Late May Climatology

[B Ozanne]

Looks like I'll be out in Illinois for the last two weeks of May. I'm doing some contract work about 40 miles west of Chicago (Batavia to be exact). I'm trying to figure out what my chances of doing any chasing are during that time.

Is there good chasing territory within 5 hours of Batavia? How is climatology for that part of the country in the last two weeks of May?

Thanks.

 

[Terry Kollmeyer]

There is. I live in Ottawa, which is 90 mi. SW of Chicago. Batavia is in the far western suburbs.

Central Il. is pretty good territory (S of I-80, W of Il. Rt. 47). About 1 hour SW of Batavia
W. Il & IA are your best bet. I chase there frequently, well, I did before this year. IN is fairly good, too.

We've had a high risk washout last Memorial Day. As far as this year goes, well, I think it goes w/o saying.
When you get out this way, email me and I can fill you in more, or if you're looking for someone to chase with.

 

[B Ozanne]

Yeah, I was chasing during that "super outbreak" last year in southern Illinois. I got onto some tornado warned cells along the I-70 corridor but never saw anything.

It was rather hilly and full of trees, is the chasing territory better farther north?

 

[Terry Kollmeyer]

Yes, terrain is considerably better. Good Il. chase terrain (contradiction of terms?), in my opinion is from I-80 on south to about I-70. From the Miss. river eastward to the In. border. There are some bad spots along the rivers, but it could be worse. West central is my playground.
As for last Memorial Day, I was on a cell that produced a small tornado in Clinton Co. That may have been the same cell as I tracked it NE through Fayette Co. which I-70 runs through. The last high risk day here before that was 5/10/03 and caught a few tornadoes as well as awesome storm structures in west central Il. That was my best chase day to date.

I have yet to see anything to point to a repeat of either event anytime in the near future, but it doesn't hurt to keep your fingers crossed!

 

[Joel Wright]

Late May can be pretty good here. Quite often we get a backdoor front enhanced by the Great Lakes which likes to park itself near I-80. Deep moisture pooling along the very sharp boundary and good jet stream location can make things pretty interesting at times. Triple points have a tendency to traverse the area around this time. As we head into June this area turns into "derechoville USA." Lots of fast moving nocturnal MCC's with high humidity. Great corn growing weather!