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October 9th, 2024 - Hurricane Milton - Florida Chase

10/18/2024

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For as long as I can remember I have been interested in tropical weather, and for many years I have wanted to chase hurricanes. For several reasons, I had not done so, until now...

Hurricane Milton quickly came on the scene and rapidly strengthened from a tropical storm to a category 5 hurricane within a 24 hour period while in the Southern Gulf Of Mexico. Weather model guidance had been eyeing a Florida peninsula landfall since Milton was classified as a tropical depression, however likely in a weakening phase, as increased shear interaction and dry air entrainment were possible. I had pondered over the idea of chasing Hurricane Milton, as this was shaping up to potentially be the first major hurricane landfall in the Tampa region in around 100 years and St. Pete Beach, which resides in the Tampa region, is meaningful to me for several reasons. After going back and forth on the idea for several days, I pulled the trigger and decided I would head down to Florida to chase Hurricane Milton, which was expected to make landfall Wednesday night/Thursday morning, October 9/10th.

After a day of travel issues flying down on Tuesday, October 8th, I finally made it to Orlando, FL during the evening. Grabbing my rental SUV, stopping for some supplies, food, and gas, I made my way westward to a St. Petersburg hotel for the night, where I met up with fellow chasers Adam Lucio, Chelsea Burnett, Ryan Cartee, and Bob H.

With the arrival of Wednesday morning, October 9th, we decided to head south to get into position near the potential location of landfall, which looked likely to be somewhere between Sarasota and St. Pete Beach. After working around some bridge closure issues, we made it to Bradenton, FL during the early afternoon to scope out the area and find a parking garage for shelter if needed. We then headed to Cortez, FL for a few hours during the afternoon, which is on the shore of the mainland, facing west towards the barrier islands. While sitting in Cortez, FL, bands of heavy rainfall and tropical storm wind gusts occurred, with a min storm surge. While sitting in place, we noticed that Hurricane Milton was approaching very quickly, and was looking to make landfall much earlier than was expected. Our calculations suggested an evening landfall around or just after sunset was looking likely, compared to previous estimates of overnight on previous weather model guidance. During this time we also noticed the wobbling eye of Hurricane Milton was keeping us on our toes as to where it would make landfall. Eventually, a hard right turn started to occur, with due east movement. With this occurring, we decided that we should reposition southward to Sarasota, FL. After a short drive filled with flooded roads from heavy rainfall and a large structural fire, we made it to Sarasota, FL and found a marina/park to settle in at for intercept.

As Hurricane Milton approached, it was in a weakening phase due to increased shear interaction and dry air entrainment, which dropped the hurricane from a category 5 in the days prior, down to a category 4, and then to a category 3 as landfall approached. Because of these issues and weakening, the eye and eyewall of Hurricane Milton were quickly degrading through the day leading up to landfall. With time passing as we sat in our intercept location of Sarasota, FL the front (northeast/east) eyewall impacted our location, bringing wind gusts of around 100MPH and numerous power flashes. Only a minor storm surge was seen during this time. As the hurricane continued, the degrading eye of Hurricane Milton made landfall, bringing a period of essentially calm winds to our location for around 15 minutes or so. Storm surge also began to more steadily increase during the passage of the eye. The back (west) eyewall brought wind gusts around 100MPH once again, along with a rapid rise in storm surge. This rapid rise in storm surge forced us to retreat to a nearby parking garage, where we sat for a short time, before heading back down to ground level, where the storm surge had already quickly retreated. Driving around for a bit, we noted widespread damage across the downtown Sarasota area, much of which was tree damage. As the center of Hurricane Milton continued to push further inland and the back eyewall continued to move further inland, we decided to call it a chase. We headed back to our hotel for the night, with a drive that was filled with continued high wind gusts and roads flooded from heavy rainfall. Making it back to St. Petersburg, we made a stop to check on significant damage to Tropicana Field and to high-rise buildings in downtown St. Petersburg.

Waking up Thursday morning, October 10th, we left St. Petersburg and went our separate ways. I decided to survey the St. Petersburg, St. Pete Beach, and Bradenton, FL areas. I came across widespread damage, most of which was tree damage, with isolated occurrences of structural damage. After surveying damage across the area, I headed back to Orlando, FL, where I stayed Thursday night, before flying back home on Friday, October 11th.

