Joel Wright
EF5
Just got back a bit ago. I was surprised there wasn't a reports thread yet....
Left the house around 4pm, and headed south on I-74. About 20 miles north of Galesburg we saw this tower go up and try to get going. Nice twist to it, and it looked like it could explode; but after a shortwhile it collapsed.. Looking west-southwest
Drove on into Galesburg, and found ourselves under this nice, broad rain free base. Inflow winds were blowing into, so we had hopes that this thing could do something. Looking southwest
However, a short while later, the thing went totally HP. The updraft base became completely obscured by rain and hail. We drove a bit north to avoid getting hit by what looked to be the powerful core... Looking southwest
Well, no such luck. This thing was flying and we were overrun by the core. At first, just very heavy rain; but after a short while, hail. Hail grew from marble sized to ping pong ball sized. Needless to say, my buddy's heading to the insurance adjuster sometime next week. :cry: looking north
It didn't take long for the ground to be whitened, but luckily the hail didn't grow any larger. After the hail ceased, we followed the storm north again; but this thing was flying! Here's a shot as it pulled away and began to enter Henry County IL. looking northeast
The storm just pulled further away, and with nothing else catchable we decided to call it a day. Did catch a decent sunset though.
All in all, it was a fun day. Didn't have to drive too far. Watched much of it develop overhead in my own backyard before hitting the road. I feel bad about the hail damage, but I guess that's just a price you have to pay sometimes when chasing fast moving storms early in the year....
Left the house around 4pm, and headed south on I-74. About 20 miles north of Galesburg we saw this tower go up and try to get going. Nice twist to it, and it looked like it could explode; but after a shortwhile it collapsed.. Looking west-southwest

Drove on into Galesburg, and found ourselves under this nice, broad rain free base. Inflow winds were blowing into, so we had hopes that this thing could do something. Looking southwest

However, a short while later, the thing went totally HP. The updraft base became completely obscured by rain and hail. We drove a bit north to avoid getting hit by what looked to be the powerful core... Looking southwest

Well, no such luck. This thing was flying and we were overrun by the core. At first, just very heavy rain; but after a short while, hail. Hail grew from marble sized to ping pong ball sized. Needless to say, my buddy's heading to the insurance adjuster sometime next week. :cry: looking north

It didn't take long for the ground to be whitened, but luckily the hail didn't grow any larger. After the hail ceased, we followed the storm north again; but this thing was flying! Here's a shot as it pulled away and began to enter Henry County IL. looking northeast

The storm just pulled further away, and with nothing else catchable we decided to call it a day. Did catch a decent sunset though.

All in all, it was a fun day. Didn't have to drive too far. Watched much of it develop overhead in my own backyard before hitting the road. I feel bad about the hail damage, but I guess that's just a price you have to pay sometimes when chasing fast moving storms early in the year....