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April 2, 2006 – Chase in Central IL

Another Sunday, another possible outbreak of storms in Illinois. Only 3 weeks after numerous tornadoes ripped through IL and here we go again. My car was ready to get back out there after getting all fixed up from the last chase. The morning Day 1 outlook had a moderate risk plotted from central Missouri to southern Illinois. Once again I had plans of targeting Jacksonville, IL and then go from there once storms started to fire. I flipped on the Weather Channel and there was Stephanie Abrams broadcasting live from Springfield, IL. (time to change my target area!!) 😉 Anywho, I loaded up the gear and departed Champaign around 11:00am.

After filling up the gas tank, I departed west on I-72. As I approached Springfield, you could still see storm damage from last month’s storms. Around 12:15pm I made my way by the 108 mile marker where I’d had my encounter with the grain bin last month. It was the first time I’d been back in the area since the accident, but at least this time the sun was out. 🙂 I did notice the remnants of a grain bin in the field to the south of the interstate, so I assumed that’s where ‘my’ grain bin came from. I continued on my way and reached Jacksonville around 12:53pm and put out a call on 146.550 to see if any other chasers were in the area. Mark (KB9PPR) came back and told me he and a few others were hanging out at the Econolodge hotel grabbing data.

I joined up with Mark Sefried, Darin Kaiser, Scott Kampas, and Jarrod Cook in the hotel parking lot to await convective initiation. (human convection by Scott and Mark failed to help the situation) 🙂 We sat around looking at data for awhile and decided to depart west on I-72. We pulled off at SR 107 (exit 35) and parked just past the overpass to await further convective development. (2:15pm) Numerous towers kept trying to go up locally, but they didn’t seem to stick together very long. While we were sitting there, we noticed 2 guys get out of a van just down the road walking towards us. The one had a camera, so we just assumed they were chasers. Apparently they had just ran out of gas and were looking for a ride into town. Being the nice people that we are, we told them we could not help them. (the situation just seemed very odd and no one wanted to end up dead)

A small cell started to fire up to our northwest, so we decided to go after it. We headed north on SR 107 at 3:00pm and then headed east on SR 104 and stopped just outside of Meredosia, IL. (3:30pm) While we were watching our cell die out, we saw another chaser go south on SR 100. We flagged him down and he came back to chat for a few minutes. It turned out to be Dan Robinson from WVLightning.com!! He had his WxWorx system running which was pretty nifty. We noticed a new cell firing to our southwest, so we decided to head after it.

We headed southeast on SR 100/US 67 and stopped briefly east of Chapin, IL on Concord Arenzville Road at 3:55pm. The cells are really starting to go linear at this point, so we continued east on US 67. We passed through Jacksonville and stopped on the Loami Road/SR 104 to await the storms. We took a few pictures of the approaching shelf cloud and then headed east to keep ahead of the storm. (4:30pm) We then went north on Waverly Road and stopped at Fuchs Corner Lane (I’m not even going to attempt to pronounce that one) just south of New Berlin. (4:45pm) We observed what appeared to be a wall cloud before we had to bail out because of rain/winds. We headed north to I-72 and then east towards Springfield. I was a mile or two behind the others, so I didn’t see what they were seeing. Apparently they observed several spin-ups and wall clouds, but I was too focused on driving to see them.

As I passed through Springfield on I-72, I heard the tornado sirens going off. Thoughts of March 12 danced in my head, but I pressed on. It became very windy as the line of storms intercepted me and small items were hitting my car. One of the chasers ahead of me reported a small tree branch smacking their windsheild, but luckily they didn’t receive any damage from it. Somewhere during all of this, I missed my turn and ended up on I-55 north towards Lincoln. (whoops!) I ended up in Lincoln around 6:30pm as the line of storms was right on top of me. As if the weather wasn’t enough to worry about, my low fuel light came on! I drove around Lincoln and finally found a gas station to fill up. As I pulled in, I noticed numerous cars but everyone was taking refuge inside the gas station. So as I get out and start pumping gas, the tornado sirens go off. Hey, I figured I’d rather have a full tank of gas than be stuck with no power for hours. (I found out later there was a brief tornado 2 miles SE of Lincoln!!)

