May 24 2012 Chase Log

May 24, 2012 Chase Log

James Gustina

Summary: A moderate risk day with insane shear that ended up busting horribly. Got suckered in by the impressive shear profiles without taking into consideration instability and moisture return. Ended up being a linear crap grunge-fest in Iowa and Minnesota that nearly put us completely out of position for the next day. Slinked back to Des Moines and scarfed down some Ruby Tuesday.

May 24^th was the first day of my Plains trip. We rolled out of Cincinnati early that morning and were intending to make it to at least Des Moines before calling it day. I originally had no intention of chasing what I was sure would be a Wisconsin/Minnesota rocket setup with little low-topped crappers going at light speed over the worst terrain possible. Somehow my better judgment was overridden and I decided to cut into northeastern Iowa/southeastern Minnesota. The day was impressive because of one thing: the shear. A jet streak was ejecting out of Nebraska with extremely strong 850s. A nice, broad trough came straight out of the northern Rockies along with the attendant surface low over eastern Minnesota.

  

The SPC had upgraded what was originally a slight risk to a moderate with a 10% tornado risk over western Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota as well as a large 45% wind risk. After passing through the Quad Cities we continued on I-380 and split off onto Iowa 150 north. As we moved further north, the stratus deck that had been over Iowa began to clear out significantly. By the time we reached West Union, storms began going up in a line along the cold front: 

Two severe warnings went up on the initial cells that became dominant on the line. We debated whether or not to stay at West Union or continue north to Decorah. Eventually the two severe storms crapped out as they lined out. We continued moving north towards where more cells were firing and finally hit Decorah. The storms were rapidly becoming linear and grungy. Lack of instability and excessive forcing/lift had caused them to line it in under an hour. We moved east of Decorah, through Waukon and then headed north. We finally stopped just below the state line as Route 76 as the line moved in. The storms were absolutely pitiful.

We watched as the storms approached on the crest of a hill and then slipped across the state line to wait out the "core" (for lack of a better term) to pass. We ended up getting a grungy, shredded shelf and hit with some weak winds (30-35 mph) as the line passed over. After the line passed we debated making the trek into Wisconsin to get after some slightly more isolated cells that had fired near Minneapolis. In the end we decided to call it a day, due to the distance between us and the storms and the need to get back to Des Moines soon so we could leave early the next morning for Kansas. On the way back we got some nice cloudscapes with some cool crepuscular rays.

This was by far the worst bust for me of the year. We had an awful drive back to Des Moines, trying to navigate the smaller state routes to get back to 380. Thankfully we made it back in time to grab some dinner and get some sleep.

Chase Stats
Miles Driven: 644
Chase Costs:$120
Tornadoes: 0
Hail: none