Trentham Stormchasers

'Going to Extremes' 2011 USA Roadtrip

Report: Clyve Herbert

Photography: Jane ONeill / Clyve Herbert

19th April 2011

Day 4:  Ottawa, KS to St Robert, MO

We can't say we were up bright and early today - it was a tired and gloomy morning...the warm sector full of boisterous Gulf air had spread across Missouri and eastern Kansas. In eastern Kansas it was accompanied by drizzly stratiform, but as we headed east into Missouri, the stratiform broke to patchy sunshine and thick haze. The warm humid Gulf air was streaming north ahead of a deepening low over central south Kansas...target area for today was central SE Missouri, but there were many factors that were to alter this through the day...Missouri is not a good chase state..there are just too many trees. Missouri does however, experience significant weather, occasionally would tally supercells and tornadoes on par with Oklahoma and Kansas.We opt for the central south option, and plonk on a hilltop adjacent to I44 near Lebanon. For several hours nothing happens...the cap is just too strong! As the temperature approaches 90F/32C, the humidity is around 65%.

By 3pm, we notice through the murk, congesting Cu breaking the cap to the W and NW. We make haste heading to Camdenton, but at 3.30pm in the afternoon, we encounter 'stormchaser block' in the form of schoolbuses!!  If we thought trees were a hindrance, a schoolbus is permitted to stop traffic in both directions...we grind our teeth and follow slowly, as a storm goes severe to our NW. We finally clear the congestion of Camdenton and follow a strong storm northwards - it's a 'tail end Charlie' and we cross our fingers for action! We finally view a rainfree base with ragged lowerings - the base rotates for about 10 minutes and we glimpse brief funnels, but the road systems in Missouri have a tendency to almost go around in circles, .........and did we mention the trees???

We follow the stormline NE to Hermann, then head SE to Washington. In places, these storms were dropping golfball hail, and we started getting reports of brief tornadoes 1 - 200km to our north....that's one problem with stormchasing - you pick your target and then 'suck it and see'! We followed our 'tail end Charlie' but it didn't pay off in respect to tornadic activity. It's getting late and from Washington we head south to I-44 to position for Arkansas the next day...as we approach I-44 near St Clair, the previous frontal boundary was starting to kick off fresh convection. We decide to head south of the Interstate to follow a rainfree base. It's getting dark and the road's getting windier.....and we find ourselves plonked in between 2 tornado warned cells...it's not a good feeling  in the darkness - we decide to head back to the Interstate as an RFD helps our vehicle along with branches and leaves

Finally on the Interstate we head SW to overnight at St Robert.

Highlights of the day...rotating wallcloud near Camdenton, golfball hail near Camdenton complete with dense hailfog

 

1904jon182d.jpg (55932 bytes)

First thing you see entering Missouri are trees...it's also the last thing you see...

1904jon183d.jpg (35473 bytes)

Murky morning low stuff, warm sector, western Missouri

1904jon198d.jpg (37832 bytes)

 

1904jon188d.jpg (84417 bytes)

Apparently Z doesn't mean sleep in Missouri....

1904jon190d.jpg (82390 bytes)

We were intrigued with the horse and cart signs....

1904jon191d.jpg (73275 bytes)

...around the next corner a horse and cart appears on the Interstate!!!

1904jon219d.jpg (73334 bytes)

Everything stops in both directions for school buses in America!!

1904jon220d.jpg (62609 bytes)

Convection breaks the cap near the cold front boundary, SW Missouri

1904jon255d.jpg (42709 bytes)

Rotating base and hail shaft Camdenton - 'tail-end Charlie' storm.

 

 

Stay tuned for tomorrow's episode...

Back to Australian Sky & Weather