After filling up, I headed southeast on SR 121 towards Mt. Pulaski continuing on towards Decatur. As I passed through Warrensburg, I saw part of a restaraunt that had its roof torn off from a tornado. Once making it to Decatur, I hopped on I-72 and carefully made my way back home keeping an eye out for any and all debris on the roadway. 🙂 I arrived back home safely around 8:15pm.

Final Thoughts:
Well despite the numerous tornado reports, I failed to see any of them. It was an exciting chase and I managed to survive this one without incident, so I guess that’s something to build on for next time. 🙂

Photos
Click here to view/purchase photos from this chase.

Total Mileage: 350 miles

Stan Olson 2006, Chase Logs, Weather No Comments

March 12, 2006 – Close call near Springfield IL

After yesterday’s rain/lightning chase, I was wondering what today would bring. Of course there’s nothing like waking up to a high risk of severe weather! All the ingredients looked to be in place for a potential outbreak. Already at 8:00am there was a tornado in E. KS, so I figured it was going to be a long day. I packed up the gear and headed out at 11:30am. I took I-74 and then hopped on US 136 and headed west. During this time, a tornado watch was issued for central/western Illinois warning of possible 4″ hail and 90mph winds! I continued west until reaching Rushville, and then I headed north on US 67.

I made it to Macomb around 2:30pm and noticed some storms firing up to my northwest. I continued north on US 67 and then received a severe thunderstorm warning for the county to my north! I pulled off about 3 miles north of Roseville, IL to let it pass. I never encountered anything more than heavy rain though. This thing was moving at 55mph, so there was no way I was going to catch up with it. I headed back south on US 67 and stopped in Beardstown to take a look at the data. I talked to a few chasers that were in Jacksonville and they said they were giving up and going home. There were still storms in Missouri headed our way, so I wasn’t about to give up just yet.

I decided to head into Jacksonville and stop for a bite to eat while I waited for the storms. I was craving a hot ham and cheese from Hardees of all places, so that’s where I went. While chowing down, I took a look at radar and saw the two supercells from earlier had merged into one as it approached the MO/IL border. Tornado warnings were quickly issued for counties to my west in IL, so I knew it was time to move. I departed Hardees at 6:45pm and stopped to fill up the gas tank. (I sure didn’t wanna be out of gas when this puppy hit) I made my way just to the southwest of Jacksonville and waited at Leach Farm Road. (7:00pm) I sat there for a little while enjoying the increasing amount of lightning strikes. Several people were following me via my APRS tracker and were messaging me with concerns of my position. I told them I had continuous radar data and was being very very careful. 🙂

A tornado warning was issued for Morgan and Scott counties at 7:10pm which is where I was. At 7:15pm I decided to relocate back to Jacksonville just in case I needed to take shelter in a sturdy building. 🙂 (or at least fine a place to get out of any potential hail) I pulled off at a gas station and pulled along side the back of the building and watched to the southwest of town. (7:30pm) I encountered some brief pea-sized hail around 7:37-7:38pm, but it didn’t last very long. The heavy rain started letting up around 7:50pm, so I decided to make my way through Jacksonville towards the highway. It took me a little longer than normal as several of the streets were flooded. (the local cop was having issues with this as well) I made it back to I-72 at 8:00pm and made my way slowly to the east towards Springfield. Lightning was really increasing now and was almost constant flashing all around me.