Some pictures and videos from this chase can be viewed below. Additional pictures can be found in the 2024 photography section.
Chase Statistics:
Landfall Category: Category 3
Intercept Location: Sarasota, FL
Eye Intercept: Yes
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April 18th, 2024 - C. Illinois Chase

4/30/2024

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While this day had decent potential to be a quality severe t'storm in portions of the region, it was not one that I was planning to chase. I just so happened to be down in Central Illinois with my wife for a conference she was going to attend for work the next day. On our way down there during the afternoon, it was apparent that we may indeed have a surprise chase on our hands if activity came close enough to where we needed to be, which was Springfield, IL.

After leaving home and while driving downstate on I-55 during the afternoon, numerous severe t'storms developed across Eastern Missouri, many of which were supercell t'storms. As we approached Springfield, IL, the most northern supercell t'storm became tornadic as it tracked across rural areas of Western Illinois. It was very clear that this tornadic supercell t'storm was indeed going to pass close enough to Springfield, IL, that we would have a small window of opportunity to chase it before needing to be back in Springfield, IL, for mid-evening plans. Continuing southward on I-55 and exiting at Farmersville, IL, we got a view of the tornadic supercell t'storm. We continued a bit more south, making it to just west of Waggoner, IL, where we sat and watched things for a bit. After several attempts, a solid wall cloud developed along with a funnel cloud, which made it approximately halfway to the ground. Given our distance, which was several miles away, it was hard to tell if there was any touchdown or not. The wall cloud and funnel cloud diminished after a few minutes, at which point I decided to reposition us a bit further south and east, on the east side of I-55. Following the still tornado warned supercell t'storm further southeast, the storm was still showing weak rotation at times, both visually and on radar. We made it to near Raymond, IL, to sit and watch the tornado warned supercell t'storm approached once again. While doing so, a developing QLCS was moving northeastward and about to hit as well. The tornado warned supercell t'storm that we were on and watching began to merge with the QLCS. However, even while doing so, it maintained supercell structure in the QLCS and still had weak rotation at times. All of a sudden, in the field directly across from us, a wall cloud attempted to form, failed, and then reformed. This was quickly followed by the development of a funnel cloud, which reached about halfway to the ground. It was hard to see whether or not there was a touchdown or not with very heavy rainfall occurring. The funnel passed from west to east in the field across from us to our north, while we were hit with strong RFD winds of 45-55MPH. After letting the now embedded QLCS supercell pass us, we had to end the chase and make the short drive up to Springfield, IL. Nearing Springfield, a new line segment developed to our west and northwest and became severe. We ended up with a nice view of a well formed shelf cloud to our west and northwest, just as we entered Springfield, IL. This activity would go on to become an embedded tornadic supercell t'storm to the east of Springfield, IL, producing several tornadoes.

Some pictures from this chase can be viewed below.
Chase Statistics:
Tornadoes: 0
Wind: 45-55MPH
Hail: None
SPC Severe Weather Reports:
Picture
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April 16th, 2024 - W/NW. Illinois Chase

4/30/2024

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Leading up to this day, it had shown the potential to have quality severe t'storm activity and potentially be chase worthy. One of the biggest concerns, even as the day was unfolding, was the potential for two rounds of activity. If the first round of activity did occur, the question was... What impacts would it have one the second round of activity, which was the main focus for the day?

Prior to heading out chasing during the late morning/midday, I had decided my target would be on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River in far Western Illinois, just south of the Quad Cities metro area. While activity was likely to initially develop and move across SE. Iowa and NW. Missouri, I really didn't want to mess with river crossing issues along the Mississippi River, nor would I make it out there in time to chase that area. I left home with a friend a bit late, in the early afternoon, with sights set on my target area. While heading west, the first round of activity, which developed in the hours prior, really became fairly widespread as it lifted northeastward across my target area and surrounding areas. The second round of activity had already developed and was organizing/maturing across S. Iowa and N. Missouri. Upon making it into the east side of the Quad Cities metro area and stopping for food and gas, we watched as the second/main round of activity, which consisted of supercell t'storms, became severe and tornado warned in SE. Iowa and NW. Missouri. While that was nice to see, what wasn't nice to see was that just downstream, the first round of activity was lingering, leaving little space between rounds for recovery.

