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June 14

June 14 Continued

We pulled over to watch radar again to see if there was anything new or exciting
to chase. Radar showed the storm to our northwest (approaching White Hall Il),
but it also indicated 2 new storms firing to the northwest of St.Louis. The northern
storm was developing on the dry line near Troy Mo. The second storm was near
O'Fallon Mo, and was very interesting to us. The location of the storm would be
very close to the dry line/outflow boundary intersection. Moisture convergence
would be maximized in this area, and would allow the storm to break the strong
cap now over EC Mo and WC Illinois. The storm continued to increase rapidly
over the next 10 minutes, and soon prompted a severe t-storm warning to be
issued for N.St.Charles Co. We decided to head after this storm, and headed on
Il Route 111 towards Brighton. We estimated the storm circulation was going to
track very near the town of Brighton within the next 30-45 minutes. I lost contact
with Brian and Tom on my cell phone because of a weak cellular service area.
I was sure Brian and Tom were close behind so I continued on to Brighton. I
would not see them until after sunset back in St.Louis by the way.

At 5:10 pm, I could see the storm to my distant southwest, but it was impressive
to say the least. The main storm tower was boiling upward through a diffluent and
thick anvil. A flanking line also trailed the storm tower to the southwest. Almost a
text-book structure!! The storm tower continued to increase and an overshooting
dome quickly popped through the anvil. I knew this was definitely the storm to chase!! The overshooting dome started to collapse back into the anvil cirrus, so
I was almost positive a tornado warning would soon follow. Nearly everytime I
have seen this happen in the past, the storm's circulation increases and a tornado
warning goes out!! I could now see the core leaning heavily to the east and away
from the updraft region. I could also see a pronounced RFD punching into the
backside of the storm. Sure enough, the NWS issued a tornado warning for the
storm. The counties included were SE Jersey, N Madison, and S Macoupin. I was
in S Macoupin Co. so things were looking up for this chaser!! At 5:20 pm, I was
near the town of Palmyra when the tornado warning was issued. Brighton was
one of the towns mentioned to be in the path of the possible tornado. I was only
15 minutes away from Brighton, so intercepting the storm would be easy.

I approached Brighton from the north on U.S.67 . The tornado warning continued
for S. Macoupin Co., and the circulation on radar was closing in on the town of
Brighton from the southwest. I could see the updraft region to my south, and it
looked like the RFD had carved a large u-shaped area into the back of the storm.
At 5:30 pm, I spotted a well developed funnel approaching Brighton. The funnel
appeared to be on the occluded circulation, and was fairly high based. It angled
back to the west-southwest and I was unable to see if it connected to the ground
(trees blocked my view to the southwest). I called the funnel report into the local
911 dispatcher. The funnel attempted to work down further, but the RFD eroded
the circulation, and dissipated the funnel. A new circulation was forming to the
south of Brighton just after 5:30pm. I decided to head east from Brighton to track
this new circulation on to the east. The next 20-30 minutes, I paralleled the storm
and found myself in a continuous core until I reached Staunton. The storm was
moving e-ne right up the outflow boundary towards Staunton and Livingston. I
reached Staunton just after 6pm, and the circulation appeared to be tracking
more to the east. I headed east to I-55 to watch the increasing wall cloud closing
in on the town of Livingston.

The circulation passed just north of Livingston at 6:10pm, and a well developed
wall cloud was organizing quickly about 5 miles to my south. Rain curtains were
swirling underneath the wall cloud. Very quickly I notice a funnel within the rain
curtains just nw of Livingston. Illinois State Police soon called in a tornado report
which was broadcast on NOAA weather radio. The tornado was expected to track
towards the town of New Douglas. I wanted to get out in front of the circulation so
I headed east on County Rd 150 north towards the town of Sorento. I could see a
large bowl shaped lowering to my south-southeast , but rain curtains masked the wall cloud for long periods of time. I zig-zagged through the county roads to get
to Sorento. I could now see a tornado to my southwest, and it appeared to be
near the town of New Douglas . I finally reached Sorento where I could get a road
option to the south. The tornado was reported to be at the Madison/Bond Co. line
and heading east. Things were about to get a lot more interesting!!