About a mile west of the 82 exit, I noticed a lot of vehicles pulled off the road taking shelter under the overpass. (8:17pm) Some were very near being on the highway which was very dangerous. At 8:27pm near exit 91, I noticed some power flashes in Springfield. A minute later, I encountered winds blowing small debris across the highway from south to north. As I continued east, I noticed scattered leaves and signs bent on the side of the road. I looked north and between the flashes of lightning I believe I might have seen a wall cloud/possible funnel cloud, but I will have to analyze the video to confirm. As I continued, I encountered a huge traffic jam where I-72 splits into I-55 at the 98A mile marker. I zoomed in with the camcorder and quickly realized what the problem was. The transmission power lines were completely blocking both east and westbound lanes of I-72. I didn’t see any police or emergency officials on scene, so I figured it’d be awhile before getting the power lines off the road.

I had enough room in between the cars behind me and in front of me to do a u-turn. I made my way back on I-55 and took exit 100 to the east to detour around all the power lines. I made my way back on I-72 at the 108 near Riverton and attempted to head further east. I continued looking around for debris on the road, but what I encountered next was beyond belief. Through the darkness and rain appeared a giant grain bin that was blocking both eastbound lanes of I-72. At 9:00pm, the unthinkable happened and I slammed into this giant piece of metal. According to my GPS log, I was doing 60mph when I first spotted it. I managed to slow to 45mph and then the next GPS update a second later showed 0mph. My airbags deployed and what I thought was smoke filled the car. (turned out to just be the airbag powder) I quickly gathered my gear that I had with me in case I had to abandon the vehicle due to a fire. I got out of the car and it was pitch black. (power was completely out in Springfield to my west and there were no other cars in the area) I tried calling 911, but the cell network was overloaded and found out later that the 911 center was actually offline. I decided to dig out my orange amber light and throw it on the roof so no one else would crash into the grain bin or myself. A few vehicles started showing up and investigating the scene. Physically I was fine, though my adrenaline was pegged off the charts. 🙂

I decided to see how bad my car was damaged or if it would even start back up. I cranked the engine and it amazingly started right up. The front of the car was stuck on a piece of metal from the grain bin, so I put it in reverse and managed to get unstuck from the debris. I got out the camera and surveyed the damage. The front bumper was pretty beat up and the fog lights were broken. The quarter panel on both sides were buckled or broken. The passenger side power mirror was half attached. The windshield was cracked in 2 spots, apparently where the airbags went off. (my head never hit the windshield thank goodness!) The hood appeared to be ok, but after checking it later I noticed a decent gash on the passenger side. I went around to the back of the car and found 2 of my mag mount antennas had come off the trunk but had survived in one piece. I was also puzzled to see so much mud on my car. Then I noticed that the road near the silo was caked in mud, which is probably one reason I couldn’t brake as fast as I normally would have. After taking pictures of the silo and my car, a news crew from WAND-TV in Decatur showed up and requested an interview. I never thought I’d be a victim of a storm like this, but yet I found myself in front of the camera describing what happened. Shortly after that, a few police cars showed up and surveyed the damage. They were very hesistant on letting people drive around the silo as it was very muddy. I decided to lead the pack and see if my car would drive or not. So I put it in drive and drove around the silo and got back on the interstate. Of course I was missing a few lights, so I couldn’t see very well. Add the cracked windshield and rain and it wasn’t the greatest conditions to be driving in. However, I noticed no engine issues or handling issues at all with the car which just amazes me.

So I ended up driving all the way back home to Champaign from the scene of the accident, which is about 90 miles or so. Despite the cell network not handling voice calls, text messaging and internet was working just fine. People who were following me via APRS were text messaging me wondering where I was. I finally got into a good cell network that wasn’t as congested and started calling people back. The main phrase I kept hearing from everyone was that they were glad I was ok despite the car damage. Eventually the news spread to a few forums online as well as my interview making the 10pm news, so that increased the calls and text messages. (thank goodness for 5000 night and weekend minutes!) I finally made it home around 11:00pm and thanked my lucky stars among other things for making it home alive.

