Chase Log
The day started off when myself (Ben Holcomb) and Chad Rust left Lansing, MI around 5:30 am. We got an earlier than anticipated start, and headed south to Indy then west to Effingham. We passed a few elevated garden watering cells on I-69 in Indiana on the way down with some good lightning. Once we started getting into Illinois, it appeared that maybe we were wasting gas. I even contemplated splitting and going north to the target near Davenport, IA as I didn't think I'd be able to get south fast enough to meet the cells in Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi. I'm glad I ended up going south.
In order to save time, Chad got us food from Wendy's while I filled up the truck. We kept heading south as fast as we safely could. Once we crossed the Mississippi River into Missouri there was a Tornado Warning issued for just over the border in Arkansas. We shot south on I-55 as fast as we could again, and managed to intercept that cell near the small town of Stanley, MO. The only weather we observed was a decent wall cloud, but nothing great. The rotation had slowly died out the previous few scans.
We headed further south to the town of Blythville, and then south towards Luxora, AR. The tornado that had been previously reported near Lepanto, AR had apparently dissipated as we didn't really see much of anything. Back to I-55 south we headed towards the cell coming out of the Parkin and Earle area. We had to gun it south on I-55 to pass in front of the storm. We got shot out of the side of the storm and off to our west was a beautiful tornado heading towards us. We got off at the next exit which was the Terrell, AR exit. We parked near the highway overpass and captured great film of a large tornado. The tornado turned into a wedge and became rain-wrapped. We observed it roping out.
At that time we headed east towards Terrell and north. We observed more wall clouds, some very intense and some of the loudest lightning I have ever heard in my life, and observed even more rotation. We eventually decided to head back south on I-55 and get across the Mississippi river while I edited video and got it online.
We dropped south of Memphis into Mississippi where we headed east on state route 72. We had to take a quick detour to find some wireless and finish uploading my video. We found some wifi which allowed us to complete uploading.
We then went towards the town of Corinth, MS where we observed hail, and a funnel cloud if not a full tornado. It was hard to tell as it was getting dark at this time of the evening, but most likely it was a very pronounced funnel. It wouldn't surprise me if it did touch down a few times.
We then dropped to the east to Iuka, MS where we dropped south on highway 25, then west on 30. We pulled off on a side road and did a phoner with Kenny Allen back in South Dakota. Some more very intense lightning, including some very close strikes. We felt 15 degree warmer air start blowing out of the supercell and realized we needed to get back east in a hurry. We headed back to Tishomingo, MS where we met up with SevereStreamers Brett Adair and Ron Jarrell. We ended up driving in convoy with them up to Iuka, then into Alabama where we got on Natchez Trace Parkway. We were watching a very defined funnel the whole time, and thought we may have witnessed a possible touchdown (or very close to it) near the AL/MS Border on US-72.
We ended up eventually calling off the chase, and Brett Adair dropped back south to Alabama to head home while we headed up to Nashville. A couple hours or so later we ended up in Bellevue, TN where we hit up the waffle house. After 12+ hours of not eating, it tasted like heaven.
We said goodbye to Ron Jarrell and his crew and then headed up to Goodlettsville, TN where we found a room for the night, completely exhausted. All in all, we traveled about 1000 miles on Friday from 5:30 am EDT until about midnight EDT. That's an average rate of travel around 55mph. (1000 miles in 18 hours)
We returned back to Michigan on Saturday where I edited some video and fell fast asleep.
This map depicts our 1600 mile route on May 2-3, 2008
A special thanks goes out to Chad Rust for all of his help with this chase. I wouldn't have been able to do this all alone!
Pictures from my Chase on May 2, 2008
Here is a little over 11 minute long clip of different weather we saw that day.
In order to save time, Chad got us food from Wendy's while I filled up the truck. We kept heading south as fast as we safely could. Once we crossed the Mississippi River into Missouri there was a Tornado Warning issued for just over the border in Arkansas. We shot south on I-55 as fast as we could again, and managed to intercept that cell near the small town of Stanley, MO. The only weather we observed was a decent wall cloud, but nothing great. The rotation had slowly died out the previous few scans.