We continued our travels southwestward into far Western Illinois, south of the Quad Cities metro, around the Aledo, IL, area, just as the severe/tornado warned supercell t'storms were approaching to our west along the Mississippi River, and were now in view. Unfortunately, as the activity crossed the Mississippi River it felt the effects of a less recovered environment between rounds of activity, and it lost all tornadic potential. Some of the activity did remain severe, however. We intercepted one of the former supercell t'storms, which was now a severe t'storm warned line segment, while on I-280 on the south side of the Quad Cities metro. We encountered gusty winds <40MPH and pea size (0.25") hail with this severe t'storm. After letting this initial severe t'storm pass, we got in to position just south of Colona, IL, to intercept the next severe t'storm approaching. This severe t'storm brought gusty winds <40MPH and up to nickle size (0.88") hail. Following this severe t'storm to the northeast on I-88, we encountered a few bouts of 40-50MPH downburst winds and a few more occurrences of pea size (0.25") hail. We got back ahead of the severe t'storm around the Morrison/Lyndon, IL, area on I-88 and pulled off at an exit briefly. Just as we did so, the severe t'storm interacted with an outflow boundary and briefly showed a bit of weak visual and radar rotation. Just after this, a very large and well organized gustnado developed in a field to our northwest, along the leading edge of the northeastward moving severe t'storm. This gustnado lasted for one to two minutes as it moved across several fields. At this point, sunset had arrived, and the remaining activity in the area was not worth continuing the chase for, so we called it a day and headed home.

Some pictures from this chase can be viewed below.

Chase Statistics:
Tornadoes: 0
Wind: 40-50MPH
Hail: 0.88" (Nickel Size)
SPC Severe Weather Reports:
Picture
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March 31st, 2023 - N/C. Illinois Chase

4/7/2023

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For several days leading up to this day, severe t'storms looked likely across a large portion of the Central US, including the potential for a severe weather outbreak. One of the big questions heading into the day of would be; would there be an earlier day round of activity that would develop, and how would it impact the overall risk across IA/MO/IL. Also, there was some questions regarding storm mode, and how long activity would stay more discrete. My plan early in the morning the day of was to leave home by 12PM and head west towards Galesburg IL, to await expected supercell t'storm development in IA/MO. This activity would quickly cross the Mississippi River, in which I would intercept on the IL side. 

During the early morning a lead wave within the main apparent trough overspread the open warm sector. This allowed a broken cluster of showers and t'storms to develop across portions of OK/KS/MO. For a while this activity struggled to mature, but by later morning it was thriving, as it traversed the heart of Missouri. Running a bit late, I didn't leave home and hit the road until around 12:45PM, but still had a "sit and wait" target of Galesburg. By this time the cluster of now severe t'storm activity traversing parts of Missouri had begun to spread into far Western Illinois. At this time I had no plans to make a play on this activity, as it was quickly moving northeast along the leading edge of moisture/instability advecting in from the south. While driving east on I-88 something was telling me to drop south on I-39, and then continue west towards Galesburg. I didn't listen, and kept rolling west on I-88 to Sterling, where I dropped south on Route 40, with eventual plans to then take Route 34 to the Galesburg area. After a short time of being on Route 40, one of the discrete severe t'storms in the cluster in Western Illinois became tornado warned, as it approached the Peoria area. At this point I had a very quick decision to make, continue to the Galesburg area to wait for developing IA/MO supercell t'storms to move in, or try to quickly drop southeast ahead of the activity approaching Peoria. Making it to I-80, I made the decision to backtrack east on I-80, and then drop south on I-39, to make a play on the tornado warned supercell t'storm moving into the Peoria area. (Now we go back to when I originally was driving on I-88 heading west earlier when something was telling me to drop south on I-39 then...If I would have done so, I would have been able to make a play on the Peoria activity sooner, if I had decided to do so.) I gained visual on the tornado warned supercell t'storm near Waldo IL, which is just off I-39 to the east and just north of Route 24. While watching, this tornado warned supercell t'storm began to struggle, and lost quality radar and visual structure. Continuing east-northeast with this tornado warned supercell t'storm for a bit into the Pontiac IL area, it failed to recover and I decided to end pursuit.

