Dan Robinson
EF5
With the COVID-19 restrictions in place, I didn't have a proper target on this day that was within the range I felt was appropriate to drive. Instead I opted to simply observe any storms that affected the St. Louis region, though I didn't have any good options available by noon. The entire region was socked in with clouds, precip and embedded convection.
I left home at 1PM to intercept the first marginal supercell of the day moving across the river into Illinois from near Farmington, MO. It was heading toward a small area of clearing that had managed to materialize in southwestern IL. Despite briefly prompting a tornado warning from a transient couplet lasting only a single scan, the cell collided with a patch of stratiform rain and merged with it, meeting its demise. I then headed west to Wentzville, MO (western STL metro) to position at the edge of the cloud deck and wait for the expected dryline/frontal activity. Despite about an hour of sunlight, the low levels failed to achieve any appreciable destabilization before the skies became overcast again for the rest of the evening.
By 6PM, there was no agitated cumulus field upstream of my home region, and it was obvious there would be no further activity within my pandemic-constrained range. I was tempted to drive to Evansville to observe likely tornadic supercells there after dark, but the prospect of crossing a state line in which both were under non-essential travel bans ruled that out. So, I called it a day and made it home by 7pm. I saw one visible CG the entire day. I also didn't shoot any photos or video.
I left home at 1PM to intercept the first marginal supercell of the day moving across the river into Illinois from near Farmington, MO. It was heading toward a small area of clearing that had managed to materialize in southwestern IL. Despite briefly prompting a tornado warning from a transient couplet lasting only a single scan, the cell collided with a patch of stratiform rain and merged with it, meeting its demise. I then headed west to Wentzville, MO (western STL metro) to position at the edge of the cloud deck and wait for the expected dryline/frontal activity. Despite about an hour of sunlight, the low levels failed to achieve any appreciable destabilization before the skies became overcast again for the rest of the evening.
By 6PM, there was no agitated cumulus field upstream of my home region, and it was obvious there would be no further activity within my pandemic-constrained range. I was tempted to drive to Evansville to observe likely tornadic supercells there after dark, but the prospect of crossing a state line in which both were under non-essential travel bans ruled that out. So, I called it a day and made it home by 7pm. I saw one visible CG the entire day. I also didn't shoot any photos or video.