We headed further south to the town of Blythville, and then south towards Luxora, AR. The tornado that had been previously reported near Lepanto, AR had apparently dissipated as we didn't really see much of anything. Back to I-55 south we headed towards the cell coming out of the Parkin and Earle area. We had to gun it south on I-55 to pass in front of the storm. We got shot out of the side of the storm and off to our west was a beautiful tornado heading towards us. We got off at the next exit which was the Terrell, AR exit. We parked near the highway overpass and captured great film of a large tornado. The tornado turned into a wedge and became rain-wrapped. We observed it roping out.
At that time we headed east towards Terrell and north. We observed more wall clouds, some very intense and some of the loudest lightning I have ever heard in my life, and observed even more rotation. We eventually decided to head back south on I-55 and get across the Mississippi river while I edited video and got it online.
We dropped south of Memphis into Mississippi where we headed east on state route 72. We had to take a quick detour to find some wireless and finish uploading my video. We found some wifi which allowed us to complete uploading.
We then went towards the town of Corinth, MS where we observed hail, and a funnel cloud if not a full tornado. It was hard to tell as it was getting dark at this time of the evening, but most likely it was a very pronounced funnel. It wouldn't surprise me if it did touch down a few times.
We then dropped to the east to Iuka, MS where we dropped south on highway 25, then west on 30. We pulled off on a side road and did a phoner with Kenny Allen back in South Dakota. Some more very intense lightning, including some very close strikes. We felt 15 degree warmer air start blowing out of the supercell and realized we needed to get back east in a hurry. We headed back to Tishomingo, MS where we met up with SevereStreamers Brett Adair and Ron Jarrell. We ended up driving in convoy with them up to Iuka, then into Alabama where we got on Natchez Trace Parkway. We were watching a very defined funnel the whole time, and thought we may have witnessed a possible touchdown (or very close to it) near the AL/MS Border on US-72.
We ended up eventually calling off the chase, and Brett Adair dropped back south to Alabama to head home while we headed up to Nashville. A couple hours or so later we ended up in Bellevue, TN where we hit up the waffle house. After 12+ hours of not eating, it tasted like heaven.
We said goodbye to Ron Jarrell and his crew and then headed up to Goodlettsville, TN where we found a room for the night, completely exhausted. All in all, we traveled about 1000 miles on Friday from 5:30 am EDT until about midnight EDT. That's an average rate of travel around 55mph. (1000 miles in 18 hours)
We returned back to Michigan on Saturday where I edited some video and fell fast asleep.
This map depicts our 1600 mile route on May 2-3, 2008
A special thanks goes out to Chad Rust for all of his help with this chase. I wouldn't have been able to do this all alone!
Pictures from my Chase on May 2, 2008
Here is a little over 11 minute long clip of different weather we saw that day.
April 11, 2008 - Michigan Storms
Turned out to be pretty much a bust on April 11 in Michigan. The SPC had a 10% risk of Tornadoes in southern lower Michigan, with Lansing as a bullseye. The most I ended up seeing was some wind and half inch hail near Olivet, MI. Not much else to report other than my ChaseCam was fixed, and worked very well this time. I think I may finally have most/all of the bugs worked out.
Here is a short video clip that I took that day.
Here is a short video clip that I took that day.
Thursday April 10 appeared to be a very big outbreak day in the days leading up to it. The Storm Prediction Center had marked all of Arkansas as a MDT risk and had strong wording and talks of upgrading to a HIGH risk. Unfortunately, not everything panned out the way we thought, and it turned out to be quite a bust. In all, I traveled 1600 or so miles, and wasted money on gas and a hotel.
Started off the chase on Wednesday night leaving from Lansing around 6 pm and driving to Effingham, IL. Got to Effingham shortly after midnight and found a hotel for the night. Woke up on Thursday and found tornado watches out for a large part of Arkansas and Missouri. Headed south on I-57 to I-55 and south towards Memphis. Best cell of the day was forming Southwest of Wynne, AR so I got off the highway and headed west into Wynne. Saw some great inflow that almost blew me over, and some wall clouds and some very good rotation. Nothing ever produced for whatever reason. The storms raced away at 55 mph and I tried to keep up on it because there was some rotation showing up and we had a very visible rotating wall cloud. Eventually I gave up the chase on that after it fell apart and headed south towards Forrest City, AR. Had another cell looking ok near Parkin, and headed towards that, but that fell apart as well. Stopped for gas, then headed across the Mississippi River into Memphis.
