The SPC didn't think Northern VA had enough atmospheric "ooomph" (that's a technical term) for severe weather today, but when I noticed that a dissipating warm front was hanging around east of I-95 my severe weather antenna perked up as I knew the resulting shear could pump up a supercell or two. I had hopes for convection today anyway so I went to Thornburg around 1:15 pm to check out some showers moving northeastward from the Richmond area, but they wound up escaping into eastern VA territory that I hesitate to chase in given the abundant treelines and randomly inconvenient roads. Casting about for where to go next I picked up a WiFi signal and found that a line was beginning to build near the Blue Ridge mountains so I cruised up I-95 and picked my way through the typically awful traffic on westbound Route 3, arriving at a Culpeper county viewing spot to watch the southern end of the line build.
As this cell approached and threw rain at me I moved north a few miles to the Culpeper airport to witness another cell begin to get its act together and exhibit minor rotation near a flanking line.
Determined to keep up with the line as it neared the weak warm front east of I-95 I motored north to Remington and then southeastward on rural Fauquier county roads, keeping just behind the rain/hail shaft and watching nearby updrafts and bases for more rotation signs. When I finally popped out on Route 17 southbound I wasn't able to avoid the rain so I pulled off and phoned my son for a nowcast. He indicated that the section of the line I was tracking was coalescing around a radar-indicated mesocyclone and I got pumped about doing a core punch! Unfortunately reality set in as I got within a couple miles of the I-95 interchange as traffic came to a dead stop. I ducked off on a side road, pulled into a shopping center, and saw what appeared to be a wall cloud.
As this part of the storm moved eastward I struggled to plow my way through the burgeoning traffic to no avail, losing a good 20-30 minutes in my trek to catch up with the line. I finished up in King George county watching another cell to my south as it transited my windshield, knowing I had lost too much time. When I arrived home I found that the section of the line I had originally been following had produced a waterspout over the Potomac River just across from King George county. Foiled again by traffic!
As this cell approached and threw rain at me I moved north a few miles to the Culpeper airport to witness another cell begin to get its act together and exhibit minor rotation near a flanking line.
Determined to keep up with the line as it neared the weak warm front east of I-95 I motored north to Remington and then southeastward on rural Fauquier county roads, keeping just behind the rain/hail shaft and watching nearby updrafts and bases for more rotation signs. When I finally popped out on Route 17 southbound I wasn't able to avoid the rain so I pulled off and phoned my son for a nowcast. He indicated that the section of the line I was tracking was coalescing around a radar-indicated mesocyclone and I got pumped about doing a core punch! Unfortunately reality set in as I got within a couple miles of the I-95 interchange as traffic came to a dead stop. I ducked off on a side road, pulled into a shopping center, and saw what appeared to be a wall cloud.
As this part of the storm moved eastward I struggled to plow my way through the burgeoning traffic to no avail, losing a good 20-30 minutes in my trek to catch up with the line. I finished up in King George county watching another cell to my south as it transited my windshield, knowing I had lost too much time. When I arrived home I found that the section of the line I had originally been following had produced a waterspout over the Potomac River just across from King George county. Foiled again by traffic!
5 comments:
We had a bad cell move through Hanover around 2:30pm. It had REALLY heavy rains and really strong winds. I was at school at the time, and we were outside for Gym. Saw a well developed storm, black clouds with a low cloud line hanging below the main clouds out in front as it moved forward. We ran inside with the crazy lightning, then the power went out. The rain blew in with the wind, and you couldnt even see the parking lot out the window, couldnt see 50ft. The wind split some trees and blew a tranformer as the power lines blew around.Our teacher started freaking out because she thought it was a tornado, with everything flying around outside. Turned out the storm was STSW and just had strong winds. I know parts of Hanover to the east got a pretty good hail storm. I couldnt tell if there was some small hail mixed in, but there probably was. I thought the big storm day was supposed to be yesterday, yet today, with a 30% chance, turned out to be bigger. (Sorry for the long post)
P.S.- Do you have Weather Defender? I am looking in to buying it, wondering if it was any good. Thanks!
Sounds like you had the storm I initially thought about chasing. Mostly speed shear today, which would cause those strong winds.
And no, I'm not familiar with Weather Defender. You might try searching through some storm chase forums for reviews.
Ok, Thank you. Do you use a personal dopplar radar program or do you just use free ones on the internet?
I use GRLevel3 which you can try out for 21 days free. Google it for the website.
wow, nice pixs...thanks for sharing and thanks for sharing your experience!
xxx
Post a Comment