the door if I ever decide to chase storms moving at a rockets pace in southeast Wisconsin.

The updraft base as I saw it near Lake Geneva:

Damage in Union Grove: