Stutsman County Storms - 6-7-2021

 

Well, this was a day!  It felt great to be back out in the field and actually chasing again!  This day started off with me going into the station and getting 'adjusted' to some of the new gear that I have for this year!  I have a new camera which I am using and then some other new goodies which we will use from time to time while chasing.  

After meeting with Hutch and Nathan and then discussing where our target area was going to be (and making sure I would be able to have a video shot for each newscast) off I went.  

We knew that somewhere in Southern Stutsman County was going to be the target.  Storms were going to form somewhere in northern SD, most likely new Eureka, and then mature and most likely become tornadic in LaMoure or Stutsman Counties. 

As I got towards Kulm, I realized that I was having some data coverage issues - one of my cards was not working.  I almost always have two data cards with - one with AT&T, the other one with Verizon.  I found that while I was connected, I wasn't getting any data back, so I ended up switching to my slower card, but it uses a different carrier and has slightly more range.  With there being a number of other chasers around, sometimes this can happen, especially if most of the chasers are on one carrier - you have to switch to the other carrier to get better service. 

On the road south of Jamestown

Once things got going, it got really interesting in a hurry.  I knew because of the road network I needed to try to stay to the east side of the storm, but not get too much into the rain and hail, because then I wouldn't see anything. 

Near Kulm

One thing I did notice was the incredible Mammatus!  

The storm was working on getting its act together and was showing more organization as it got closer to 9pm. 

Then, things really started to get interesting!  I let the original storm move off to the east, as the storm which was tornado warned became wrapped in rain, and a new cell was quickly developing off to the west. 

And here we go! 

Scraping the ground, looking south.  (thus the rain is on the east side) 

One thing which I noted was the incredibly strong RFD winds wrapping around the wall cloud.  It was some of the most intense RFD I have experienced in quite some time.  I was getting pelted with grass and branches and had other debris landing on my truck, so I knew that while I was safe where I was at, it was close!  

Spin up

With the RFD and the wall cloud wrapping around, here appears to be the spin up! 

More RFD kicking up dirt from the fields. 

Overall, great motion this evening, with a couple of really awesome cutins!  Some of the video will make for a great promotion coming up, so make sure you keep an eye out for that!  

I'll try to get some more blogs up, but this was a great first chase to get things out of the way!  

Edit:  Adding in some links to video! https://fb.watch/8Wql3uLrpN/ and https://www.valleynewslive.com/2021/06/08/vnl-storm-chaser-catches-tornado-live-camera/?fbclid=IwAR2H_0HyeCgSZ4IQpHEnOZQFuTSlgU8gFsz1dTj3b8wq60nB2TvFPngX-cM