The former Holiday Inn, along the Turnpike north of Caribbean Blvd., posed for this slide with assorted doors, windows, cladding, and signage blown out and scattered to the two winds of the eyewall. Despite the ugly superficial damage, this steel-reinforced concrete edifice stayed structurally sound, and soon reopened for business. This building since has been a Best Western and now is a Motel … [Read more...]
Atmospheric Generator
The amazing Kinsley nighttime supercell, here shown in an early shot soon after I arrived at a good viewing spot, was the gift that kept on giving for keeping this storm observer awestruck. Fortunately grounded electricity stayed close to the visible updraft region or inside the core, so that this observer wasn't "lightning-struck". Much to my relief, it produced no anvil-to-ground bolts while … [Read more...]
Tornadic Supercell at Sunset
Our experience of the central Illinois tornado outbreak ended with a beautiful sunset in the west, and the "I-72 supercell" receding into deepening evening darkness. The storm was producing an F3 tornado in the Decatur area at this very moment, a vortex not visible from here due to distance, darkness and intervening low clouds. Nonetheless, we had seen a few other tornadoes with this supercell, … [Read more...]
Outbreak Sundown
While watching a still-tornadic supercell recede into the eastern distance, the opposite side of the sky blazed with one of the prettier sunsets of the 1990s for me. Being forced by an intense mid/upper-level trough, a surging dryline related to the historic central Illinois tornado outbreak fronted some dust lofted from far away that nicely diffused the sunset light around a lone cumulus humilis … [Read more...]
Post-Prison Vortex
After witnessing the Winchester tornado, we had to scoot south several miles, east, then back north again, to avoid both the core of the supercell and a potentially tornadic mesocyclone that occupied the straightest road path. Doing so put us somewhat behind the fast-moving supercell, and also took us through a heavy shower that merged with the forward flank of the supercell. Still, we got just … [Read more...]
Cirrostratus
Thick cirrostratus seems a dismal scene to a man of lower latitudes, when framed by trees that are still leafless in April! One thing you can count on up north for nearly half the year: lots of stratiform clouds—anything gray, grim and overcast. But even the gloomy can be beautiful in a stark sort of way. Cirrostratus can be hard to judge for height, and thus difficult to distinguish from … [Read more...]
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