Chase Summary:
So it’s kinda humorous to look back at it and ask myself: ‘what are the odds of something like this happening’? I was aware there was damage/debris scattered along the roads. I was paying attention to the road looking for small things like limbs or road signs, but a grain bin? When I first saw the object, I honestly thought it was a giant uprooted tree because of it being caked in mud. In the time leading up to the crash and next 10-15 minutes, I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my life. As events unfolded and I noticed my car was drivable, then I began to somewhat calm down and breathe a little easier. It was an experience I will never forget and will definitely pay even more attention to stuff like that in the future.

Video

Total Mileage: 450 Miles

Stan Olson 2006, Chase Logs, Weather 1 Comment

March 11, 2006 – Chase in Western Illinois

Ah, finally a nice slight risk area on a Saturday in Illinois! I had planned on leaving early for this, but that plan was quickly shot down as I turned on my laptop. As my computer was booting up, I had several ants crawl across the screen and keyboard. As I looked down on the floor, I saw alot more of them. (must have been all the rain we had in the past week) So before even getting to look at a Day 1 outlook, I shut the computer off and began my assault on the ants. (when they attacked my computer, that was an automatic declaration of war in my eyes!) I began my offensive with the dirt devil (how appropriate!) vacuum sucking up as many ants as possible. Apparently ants like lots of wires as they were traveling along my power and computer cables.

Step 2 entailed containment of the ants. Armed with a mixture of vinegar and water spray bottle, I proceeded to spray all along the walls and floor where I was finding ants. This seemed to drive them away a little bit, but I was still finding them. Step 3 brought about some special ant food called Terro. It’s a liquid that you put on a small piece of cardboard and place in areas where ants like to roam. Within minutes of putting this on the floor, the ants were gathering in circles to eat this stuff. Apparently the ants eat this stuff and take it back to their nest where they then die with the rest of their friends and family. This seemed to be working and I was finally able to focus on other things like that slight risk area engulfing the entire state of Illinois!

After a quick shower, I took a glance at the radar which showed storms firing up in western Illinois around 2:30pm. A nifty cell blew up in Adams County and then proceeded to split into 2 separate cells. I decided to grab up the gear and load up the car for a chase. A tornado watch was also issued around this time, so I was getting pretty excited. Around 3:30pm, I departed Champaign and headed west-northwest on I-74. Along the way I encountered several speed traps by the Illinois State Police. At one point, I thought one of the cops was coming after me as my scanner was detecting very close radio signals. I heard my callsign go over the scanner and I thought I was doomed. Then I realized that it was another ham calling for me on the 2m calling frequency! (WHEW!)

I had a nice conversation with this ham from Iowa as I continued towards the Peoria area. I decided to avoid Peoria and hop on US 24 to intercept a severe cell around 5:00pm. Around 5:15pm I encountered some brief pea-sized hail just outside of Canton, IL. I continued SW on US 24 and then jogged SE to SR 97. The storms were all globbing together and I wanted to get ahead of it a bit. I drove through Springfield and then got on I-72 and continued east. My passenger side wiper blade was falling off and making a screeching noise on each pass. Around 7:00pm, I exited the interstate and stopped at a gas station in Mechanicsburg to assess this situation. As I was inspecting the wiper, some guy comes out of the gas station and says: “religious expletive – you have alot of antennas!” Luckily I had a new wiper blade in the trunk, so I quickly swapped that out and was back in business. After taking a quick bathroom break, I was back on I-72 again.

I arrived in Decatur around 8:00pm and the flood gates opened up. It felt more like July than March as the rains just pounded the area. I called my buddy George (N9IPO) who was out north of town playing in the rain. It was raining pretty heavily where he was at, so I could barely hear him on the phone. I had to slow down quite a bit as I didn’t want to hydroplane off the highway. I finally made it back home to Champaign around 9:00pm.

Final Thoughts:
Well had it not been for the ants, I probably could have gotten to the nifty cells sooner. Still not too shabby a chase for early March. There’s a moderate risk of severe weather for tomorrow (March 12th) so we’ll see what happens with that. I’m definitely liking the active weather already this year, hopefully it won’t be the last!

