5/30/08 DISC: IL/IN

[Tony Lyza]

From what I remember of that storm during that location was a pretty mean looking shelf cloud back-lit by a green core. At times there were those typicall HP suggestive lowerings but I didnt notice anything to suggest a tornado was on the ground. I do recall the dust whirl in the field but given the shelf cloud I wrote it off in my mind as a gustnado.

The tornado Skip photographed was about 20 minutes before we got on that storm...we entered Pawnee [i think] just as the sirens were going off...or maybe that was Auburn.

Very interesting photos, I just went over all of mine and have nothing like that, just shelf clouds and rain shafts.

The shelf is visible in our photo, and actually bowed E to about Purdom Rd. when our pics were taken. The suspect area was well behind it. My feeling was that it was the old meso from the Waverly area that we were viewing, along with the possible whatever you wish to call it, and that the storm was becoming outflow dominant.

 

[Tony Lyza]

Hey Tony, here is one of your photos enhanced. Looks very similar to what we captured...

Brian Stertz mentioned that Rich and Ryan Theis made the report of a stovepipe 4mi W of Auburn at 7:38 PM CDT. That sure as heck would (if indeed a tornado) look like a stovepipe.

 

[Jeremy Ludin]

FWIW, here is a radar grab just before taking the Auburn exit off I-55. You can clearly see the hook/notch with the northern cell. That was the exact location we would eventually be aiming at in that photograph.

 

[Danny Neal]

From what I remember of that storm during that location was a pretty mean looking shelf cloud back-lit by a green core. At times there were those typicall HP suggestive lowerings but I didnt notice anything to suggest a tornado was on the ground. I do recall the dust whirl in the field but given the shelf cloud I wrote it off in my mind as a gustnado.

The tornado Skip photographed was about 20 minutes before we got on that storm...we entered Pawnee [i think] just as the sirens were going off...or maybe that was Auburn.

Very interesting photos, I just went over all of mine and have nothing like that, just shelf clouds and rain shafts.

Yeah it was Pawnee, and I too just went back and checked since Adam and I should have the same exact footage almost. Did 104 curve SW out of Pawnee or go straight west? IIRC we were talking about a feature to our southwest, that I assumed was toward Auburn at 740 pm. Auburn being about 5 miles west of where we were. I recall the area of rotation becoming very broad and undefinable on GR3 as opposed to earlier on. I was more concerned about getting cored on a muddy road and being stuck there forever at that point. Nasty, scary looking storm.....this is why I love it!

I am more interested in that feature over Springfield. I just saw another tornado report (must have missed it on Friday) of a Tornado at the Clearwater (I think) exit on I 72. I wonder what that was all about.

 

[Tony Lyza]

Here's a video grab from 3mi ESE of Auburn. Ignore my screaming "wedge." It's pretty clear now that it wasn't that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKRdlawKQx8

 

[Andrew Pritchard]

I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but I literally have NO idea what you guys are orgasming over in that video, Tony. I see nothing at all that would have me be thinking tornado... in fact I'd be calling off the chase were I looking at what you are seeing. Yet you or whoever you are with seems to be sure numerous times that each rainshaft that they see is another tornado.

If there's a wedge, it will be pretty obvious on radar. A wedge would have had a really time not hitting something as well so it would have been fairly evident the next day if a large tornado had occured.

Again, not trying to be rude but I'm having a hard time figuring out what the debate is about?

 

[Adam Lucio]

Yea I agree with AP on this one...those storms had allot of very well defined rain shafts behind the shelf...which were kinda neat to view from up close

I think as far as your position goes, you were in a similar area we were...infront of the outflowish core rather than the hook region [assuming one was still present at the time] and got suckered in to staying with it a little too long. We kept heading further west to avoid the core rather than dipping far enough south and back east to get into viewing position [ a mistake in my opinion]

That was the conclusion I came to when going over all my pics and video, which are very similar to yours. Those HP storms can get tricky especially when they train.

 

[Tony Lyza]

Yeah, it's a tough call. (I did say to ignore what we said on the video.) Adam's picture is very revealing as to what was actually likely happening in that portion of the storm. The only thing that has kept me on the fence this long is the enhancement Joel made on my image.

Brian Stertz also said that Rich and Ryan Thies made the tornado report 4mi W of Auburn at 7:38 PM, right when I had my pictures taken (the timestamp is 7:38 on most of the pictures I posted here). I'd like to talk to them about what they saw, since if I had to estimate, we were looking right in that direction.

I don't know. You guys have the better-trained eyes.

