Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Late November Severe

The top story for yesterday was undoubtedly the tornadoes to set down in N Illinois as well as S Wisconsin. More information c/o SPC can be found HERE. Downstate IL managed to get in on the action as well with a few severe thunderstorms blasting across the region including a promising cell to come out of Menard county during the afternoon as well as the one I intercepted after dark from just down the road. A bulge in the squall line coming out of Christian county indicative of an embedded HP supercell is what caught my interest. Navigating to just outside of Macon IL using velocity imagery as my guide, I also chose this location so to allow the city light to illuminate the base since lightning was at an absolute minimum. When the mesocyclone came to pass, it was easy to see the rain bands being drawn in and around the parent circulation. The dominate column feature is one I struggle with for it could be a wrapping rain band or possibly be the type of spin up funnel one might find within this type of storm. Shielded by a barn, the gusty winds and brief heavy rain made it hard to believe this was happening in late November.









Friday, November 12, 2010

ISS vs. Warrensburg/Latham Elementary

Tried something different with the pass of the International Space Station from this evening. The pole is a nuisance but I thought this might pan out as an educational theme. Good practice anyways...