Home
Storm Chasing
Videos

About Me

Storm Chasing

Storm Chase of December 23, 2015

Convective Outlook
The Storm Prediction Center 1200z Convective Outlook.

December 23rd was another one of those days where I do just about everything right, but mother nature doesn't cooperate. I had been watching this event since about before it happened. I recognized that the areas to the south were more likely to get tornadoes, but there was also a chance for some in western Illinois. The day of the event, I watched the weather intently, doing hand drawn surface plots every hour at work. As soon as I was off work, I jumped in the car and headed west.

My target area was Mount Sterling. Along the way, I watched storms develop in northeastern Missouri and head my way. I made it to Mount Sterling, and set up shop on the western side of town, in the parking lot of a small airport. I watched the storms approach, and watched two supercells go to my north, and one to my south. The one to my south did get a Tornado Warning at one point, but did not drop anything. A storm further to the north, near Macomb, did drop a tornado.

The storm I was on did develop low level rotation. I did a short time lapse as it passed by me, and then hopped on the road. I was partially chasing after the storm, and partially heading home. I hoped that maybe, just maybe, the storm would drop something briefly, right at sunset. It would have been neat to get a tornado a couple days before Christmas. Alas, nothing happened.

What I did see was a beautiful sunset and some of the most vividly blue sky I have ever seen. I regret not stopping and taking a picture.


SPC Storm Reports

 

BACK