Total Mileage: 270 Miles

Stan Olson 2006, Chase Logs, Weather No Comments

February 16, 2006 – Another chase to Douglas County

Normally this time of year we’re planning for an ice storm or snowstorm, but today was different. High temps around 60 degrees, dew points in the mid 50’s, and a slight risk of severe weather? This is February right? Before leaving for work, I packed up the gear and had it ready to grab and go when I got back home.

At 12:45pm a mesoscale discussion was issued for MO/IL for an upcoming tornado watch! Thirty minutes later, the tornado watch was issue and I was in it! Unfortunately I couldn’t leave until 4pm, so that was going to cut it close for chasing. However, I had to run some errands for my boss around 3:30pm so that would save me some time. I stopped by the bank and the teller ladies were all talking about the tornado ‘warnings’ that were coming this way. The one jokingly said “You be careful out there, there’s tornadoes coming!” Of course I didn’t mention that I was in a hurry to go chase them!

I got back to work around 4:00pm and dropped off some things for the boss and they headed home to grab the gear. After a quick stop to fill up the gas tank, I took a look at the radar to see where to head. It appeared that all the better stuff was to my south so that is where I headed. I jumped on I-57 and headed south to intercept the line heading my way. As I left, a tornado warning was issued for Piatt/Moultrie/Douglas counties! (is this really February??) As I continued south I encountered heavy rainfall with some lightning. I heard someone come across the scanner stating that a tornado had been reported near Atwood, which was to my west-southwest. (nothing like punching a storm from the north!) The rain continued to fall, but I never did see any sign of a tornado/wall cloud.

Around 4:55pm I got to Arcola and decided to head east a bit to follow the line. I quickly realized that due to the speed of the line I’d never be able to keep up with it. I decided to make my way back north on RT 130. I made it back home at 6:00pm.

Final Thoughts:
I never would have imagined my 2nd chase of the year being in February! Granted I didn’t really see much but the thrill of it all so early in the year was pretty sweet. Hopefully this is a sign of better storms later this year!

Statistics
Distance: 80 miles
SPC Outlook: Slight Risk
Target Area: Douglas County, IL

Stan Olson 2006, Chase Logs, Weather No Comments

January 2, 2006 – Douglas County chase

What should I do on my day off here in the beginning of January? My plan was to sleep in and watch TV. Those plans were quickly dismissed when I was awoken by my weather radio going off informing me of a tornado watch. (was I dreaming?) I flipped on the computer and sure enough it was real. Several severe warnings were already issued west of here so I figured I’d better get my tail out of bed and get into chase mode.

I gathered all the gear and headed out around 8:15am. Since the storms were still a ways out, I decided to head south into Douglas County and let the storms come to me. I found a decent spot around 800N/400E around 9:00am and setup all the gear: anemometer, video camera, etc. I spent about 45 minutes just standing around and waiting for the storms to reach me. (yawning several times as well!) But soon the skies darkened and it began to rain. Then it happened… At 9:52am central standard time, I encountered a brief period of pea-sized hail! (Holy Hail I proclaimed!) I then recorded a peak wind gust of 26mph. (ok, so it’s not severe criteria or anything, but I remind you this is January!)

I watched the storms pass to my east and took a few more pictures. I finally departed my location at 10:30am and headed back home. I arrived home around 11:30am.

Final Thoughts
What a great way to start off the new year! One of my recently proclaimed New Year’s resolutions was to chase at least one time in every month of the year. So far I’d say I’m doing pretty good! I have a feeling that this year will be much more productive than 2005. (feel free to quote me on that!) This is also one of my earliest morning chases I’ve ever been on, so that was pretty spiffy too!

Statistics
Distance: 75 miles
SPC Outlook: Slight Risk
Target Area: Douglas County, IL

Stan Olson 2006, Chase Logs, Weather No Comments