March 30, 2005
Central Illinois
      After March had gotten off to such a slow start, I wondered if I would ever chase again. The setup looked good on this day, but I had two concerns: 1. moisture, and 2. storm motion. I thought the NAM was being generous with the Td, but it turned out to be no so bad...could have stood to be higher, but it's only March. The storm motion on the other hand...incredibly fast: 40-55mph the whole day. That made it a challenge because once you get behind a storm moving that fast, there's no getting back in front of it.
     After my math exam in the morning, I opted to skip my Atmospheric Dynamics and Political Science classes (and the PUMA meeting that night, featuring Dr. Harold Brooks!) and I loaded up the car. My initial target was Bloomington, IL. One thing I've learned about these March chases is that they generally involve high winds (3/28/03 and 3/1/04 were both extraordinarily windy). This time, the atmospheric wind speed coupled with the disturbance in the wake of a passing semi was enough to knock my magnetic mount antenna off of my roof. Fortunately, it didn't have enough cable to dangle all the way to the ground, and I quickly got it back in position. As I made my way westward, I began to see cumulus clouds develop, which was encouraging. I also had to take a picture of this AirTran jet at BMI for Kevin...

Click an image for a larger version

     After I arrived in BMI, I began conferring with Mike Kruze and he suggested I move west, toward Peoria. So I did, and at about quarter after 2PM CST, I pull into the parking lot of a church just off of S.R. 116 across the Illinois River from Peoria. At the time, the cell is strengthening and is approaching the downtown area. I take some video and a few pictures of the rain shaft, then I turn around and take a few pictures of the blue skies to the east.

View to the west, toward Peoria (row 1). View to the east (row 2). Click an image for a larger version.

     As the storm drew nearer, so did the lightning, and at one point it was directly overhead and the thunder was immediate and LOUD. I ducked into the car really quickly. As soon as I was in the car, Mike called to tell me I should consider moving east...which seemed like a very good idea to me. Too good of an idea...at 2:25PM CST I went east on SR 116...about 10 minutes later I was back at the church when I realized that I had left my Kestrel on the roof of the car and it had fallen off when I left. Fortunately, it was recovered in working condition. This delay put the storm right on my heels and I hauled ice east, through the town of Metamora. As I was passing through Metamora, I looked in my mirror and saw what appeared to be a "beaver tail." I stopped on (Woodford)CR 1200E to watch. While I was getting into position, a tornado warning was issued. Very quickly, lowerings began to develop. One fairly ragged looking lowering caught my attention for a good long while. I can't be positive, but I'm pretty sure it was rotating. A tornado was reported near Metamora, but neither I nor any of the other chasers (and there were several, evidently) watching the storm saw it. UPDATE! (03/19/06) After reviewing my video and searching the NCDC archives, I have determined that I actually did see the tornado, although it was not very obvious from my position. The condensation funnel did not extend all the way to the ground, but there is indication of surface rotation. The video evidence is inconclusive, but with the NCDC entry to support it, I hereby rule this a tornado. The last picture in this set is from about the time of the tornado. The funnel cloud is visible to the left of the wall, below the word "Ben" in the water mark. There is a dark spot below the © that in the video evidences surface rotation.

[Above] View to the east.
Views to the west from (Woodford)CR 1200E and SR116 between 2:52PM and 3:10PM CST. Click an image for a larger version.

     As the storm drew closer, I began to get nervous...this cell could have tornadoed at any time. I went east, then a little south, ending up at the intersection of (Woodford)CR 1400E and (Woodford)CR 1300N. I only stayed there for a few minutes, but it proved to be the end of the road. The lowerings became less impressive, and I tried desperately to catch back up. Another cell developed behind the first, on a similar track. I stopped a mile or two southwest of Long Point to take pictures, and before I knew it, it was ahead of me.

	Views to the WSW from 1.5 SW Long Point between 4:01PM and 4:16PM CST. Click an image for a larger version.

     Once that 2nd cell had passed me by, my convective fun was over. I got to do 50mph on a wet gravel road, but I never got caught back up. I did manage to catch a few pretty pictures though.

Click an image for a larger version.

     I was still behind the storm when it reportedly dropped large hail in Morris. By this time, Kevin Peters (who had been nowcasting for me in the very early stages) had gotten off work and was headed my direction. He caught some 1/2" hail just outside Minooka, where we eventually met up. Since the good cells were moving away (and toward urban areas) we decided to wait out the sunset. It was fairly dramatic, but I was a bigger fan of looking to the east, north, and south and watching the sunlight on the surrounding storms.

		Sunset et al, just north of Minooka. Click an image for a larger version.

     After the sun set, we went over to Arby's to get some dinner and wait for the line to pass so we could try for some lightning shots. During our meal, we heard a loud rumble and thought it was a restaurant-type noise. When it dawned on me that the noise hadn't stopped I pointed upwards. Kevin and I went to the windows and saw nothing but very heavy rain. However, it sounded like hail and it must have been because there were pea-sized hailstoens accumulated on Kevin's car when we left. We drove around for a while, never able to find a good spot from which to shoot lightning. Finally, we gave up and I began the three hour drive back to Lafayette. So I didn't get to see another tornado, but it came darn close. All in all, I'm quite content with the results...hopefully several more opportunities will present themselves in the closing weeks of the semester.


Base reflectivity from KILX at 2:56 P.M. CST -- as the wall cloud developed near Metamora. Click the image for a loop.

LINKS
SPC 1630Z Day 1 Convective Outlook
Preliminary Local Storm Reports
NCDC Event Details

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