What a way to start off the chase season, with a high risk across the Ohio Valley.
I left home at about 8:30AM, with sights set on where the warm front looked to set up, in an area of decent terrain from far E. Illinois across C. Indiana and into West-Central Ohio. In the wake of morning severe storms, the warm front quickly pushed north into South-Central Indiana, allowing moist and unstable air to advect in. A line of storms quickly developed around mid morning in S. Illinois down into SE. Missouri. This line would become the main event for the day. Development of this line was a bit earlier than expected, so that took the western portion of my target zone out of play.
I made it to Indianapolis around 1:30PM EDT, and was planning to dive south on I-65 and set up shop near the Ohio River, which looked to be in the path of a cyclic supercell quickly moving in from the west. Unfortunately there was an accident on I-65, so after waiting in traffic for a bit and given there was no time to waste on a day with storms moving 50-70mph, I needed to find a quick detour. I decided to head southeast on I-74 to Greensburg, IN, and then take SR421 south into Madison, IN, which had bridge access to cross the Ohio River and would allow me to be in position for what was now two tornadic supercells. Waiting in traffic for a bit with the I-65 crash and the detour did end up costing me time in the end.
I was just north of Madison, IN when the first tornadic supercell passed just to my south. At this point I had debris falling from the sky, so I knew it had recently produced a tornado. I then continued south, crossing the Ohio River and heading into Milton, KY. As I passed through the south side of the main town area I encountered hail up to quarter sized, as I was in the core of the second tornadic supercell. At this point I pulled off the the side, not wanting to risk driving into a fast moving possible tornado on the other side of the FFD. After it passed I continued on through a more rural portion of Milton where I came about a path of damage. Given the path of each supercell, this damage was likely caused from a tornado with the first supercell. On the west side of the road a tree was snapped, tin roofing was peeled back on a garage, and tin was strewn across a field. Across the street a volunteer fire station was severely damaged, with it's roof torn off and garage destroyed. Debris was blown into a nearby grove of tree's, many of which were snapped. I also check areas upstream and downstream to this point, where there was tree and property damage.
Being it was a high risk, the first chase of the season, and in the not so great terrain near the Ohio River, it was an alright chase. If not for the I-65/detour issue, it's very possible I could have witnessed the tornado with the first supercell. Looking back at it, instead of detouring so far west(I-74/SR421) I should have just made a short detour and gotten back to I-65. Even with the issues and missing the main tornado, it was an enjoyable chase.
Some pictures and video from this chase can be viewed below. Additional pictures can be found in the 2012 photography section.
I left home at about 8:30AM, with sights set on where the warm front looked to set up, in an area of decent terrain from far E. Illinois across C. Indiana and into West-Central Ohio. In the wake of morning severe storms, the warm front quickly pushed north into South-Central Indiana, allowing moist and unstable air to advect in. A line of storms quickly developed around mid morning in S. Illinois down into SE. Missouri. This line would become the main event for the day. Development of this line was a bit earlier than expected, so that took the western portion of my target zone out of play.
I made it to Indianapolis around 1:30PM EDT, and was planning to dive south on I-65 and set up shop near the Ohio River, which looked to be in the path of a cyclic supercell quickly moving in from the west. Unfortunately there was an accident on I-65, so after waiting in traffic for a bit and given there was no time to waste on a day with storms moving 50-70mph, I needed to find a quick detour. I decided to head southeast on I-74 to Greensburg, IN, and then take SR421 south into Madison, IN, which had bridge access to cross the Ohio River and would allow me to be in position for what was now two tornadic supercells. Waiting in traffic for a bit with the I-65 crash and the detour did end up costing me time in the end.
I was just north of Madison, IN when the first tornadic supercell passed just to my south. At this point I had debris falling from the sky, so I knew it had recently produced a tornado. I then continued south, crossing the Ohio River and heading into Milton, KY. As I passed through the south side of the main town area I encountered hail up to quarter sized, as I was in the core of the second tornadic supercell. At this point I pulled off the the side, not wanting to risk driving into a fast moving possible tornado on the other side of the FFD. After it passed I continued on through a more rural portion of Milton where I came about a path of damage. Given the path of each supercell, this damage was likely caused from a tornado with the first supercell. On the west side of the road a tree was snapped, tin roofing was peeled back on a garage, and tin was strewn across a field. Across the street a volunteer fire station was severely damaged, with it's roof torn off and garage destroyed. Debris was blown into a nearby grove of tree's, many of which were snapped. I also check areas upstream and downstream to this point, where there was tree and property damage.
Being it was a high risk, the first chase of the season, and in the not so great terrain near the Ohio River, it was an alright chase. If not for the I-65/detour issue, it's very possible I could have witnessed the tornado with the first supercell. Looking back at it, instead of detouring so far west(I-74/SR421) I should have just made a short detour and gotten back to I-65. Even with the issues and missing the main tornado, it was an enjoyable chase.
Some pictures and video from this chase can be viewed below. Additional pictures can be found in the 2012 photography section.
| Chase Statistics: Tornadoes: 0 Wind: 45-55MPH Hail: 1.00" (Quarter size) | SPC Severe Weather Reports:  |
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