Rain curtains continued to hide the tornado from view as I headed south from
Sorento. I knew the tornado would be tracking right towards me so I was driving
with caution to the south. I passed a Bond Co. Sheriff's car on the road south of
Sorento. I was in heavy rain and still could not see a thing to my southwest. The
character of the rainfall went from large drops to a misty spray, so I knew I was
closing in on the circulation. My ears quickly popped and the skies started to
lighten up to my west. I was still in wrapping rain curtains but there was a dark
outline to my immediate southwest which I could now make out. The misty rain
abruptly diminished, and the tornado was about a mile to my s-sw. The tornado
was broad at the top, but approximately a 100 yards wide at the surface. Large
amounts of debris were being centrifuged outward from the tornado. The track
of the tornado appeared initially as though it was coming right towards me. I
quickly reversed my course and headed back to Sorento. I saw the Sheriff's car
was still camped out as I headed back into town, so I pulled up and let him know
the tornado was just to his south!! He was facing north so he probably was not
able to see the tornado. He seemed quite startled as I informed him and quickly
he got on his radio to call the report in. Soon he was ahead of me!!

I reached Sorento and took the road southeast towards the town of Reno. The
tornado remained on the ground , and I plotted the tornado track heading east
right for Reno (Bond Co.). I was about 4 miles southeast of Sorento when large
tree and other debris started to fall with the rain. The further southeast I drove, the
larger the debris was and the amount was also increasing. I was almost certain
the tornado was directly in front of me!! I soon came upon snapped power poles,
downed lines, and shredded trees along the road 3 miles northwest of Reno. My
progress to the east was slowed significantly. I must have driven over a piece of
metal debris- my right front tire was losing air big time!! I slowly continued down
the road to Reno. The tornado fittingly dissipated in a cemetery just north of Reno.
The tornado knocked a few trees over and toppled a few tombstones before it
"passed away" in the graveyard!!

My tire was completely flat by the time I reached Reno, so I was forced to change
in the extremely heavy "wrap-around" rain. I was soaked skin deep, but I really
had no alternative!! What a bust!! The storm started to move in a e-se movement
so it was going to be hard to catch. The storm was approaching Greenville by
th time I was able to change tires. The tornado warning continued for Bond Co.,
so I decided to head southeast and resume the chase. By the time I reached the
storm again, the storm had gusted out and looked to be on the downward cycle.
I could even see a gust front well to the south of the circulation. The updraft was
undercut so I knew this storm was reaching the end to it's tornado potential. I
followed the storm over to the Vandalia area, and then pulled over to regroup.

Brian finally reached my cell phone and told me where he and Tom had chased.
They were on the New Douglas Rd. about 2-3 miles behind the tornado when it
passed east of New Douglas. They worked through many downed trees and power lines to go through the damage path. The worst damage they saw was
near the small community of Gilmore. Several houses were damaged and a
mobile home was completely destroyed. Injuries were reported with the mobile
home destruction. They indicated that the damage was in the F-1 to borderline
F-2 intensity. They tried to keep up with the tornado, but a large tree was across
the Shoal Creek bridge. Their chase ended at this scene. An interesting thing,
because when the tornado was approaching me south of Sorento, the tornado
would have been in the Shoal Creek area. Hard to believe that Brian and Tom
were that close to me but they didn't know it. Another interesting note, when I was
in Vandalia, I saw Brian's usual chase partner Rich Thies. He was also tracking
the New Douglas storm. He shot video from the south as the wall cloud crossed
I-55 near Livingston. I returned to St. Louis , and met Brian and Tom for dinner.
We compared our observations over dinner and we concluded the evening with
my chase video. What a hectic day!!

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