Christopher E. Kincaid
Hello everyone and thanks for having me...
My story is a familiar one I am sure. I have loved the weather since I was a small child. I cannot tell you how many times that I got into trouble while growing up for going outside during thunderstorms. When I finally had access to a car I would "chase the red", or more accurately for the time, chase the dark clouds since there was no internet at the time.
My "big break" came during the very busy severe weather week of May 7th, 1995. Central IL was hit by 2 severe weather outbreaks that week. The first caused the Cantrall tornado on the 9th. I was the first on the scene just outside of Springfield. I watched one tornado rope out as the Cantrall tornado formed. I chased that until it got to Cantrall. That storm was on the ground for forty miles. It was rated an F3. The second outbreak caused the Ipava tornado on the 13th. This was a monster wedge that was on the ground for seven miles and was rated an F4. The best part of this chase was running into David Hoadley! A buddy and I came upon David while he was filming. You can just hear me ask him if it was a multi-vortex on his chase tape. LOL. I do not think he appreciated that. We then followed him for awhile until the supercell died. He filmed my buddy and me as we watched the dying storm. I offered to buy him dinner and he accepted. It was a real treat talking to him. It is something that I will never forget.
NWS descriptions of the tornadoes:
5/9/1995: This tornado touched down 3 miles east of Salisbury, and moved northeast across northern Sangamon County. The worst damage in the county was in Cantrall, where 3 homes were destroyed, 10 suffered major damage, and the grade school was extensively damaged. The tornado continued on and clipped extreme southeast Menard County before continuing into Logan County; total path length of the tornado was 40 miles. Damage estimates in Sangamon County were $1 million.
5/13/1995: This tornado was on the ground for 7 miles, touching down 1 mile northeast of Ipava, and dissipating 2 miles northeast of Lewistown. This violent tornado destroyed 12 homes, damaged or destroyed numerous cars and farm machinery, injured 45 people, and killed numerous livestock. Damage was reported to be approximately $6 million.
My story is a familiar one I am sure. I have loved the weather since I was a small child. I cannot tell you how many times that I got into trouble while growing up for going outside during thunderstorms. When I finally had access to a car I would "chase the red", or more accurately for the time, chase the dark clouds since there was no internet at the time.
My "big break" came during the very busy severe weather week of May 7th, 1995. Central IL was hit by 2 severe weather outbreaks that week. The first caused the Cantrall tornado on the 9th. I was the first on the scene just outside of Springfield. I watched one tornado rope out as the Cantrall tornado formed. I chased that until it got to Cantrall. That storm was on the ground for forty miles. It was rated an F3. The second outbreak caused the Ipava tornado on the 13th. This was a monster wedge that was on the ground for seven miles and was rated an F4. The best part of this chase was running into David Hoadley! A buddy and I came upon David while he was filming. You can just hear me ask him if it was a multi-vortex on his chase tape. LOL. I do not think he appreciated that. We then followed him for awhile until the supercell died. He filmed my buddy and me as we watched the dying storm. I offered to buy him dinner and he accepted. It was a real treat talking to him. It is something that I will never forget.
NWS descriptions of the tornadoes:
5/9/1995: This tornado touched down 3 miles east of Salisbury, and moved northeast across northern Sangamon County. The worst damage in the county was in Cantrall, where 3 homes were destroyed, 10 suffered major damage, and the grade school was extensively damaged. The tornado continued on and clipped extreme southeast Menard County before continuing into Logan County; total path length of the tornado was 40 miles. Damage estimates in Sangamon County were $1 million.
5/13/1995: This tornado was on the ground for 7 miles, touching down 1 mile northeast of Ipava, and dissipating 2 miles northeast of Lewistown. This violent tornado destroyed 12 homes, damaged or destroyed numerous cars and farm machinery, injured 45 people, and killed numerous livestock. Damage was reported to be approximately $6 million.