 

[Danny Neal]

Pawnee, IL HP Supercell - We were 5 miles east of Tony and the reported "tornado" was about 7 miles southwest of us moving E so at the time we were feeling a little threatened lol I kept yelling look to the southwest because that is where it would have been coming from...... Turns out (on the next video I will post after its done uploading) it was just a huge curling shelf with a mean core of 60-70 mph winds and golf ball hail.

 

[Tony Lyza]

Pawnee, IL HP Supercell - We were 5 miles east of Tony and the reported "tornado" was about 7 miles southwest of us moving E so at the time we were feeling a little threatened lol I kept yelling look to the southwest because that is where it would have been coming from...... Turns out (on the next video I will post after its done uploading) it was just a huge curling shelf with a mean core of 60-70 mph winds and golf ball hail.

I can agree with the shelf cloud and hail (as the video shows us encountering lol). It's what was behind and at the northern edge of that that is/was/maybe still is of question to me.

 

[Danny Neal]

I can agree with the shelf cloud and hail (as the video shows us encountering lol). It's what was behind and at the northern edge of that that is/was/maybe still is of question to me.

I will post the video tomorrow, but we traveled south out of Pawnee and we could clearly tell it was not tornadic anymore at that point. Just a dark green core with advancing shelf. We got caught up in the core after I turned off the camera and were buffeted by 60+ mph winds out of the northwest.

 

[Andrew Pritchard]

I don't know, I think Joel's enhanced images make it even more obvious that it was not a tornado. Looks more like a heavily enhanced rain shaft than a possible tornado to me. The bow echo had caught that storm by the time it reach your location and the tornado threat had pretty much ended. I actually HAD given up the chase by that time and was making my way back north to the interstate to go home as the tornadic potential for that storm was all but gone.

Still don't see why it's a tough call at all. I am 100% sure that what you guys have are shelf clouds with defined precip cores. Not a hint of mesocyclone/tornado in there. Sorry if my bluntness comes off as rude, but I'm stumped at the debate.

 

[Jesse Risley]

http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=184873

I was several miles east of I-55 at the time your video was taken. I never saw any tornadoes, despite other reports of numerous powerline flashes to the west (which were likely lightning strikes).

There may have been a tornado at some point, but the storm was outflow dominant when it got to my location and there was no longer a threat of any tornadoes..much like the first storm once it got SSE of the Springfield area.

 

[Danny Neal]

A whole bunch of our May 30th, 2008 chase videos can be found below:
Supercell # 1 we intercepted - Towanda, IL
Supercell # 2 we intercepted - Mt. Pulaski, IL #1 (4:46 P.M.) and Mt. Pulaski, IL #2 (4:51 P.M.)
Supercell # 3 & # 4 we intercepted - Springfield, IL #1 (5:59 P.M) - Springfield, IL #2 (6:01 P.M.) - Springfield, IL #3 (6:06 P.M.) - Springfield, IL #4 (6:10 P.M.) - Rochester, IL (6:16 P.M) - Mount Auburn, IL (6:54 P.M.)
Supercell # 5 we intercepted - Pawnee, IL #1 (7:37 P.M.) - Pawnee, IL #2 (7:39 P.M)

 

[Brian Stertz]

Here is a post from Richard Thies. He is having problems accessing his StormTrack account, so I am passing along his post.

---------------------------------------------

Hi all. Having trouble with my StormTrack account, so I’m having Brian post my 2 cents on the thread about the Waverly / Auburn Tornado. I am also very confident that it was indeed a tornado. I was west of Auburn on 104 looking WSW into this beast as the tornado was just south of the road

I've attached 6 video still pictures. My video camera stamped the time between 7:33 to 7:37. I have tried to also post the 3 minutes and 45 seconds of video on YouTube, but the quality of the video is extremely poor in the conversion. I'm certainly not a YouTube expert, so I’m still working to fix that problem. The current location I’ve posted here, but there may not be much you can see until I fix the clarity problem on YouTube. My original is video quite clear for it being on the dark side.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMpzKZOLUDQ

I’ll keep working to find a way to post this in a clear format because it will plainly show the tornado through this whole sequence. It was done on an HD camcorder, so I expect better. I'll let you know in another post if I get that solved.

Pictures #1-#4 show the tornado in various stages lit by lightning. Picture #5 is one of the power flashes followed 1 second later in picture #6 by the lightning lit shot of the tornado. Note the same cloud structure.

http://thies-times.com/storms/2008/08May30-01.jpg
http://thies-times.com/storms/2008/08May30-02.jpg
http://thies-times.com/storms/2008/08May30-03.jpg
http://thies-times.com/storms/2008/08May30-04.jpg
http://thies-times.com/storms/2008/08May30-05.jpg
http://thies-times.com/storms/2008/08May30-06.jpg

It was indeed an enjoyable day.

Richard Thies