Once in Memphis, a couple cells crossed the river north of town that looked like they had potential. Shot up 51 and spent the rest of the day in Western TN chasing after some cells. Nothing ever produced, but gave some good video. We ended up running into some downed lines on 152 east of Spring Creek, TN. It was dark by that point, so we called off the chase and headed east on I-40 towards Nashville. Stopped at Jack in the Box in Nashville and ate since we hadn't eaten in about 12 hours, and then decided to drive straight through back to Michigan because of the Severe threat on Friday in Michigan. Arrived back in Michigan at about 8 am Eastern time on Friday morning.
Started off the chase on Wednesday night leaving from Lansing around 6 pm and driving to Effingham, IL. Got to Effingham shortly after midnight and found a hotel for the night. Woke up on Thursday and found tornado watches out for a large part of Arkansas and Missouri. Headed south on I-57 to I-55 and south towards Memphis. Best cell of the day was forming Southwest of Wynne, AR so I got off the highway and headed west into Wynne. Saw some great inflow that almost blew me over, and some wall clouds and some very good rotation. Nothing ever produced for whatever reason. The storms raced away at 55 mph and I tried to keep up on it because there was some rotation showing up and we had a very visible rotating wall cloud. Eventually I gave up the chase on that after it fell apart and headed south towards Forrest City, AR. Had another cell looking ok near Parkin, and headed towards that, but that fell apart as well. Stopped for gas, then headed across the Mississippi River into Memphis.
Once in Memphis, a couple cells crossed the river north of town that looked like they had potential. Shot up 51 and spent the rest of the day in Western TN chasing after some cells. Nothing ever produced, but gave some good video. We ended up running into some downed lines on 152 east of Spring Creek, TN. It was dark by that point, so we called off the chase and headed east on I-40 towards Nashville. Stopped at Jack in the Box in Nashville and ate since we hadn't eaten in about 12 hours, and then decided to drive straight through back to Michigan because of the Severe threat on Friday in Michigan. Arrived back in Michigan at about 8 am Eastern time on Friday morning.
Video
The SPC was predicting a moderate risk of tornadoes and Severe Weather in general on February 5, 2008 up to 4 days in advance. I made the call on Monday evening to head out early on Tuesday to Southern Indiana as the Storm Prediction Center had a hashed area of 45% chance of severe weather, with a strong emphasis on Strong, Long-tracked Tornadoes.
Read More
Read More
WLNS Interview
The National Weather Service Office in Little Rock has posted a great article on the 2/5/2008 Tornadoes.
SevereStudios.com Coverage of my Chase
Mine and Chad's Pictures from the chase.
A Tornado Watch for Southern Lower Michigan in January! What a rare occurance. I started the chase off around 1600 Eastern Time right after leaving work. My chase partner this evening was my co-worker Andy. Read More.
December 23, 2007 - High Winds
I was awakened around 5:30 or 5:45 am to my weather radio this morning. Severe Thunderstorm Warnings for many counties in Indiana, including Hillsdale County in Michigan. Then it went off again for more Severe Thunderstorms this time just off to my west. A quick check of radar showed a line of storms with high winds.
I grabbed my camera and went out into the truck and drove around. I ended up in Clinton County up near St. Johns. The warning was expired for Clinton County, so I headed south. Approaching I-69/Business US-27 interchange, I was hit with a high wind. Estimated winds of around 40mph out of the west. There wasn't a lot of lightning with this storm, however, there was quite a bit of flashes in the sky from all of the power transformers smashing down in Delta Township and Lansing.
Overall, not much of a chase, but it was a nice Christmas present.
I grabbed my camera and went out into the truck and drove around. I ended up in Clinton County up near St. Johns. The warning was expired for Clinton County, so I headed south. Approaching I-69/Business US-27 interchange, I was hit with a high wind. Estimated winds of around 40mph out of the west. There wasn't a lot of lightning with this storm, however, there was quite a bit of flashes in the sky from all of the power transformers smashing down in Delta Township and Lansing.
Overall, not much of a chase, but it was a nice Christmas present.
October 18, 2007 was a day that I will remember for quite awhile. The Storm Prediction Center had been forecasting a large Severe weather outbreak for 3 days, and Thursday the 18th is when it all came together. Read More.