At this time I was left with a decision...A few severe and tornado warned supercell t'storms were back up north in the vicinity of I-80 in Northern Illinois (One near my original target of Galesburg), out west a supercell t'storm in Northeast Missouri had recently diminished, and to the southwest a tornado warned supercell t'storm coming into the Quincy area of Western Illinois was looking like it may congeal into a line with activity developing to it's south. I decided it made sense to head north to the activity approaching I-80, as it was back in the direction of home anyway. I caught up to one of the severe warned supercells t'storms as it approached Hinckley IL. This severe warned supercell t'storm was slightly north of an outflow boundary left behind by a lead supercell t'storm that had recently moved through the area. Sitting and watching, this supercell t'storm started to improve visual and radar structure as it moved east-northeast. Traveling east-northeast along with it as it moved through Sugar Grove IL and into the Western Chicago Suburbs, it gave an attempt at tightening up, but never could fully do it. I decided to end pursuit and head back west towards Hinckley IL, with eyes set on dinner and getting in position to get rolled by an approaching severe and tornado warned QLCS. After heading back west and having a bite to eat, the QLCS moving in from the west was still severe and tornado tornado warned, as there were several meso-vorts showing up within the line. Taking a short hop to the southeast side of Hinckley IL, I sat as the QLCS approached with a very tall and structured shelf cloud. It quickly hit, but didn't pack the expected punch at my location, with 55-60MPH wind gusts. At this point the day was over, and I headed home.

Some pictures from this chase can be viewed below.
​Chase Statistics:
Tornadoes: 0
Wind: 55-60MPH
Hail: 0.50" (Marble Size)
SPC Severe Weather Reports:
Picture
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June 13th, 2022 - NE. Illinois Chase

6/25/2022

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For several days leading up to this day, it had looked like weather conditions would be hot, humid and dry. However, as we got closer to this day weather model guidance started picking up on the likelihood that a few MCV's would develop from larger MCS's in the Plains the night prior to this day, which then would move northeastward and through the region on this day. These MCV's would be of focus for severe t'storms, as long as timing was right and the cap could be broken

The morning of this day featured hot, humid and dry conditions in the area. Two to three different MCV's were moving rapidly east and northeastward across Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin during the first half of the day. By afternoon it was appearing quite possible that the MCV's had moved through the region too early, and that timing would be off and capping would hold, preventing any severe t'storm development. However, by mid-afternoon a supercell t'storm developed across Southern Wisconsin, which then moved east-southeast through Madison, Milwaukee and out over Lake Michigan as it transitioned to a small little cluster. Trailing from this activity was an outflow boundary, which was pushing southward from Southern Wisconsin and into far Northern Illinois, and would soon interact with a warm front in place across far Northern Illinois.

A few t'storms began to develop in the Rockford, IL area by late afternoon, in the vicinity of both boundaries. This activity then blossomed into one large supercell t'storm, which began to push slowly southeastward along the warm front in place, moving towards Elgin, IL. As I saw this occur, I quickly left home and got on the road for what would be a 30 minute drive north to catch this supercell t'storm. I closed in on the supercell t'storm as it was exiting Elgin IL and moving into Streamwood IL. At this time it was a very HP supercell t'storm, with any good structure being in the rain. I continued to follow along now east-southeast, as the supercell t'storm continued to ride the warm front southeastward. I witness some wrapping to the rain curtains while in Streamwood IL. Continuing east-southeast with the supercell t'storm, it was slow moving, but it was tough to keep up due to late day rush hour traffic and being in the Chicago metro area. I continued on east south-east with the supercell t'storm through Hanover Park, Roselle and Bloomingdale, before calling the chase as it was approaching O'Hare Airport and Chicago.

At this point I had heard there was damage in my hometown of Streamwood, where I had originally started chasing the supercell t'storm, so I decided to head back and check this out. Driving around the Streamwood area, I found widespread tree and property damage, including a narrow corridor through town of more concentrated/significant tree/property damage. Most damage appeared to be RFD wind damage, though the one aforementioned corridor had the appearance of a possible weak tornado damage path. In the days following this event, the NWS surveyed the area and come to the conclusion that widespread 60MPH+ RFD damaging winds had occurred in the Streamwood area, with the narrow corridor of more significant/concentrated damage having been an enhanced area of RFD damaging winds of 75PMPH+. Additionally, using my drone I found a short and narrow path of significant tree damage
 that had the appearance of a weak tornado damage path in a nearby forest preserve, at Bode Lake in Streamwood/Hoffman Estates IL. After forwarding the information to the NWS, they confirmed a brief EF-0 tornado had occurred at that location.
Chase Statistics:
Tornadoes: 0
Wind: None
Hail: None
SPC Severe Weather Reports:
Picture
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April 30th, 2022 - NE. Illinois Chase

6/4/2022

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For several days leading up to this day, severe t'storms looked possible, including the potential for a local storm chase. One of the big questions heading into the day of would be; how much of a time gap there would be between early morning debris activity and the main afternoon round of activity. This time gap would play a role in determining the quality of the environment that would develop. Timing of the main afternoon round of activity also was of focus for myself, as I would be at work until 2PM. In the end, timing was sufficient for an favorable environment to develop and for widespread severe t'storms to occur.

