Deciding to follow this storm proved to be a wise and productive decision. As it continued on its path I moved to a position just east of Culpeper and a witnessed a wall cloud over the town, which I promptly reported to NWS Sterling. As the rain neared I retreated further eastward to a favorite viewing spot near Stevensburg and watched as the feature drew in scud from the rainshaft and began wrapping up into this:
Again, I dutifully dialed NWS Sterling and called in another wall cloud report, for which the met on the other end thanked me and then added that if I saw any hail to call back in. Guess they weren't interested in rotating features today! When this feature fell apart I continued east on Route 3 and stopped a couple of miles further down to watch as the storm regathered itself:
(Couldn't tell if that was a funnel or just scud, so I didn't call this one in...no hail!!)As this system churned eastward I kept abreast or just ahead of it through Lignum and then Wilderness, finally stopping again off Old Plank Road about 4 miles west of I-95 and saw this:
At this point my trusty internet connection informed me that the storm had a radar-indicated TVS (tornado vortex signature) so I determined to keep a very close eye on it despite the miserable afternoon traffic. I finally made it across I-95 to Route 1, where I parked just north of Four Mile Fork and watched as the feature crawled toward me, gathering strength and showing inflow bands. When it finally got too close I headed east on Mine Road after snapping this over my shoulder (I was stopped at a traffic signal!):
At this point the road system (or lack thereof) and the heavy traffic conspired to dump me into the core of the storm which had a signicant hail signature. I drove through intermittent hail up to the size of quarters (no dents that I have found yet) and made it home in time to eat a quick pizza dinner and then head back out to watch a second line pound through our vicinity as darkness fell. So many photos and videos yet to look at...more to come!
2 comments:
I watched the fredericksburg storm on radar. nice placement to be there in time for that. the 2nd set of storms, as far as how they looked, reminded me of the derecho we had june 4th of last year. not nearly as strong though.
I videoed that second line but haven't had a chance to review/edit it. That's on tonight's list of "to do's".
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