Kenny's Rare Chase and Storm Image Page

If I actually a) chase or see a storm, and b) remember my camera, and c) take pictures, then I will put whatever I get up here. The most recent days will be at the top. I will be going back and putting old pictures up, but this will take time, so don't hold your breath...as if you would. After years of slugging away with a 1965 Pentax Spotmatic w/Asahi 50mm lens, I have now resorted to a low-end digital camera (Canon Power Shot A520). I have made no alterations whatsoever (other than "flipping") to any of these images.

 

2008: Tribute to Pulse, Multicellular, and Non-severe storms

Though I may have a good chase or two yet this year, I have decided I really cannot call myself a storm chaser, certainly not this year.  In June I went camping with my wife and two sons throughout Minnesota, and was fortunate enough to observe many visually spectacular, small and/or non-severe storms.  I think I could watch these sorts of storms and clouds all day, every day, as I find them quite hypnotic.  Perhaps I have been more keenly aware of them since camping, or perhaps I have just been lucky, but it seems I am seeing these little storms everywhere this summer, including during July from Minneapolis and St. Paul.  Below are brief descriptions and links to a sampling of pictures from the small storms of summer 2008.

12 June: We arrived at Lake Itasca State Park as nice, cold air aloft was spreading in from the northwest.  All afternoon, I watched cumulus clouds go through the congestus/cumulonimbus/cascading anvil cycle.  Finally, in the evening, a small storm approached the lake from the west, and the setting sun illuminated its very narrow rain curtain. 

19 June: The storms were small and fleeting this day (still at Lake Itasca), and one cumulus cloud struggled against its own weak updraft for hours.  Minutes after I took this photo, the baby congestus appeared to wilt and die.  It broke my heart.  

27 June:  This was a very exciting day for me.  We arrived at Sibley State Park near Willmar in the afternoon, as severe thunderstorm warnings were being issued off to our east and north.  Behind the main area of action, smaller, occasionally strong storms developed and died for a few hours.  I had to run an errand in Willmar, and found this lonely storm off to my northeast.  Back in the campsite later, a persistent area of convergence off to our north generated cumulus clouds that grew rapidly, and then maxed out to our east.  As evening set in, storms off to our northwest, gave me much hope that I would experience one of these little beauties, but alas (and thankfully…we were trying to clean up our site before bed), they only squirted out light rain for a minute or two before dying.

6 July: back in Minneapolis, near the U of M, I saw this nice little storm to the east as Ezra and I were walking.  I tried to find a clearing to take in its structure, which wasn’t too bad.  It was a nice surprise for me.

10 July: In the middle of the day, a big fat MCS plowed through Minnesota and Wisconsin and took most of the good convective ingredients with it.  Fortunately, as the clouds broke, we got just enough heating to generate isolated storms.  They were small, occasionally intense, and generally concentrated off to my north.  I kept getting tricked by these storms: I would see the structure and expect both impressive radar reflectivities and eventual severe thunderstorm warnings.  This one looked great from the sidewalk (visual obstructions are good for one’s imagination), but it was pretty pathetic on radar.  33 floors up, this storm off to the north got me all jazzed up, probably because of the sharp updraft, but it too was small and non-severe.  A couple hours later, this one off to the east caught the scanty remaining sunlight and made me very happy.  It was better looking on radar, and gave us a nice light show as the sun went all the way down.  Also non-severe. 

May 6, 2007

After sitting out two of the most dramatic Plains tornado outbreaks in recent memory (see here, and here ), I decided to make a move. The SPC outlooked a Moderate Risk for the southern Plains, a mere 14 hours from my home, so my chase target was obvious. By 11:00 AM CDT, the action was well underway, with power outages and downed trees and limbs in the vicinity of my target location. Can I call 'em or what? You can see that this particular community of homes (for squirrels) was completely re-arranged by the extreme winds (or vandals). Next I sighted an interesting outflow/debris feature that was still a bit wobbly from the extreme winds, or its age, and must have gotten entrained into the larger system, because it appeared to have precipitation forming near its "mouth." Indeed, precipitation was reported on the backside of that feature later in the day, so this cannot be said to be a completely dry event. Although some people with far more knowledge and experience than me have claimed that the strong winds resulted from a simple pressure gradient over the region, I have concluded that the winds resulted from a "Slow-Propagating Outflow-Oriented Feature" (SPOOF) associated with the Greensburg, KS supercell, if for no other reason than so that I may be connected in some way, no matter how irrational, with this climatologically significant severe weather event.

August 24, 2006, TORNADO!

I'll spare you the details. These video stills (camera did not perform as I wished it would have) are from Le Sueur county, MN, on Cty Rd 7 between Cordova and Elysian between 6:15 and 6:27 PM CDT. The tornado was pretty large indeed.

First, next, next, and finally.

 

July 24, 2006, another non-chase:

I was on campus, nerdily checking radar at ten minute intervals. One cell to the west of Minneapolis intensified rapidly (see explanation here), and developed strong outflow, which manifested itself as a shelf cloud (also here, here, here, here, here and here). The rainfall behind the shelf intensified gradually over a 15-minute period, and ended up producing about an inch of rain (at this location) in about 30 minutes. Near the end of the rain burst, the hail seemed to fall reluctantly, but it, too, eventually increased and got up to about 1" in diameter (note comparison to 14 EEE foot), so I called it in around 5:45. Since I had to TA class at 6:00, I had to make a run for it, through the rain and the small hail. I hate to admit it, but that was extremely fun (disclaimers galore)

July 1, 2006, best "chase" of 2006 (so far):

This wasn't a chase, but at least I brought my camera. A good friend of ours had a wedding in Appleton, WI, and Danna (my wife) was in the wedding. This day (Saturday) was rehearsal day, and my main responsibility was to hang out with our son, Ezra, and stay close. With a few exceptions, I generally had no idea what was going on, warning-wise. I had three separate opportunities to take photos: around 4 PM CDT, around 7:00 PM and from about 8:00-9:00 PM. Storms could be found in every direction from my location, though none passed overhead.

First, storms up to the north (and here). You can see these in various, unimpressive stages (owing to contrast) here and here.

A few hours later (as seen from a skyway) the storms re-organized off to the southwest, and they were looking much more supercellular than the earlier storms. Although the contrast was poor, one sees hints of vigorous development just to the southeast as well.

Lastly, I got some time on a roof with Ezra, and that is when the real fun began. The storm that had been to the sw had moved east and was clearly mature, with multiple stages of development visible . At the same time, what had been a struggling cumulus congestus off to the southwest finally crossed over and became a struggling, small "storm." Within two minutes, this cell became better defined, although it was quick to resume its lifelong battle with definition. For a brief window (of maybe 10 minutes or less), the storm was gorgeous, and I was quite thrilled to see it catch the dying light of day, with open sky and the moon all at once. Despite the nice display of pastels, however, the storm soon "fuzzed out" (picture taken by Ezra), and then died. I felt fotunate to have watched its entire life cycle; it really made my day.

As the southwest cell pulsed its way out of existence, another cumulus congestus made a run for it. For brief moments, it looked like was going to graduate into stormhood, although its dog-head-like appearance and soft edges suggest the updrafts were not sufficient to do the job.

In such a chase-free summer, I was very happy indeed to be in reasonably close proximity to some highly photogenic storms. It was a success in my book, especially considering that I did not have to drive, get out of work, bribe my family etc.

 

Other Storms...coming soon???