During the early afternoon, initiation occurred along a pre-frontal trough moving across Central Illinois. As this activity moved northeastward, it was very slow to mature, which played in my favor not being able to leave work until 2PM. By 2PM activity had become stronger and more organized, and I made the decision to race southward to make a play on it. After an approximately 1 hour and 30 minute drive, I was approaching a supercell t'storm that was located a distance WSW of Dwight, IL. At this time the supercell t'storm had some rotation and was newly severe t'storm warned. Watching the storm while sitting between Mazon and Dwight, IL, it featured a wall cloud and some visible rotation. Moving northeastward with the storm towards Coal City, IL, the wall cloud had diminished and any visible rotation had ended was limited to within the supercell t'storm on radar. Continuing to follow the supercell northeastward up to I-55 and the far southwestern suburbs of Chicago, I decided to end the pursuit of the supercell t'storm, as it would soon be heading deeper into the urban Chicago metro area.

After ending the pursuit of the aforementioned supercell t'storm, I sat in Lorenzo, IL for a while, watching a new round of t'storms develop ahead of the main cold front now moving into the area. This activity steadily matured and organized, and became severe t'storm warned. I ended up heading westward toward Morris, IL to make a play on the new approaching activity. I made it to Morris in time to find a nice spot north of town, to sit and watch what was now a broken line of severe t'storms move in. After messing around with this activity for a bit, it was clear the best tornado and supercell t'storm threat had ended for the day, so I called the chase for the day.

Some pictures from this chase can be viewed below. Additional pictures can be found in the
 2022 photography section.
Chase Statistics:
Tornadoes: 6
Wind: None
Hail: None
SPC Severe Weather Reports:
Picture
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June 20th, 2021 - NE. Illinois Chase

9/17/2021

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​This day had shown the potential for severe t'storm risk from several days out, with the potential increasing as the day approached. Heading into the day, it appeared there would be two rounds of severe t'storm potential... The first during the afternoon and evening, as a remnant MCV moved across the state... And the second with the main cold front moving across the state during the evening and night. A chase looked quite likely the night before the event, and the plan was to head out immediately after getting off work in the early afternoon, with the potential to have a play to chase both rounds of potential.

The morning of the event things looked on tracked with the aforementioned scenario. However, things quickly changed and the overall potential came into question through the day. As the remnant MCV moved across the state during the afternoon, no development occurred, and it was found that capping in place was more significant than modeled and that prevented development... That is until the MCV moved east, where things ramped up across Michigan and Indiana. I ended up not leaving to chase after I got off work in the early afternoon, given the first round was not going to pan out, and the second round was to start in Iowa, with new question on how it would evolve across Northern Illinois during the evening and night.

Focus then turned toward the second round of potential, that would be possible during the evening and night. Widespread activity was occurring along the cold front in Iowa during the afternoon, however given the first round didn't pan out, there was question if the second round would for the evening and night. As the Iowa activity moved across Northern Illinois, there was a period of weakening across Northwest Illinois during the evening, before things ramped up across North-Central and Northeast Illinois, including the Chicago area. A few couplets/areas of rotation were showing up within the now severe/tornado warned line as it approached the western suburbs of the Chicago area, on track to come towards me at home in Naperville IL. As things approached, portion of the line that was going to pass just south of home looked interesting, and after some thinking, my girlfriend and I left at the last minute to head south and intercept it on I-355. While on the short 8 minute drive south, the couplet/rotation with the portion of the line in question increased, and a tornado was reported in Naperville IL. Driving south, we also observed power flashes to our west-southwest. We made it to just south of the 75th St exit on I-355 in Woodridge IL, as the line of severe/tornado warned t'storms hit, and we pulled off to the side. Conditions ramped up quickly, with us taking just about a direct hit from a then EF-2 tornado. Power went out in the area, with tree debris hitting our vehicle as the tornado passed. 

After the tornado passed, we spend several hours through much of the night documenting the event and damage across portions of Woodridge and Naperville, where significant and widespread damage occurred. The tornado was rated and EF-3 by the NWS, with damage surveys suggesting EF-0 to EF-2 damage having occurred where the tornado hit us.


