Chase Logs 2008
Turbulent Skies: Gust Front and Popcorn Storms
July 10, 2008
12:00pm-6:00pm
East Central MinnesotaI left Duluth shortly after 10:30am, bound for Andrea's house in Annandale. I knew that this weekend had the potential to be interesting weather-wise, so I hauled most of my camera equipment along with me. As I traveled south I began tracking a severe thunderstorm located near my house in Anoka. I spotted the storm while a few miles north of Hinckley, but by this time the storm was moving into the southern Twin Cities and was far out of my reach. I turned off on MN HW 23 and traveled towards Mora and a ominous black cloud bank (first photo below). Shortly after leaving Mora, the cloud bank broke, revealing a high gust front/shelf cloud structure just a few miles to the north. I snapped photos of the gust front for a few miles (photos below) before pulling off on a side road to film the storm and take more detailed photos.
I broke out the DSLR and my ZR-70 video camera as lightning activity increased in the storm. I managed to capture a few C-G bolts on video before the gust front advanced overhead and the rain began (photos below).
I hopped back on HW 23 and continued southwest towards Annandale. As I crossed the Mississippi River at Clearwater, I noticed that the clouds had a very laminar look to them, characteristic of when winds in that region are very strong (third, fourth, and fifth photos). I stopped and took a few photos of these clouds. Also, dead ahead of me to the south was a rain foot, caused when a rainshaft is tilted away from the storm due to strong low level winds (first and second photos).
I arrived at Andrea's house at 2:30pm and continued taking photos of a cloud shadow (first two photos) and the Mora storm, which was now far off to the east and exhibiting a classic thunderhead (last three photos below).
The remainder of the day was quiet and relaxing, but the fun was just getting started . . .