Some video from this chase can be viewed below. Additional videos can be found in the 2021 video section.
Chase ​Statistics:
Tornadoes: 1
Wind: 50-60MPH
Hail: None
SPC Severe Weather Reports:
Picture
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August 9th, 2021 - N/NE. Illinois Chase

9/16/2021

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This day had shown the potential to have some severe t'storm risk in the days leading up to the event, but things really didn't take off potential wise until the night before the event, with potential ramping up into the day of the event as well. Some of the questions revolving around the potential was how would early day clouds/rain/t'storm activity affect things, how would capping advecting in affect things, and specifics regarding an MCV expected to move through.

This day really didn't look like a potential chase day until the night before the event, with it a then slam dunk chase day by late morning after watching how the aforementioned issues would be resolved. With an MCV moving eastward along the SW Wisconsin and NW Illinois border and scattered t'storms starting to develop along the border as well, I ended up heading out west with the initial target of DeKalb IL during the early afternoon. After waiting around for a while, things started to take off during the mid-afternoon hours, with several supercell t'storms developing.

The first supercell of interest was north of Rochelle IL. After a bit of hesitation, I ended up heading a bit northwest to intercept this supercell t'storm. Along the short drive a tornado was reported near Esmond IL, which I ended up witnessing from a distance just before it ended. Finally fully in position on the supercell, another tornado formed, which I followed for it's entire life south of Kirkland IL. After this tornado weakened, I sat for a bit between this lead supercell and another one that had developed behind it. After a bit of hesitation and waiting, I decided to try to catch back up to this first supercell, which had produced the first two tornadoes, as it was looking more organized visually and on radar once again. Driving along try to catch back up, another tornado was reported with it near Burlington IL, and at that point I realized I was not going to be able to catch back up ahead of the supercell. Thus, I quickly turned around and headed back west to the next supercell that had developed and was already tornado warned. Along the drive, a tornado was reported north of Creston IL, which I was able to see from a distance as I approached. Closing in, the tornado ended just as I was driving up to it, as it was tracking on IL Route 64. At this time this was the only supercell with any really potential still immediately nearby, and it was already beginning to cycle and attempt to ramp up again. I continued following this still tornado warned supercell eastward through Sycamore, where it quickly ramped up in a field across from me on the east side of Sycamore. I headed south a bit to get a better vantage point and have better road options east, and while doing so a new developing tornado passed right over me. As I stopped once again about a half of a mile south of my previous position a tornado was now on the ground, tearing through a farmstead. This tornado lasted for several minutes as it moved southeast, within a mile of my location during it's entire life. After this tornado ended, I quickly headed east to keep up with the supercell, with another brief tornado having occurred along the way. Still tracking eastward with this supercell, I observed another larger tornado in the rain, southwest of Virgil IL. This tornado was in the rain, eventually disappearing and ending. Continuing east with the supercell into the more urban western Chicago suburbs, chasing became difficult and I dropped off of this supercell in St. Charles IL, but not before observing a lowering/rotation with it as it passed. At this time another tornado warned supercell was approaching from the west, so I made a short jog back west to watch as it also came into St. Charles. This supercell also had a lowering/rotation as it passed. At this point it was getting later in the evening, some of the main activity was now in the Chicago metro and much further southwest, so I ended the chase.

Some pictures and video from this chase can be viewed below. Additional pictures can be found in the
 2021 photography section and additional videos can be found in the 2021 video section.
Chase Statistics:
Tornadoes: 6
Wind: None
Hail: None
SPC Severe Weather Reports:
Picture
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September 7th, 2021 - NE. Illinois Chase

9/16/2021

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This day had shown some potential for severe t'storm risk from a few day out. However, it never really looked like a chase day, with the tornado threat looking very low and the wind and hail threat being of main focus.

The event unfolded as expected during the late morning into afternoon, with scattered t'storms (Several of which were severe) having developed from Southern Wisconsin down into Northern Illinois, ahead of a southeast moving cold front. As activity moved east-southeast and across North-Central Illinois, one severe t'storm in particular around Dixon IL started looking interesting, as it had deviant motion and was producing large hail. After watching this severe t'storm for a while from home, I made a last minute decision to head off the the southwest, to get into position to intercept the hail core. I quickly left home during the mid-afternoon with an initial target of Braidwood IL, a fairly short 45 minute drive. Along the way, I determined I would make it to this target well too far in advance of the severe t'storm in question, thus decided to target Minooka IL instead, which was actually a bit closer and would allow me to intercept sooner. Just before making it to Minooka, the severe t'storm I was targeting produced baseball sized hail near Leland IL.

Finally making it to Minooka, I stopped for gas and looked over new data. The core of the storm had collapsed after the hail dump to the northwest, and the severe t'storm had started to take on more characteristics of a damaging wind threat. At the time the best wind threat looked to be along and just north of I-80, so I headed up just northeast of Minooka, very near I-80. Getting into position this severe t'storm once again took on new characteristics and quickly wrapped up, developing a couplet on radar. Visually in person you could see this change, with an organizing lowering and area of rotation forming within a shelf cloud, which was visible from northwest to south. This concentrated lowering/rotation quickly wrapped up, producing a very brief tornado, before weakening and gusting out. I followed the severe t'storm for a short time longer, before calling the chase as it headed further into the southern Chicago metro. Afterwards, I looped back around to where the brief tornado had occurred and found little int he way of damage. I also passed through the Minooka area, where significant and widespread wind damage had occurred.

Some pictures from this chase can be viewed below.
Chase ​Statistics:
Tornadoes: 1
Wind: 50-60MPH
Hail: None
SPC Severe Weather Reports:
Picture
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June 26th, 2021 - C/E. Illinois Chase

6/29/2021

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This day was part of a multi-day period of severe t'storm potential across the region, but didn't show as being chase worthy until the day or so before. The main question heading into the day was placement of a frontal boundary, timing of multiple disturbances moving through, and potential cloud/precipitation debris from the previous night.

My girlfriend and I departed home around 11AM, with an initial target of near Lincoln, IL. Shortly after leaving, some initial t'storm development occurred along our path of travel on I-55, across portions of Northeast and Eastern Illinois. Some of this activity became severe t'storm and tornado warned, showing a bit of rotation. We intercepted our first tornado warned t'storm near Gardner. This t'storm was organized at first with a slight lowering, but then quickly weakened as it pushed east (Though it would eventually re-strengthen and organize once again to the east). After leaving the first t'storm, we dropped south on Route 47 and intercepted a pair of t'storms near Forrest. The lead storm had a brief funnel cloud before moving out of view, while the second t'storm developed a small wall cloud/lowering, before we decided to drop off of the t'storm. By this point the main focus was turning towards an area of t'storms that had developed across Central and Southwestern Illinois, with it pushing northeastward towards much of Central Illinois. We ended up heading west from Gibson City, eventually making it to south of Bloomington, with the now broken line of mini-supercells to our southwest to northwest. It was decision time, with three of the mini-supercells within reach, one northwest, one west and one southwest. We decided to head south on US 51 for a bit to get into position on the southern t'storm. Stopping in Clinton for gas, we decided to change direction and head back north on US 51, to make a play on the northern mini-supercell, which was tornado warned and showing decent signs of rotation. This decision made sense given it was a short drive to the northern storm, and we would be in position to drop south to any other t'storms if needed. After a short 25 minute drive north we intercepted the northern tornado warned t'storm, just north of Bloomington. This t'storm had a few lowerings as we attempted to follow it to the east-northeast, before it weakened slightly (Eventually re-strengthened to the east-northeast) and we decided to end following that t'storm near Lexington, which is where we then started to drop south towards the next t'storm. Heading south past the west side of Bloomington, we intercepted the next tornado warned t'storm near Downs. This t'storm also had a brief lowering, but was high-precipitation and thus hard to get a good visual. After letting this t'storm pass to the north, we decided to drop southeast to Farmers City get into position for the next tornado warned t'storm that was between Lincoln and Clinton at the time. After making it to Farmers City, it was evident that the incoming t'storm was outflow dominant and did not pose a significant threat. By this time it was later int he afternoon, and most of the main activity had already pushed to the northeast, so we called it a chase for the day and headed home.

Almost all of the t'storms were rotating across Central/Eastern/Northeast Illinois on this day, however only two brief and weak tornadoes occurred. Higher lapse rates, more southerly winds (Instead of SW/SSW) and less t'storm coverage would have potentially made this day much more significant tornado wise.

Some pictures from this chase can be viewed below.
​Chase Statistics:
Tornadoes: 0
Wind: 40-50MPH
Hail: None
SPC Severe Weather Reports:
Picture
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