Stormchasing tornado warnings

Posted at 2:30 PM on June 21, 2011 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Weather

I'm out storm chasing the system that spawned tornado warnings along Highway 52. As Paul Huttner was on the air saying the system was probably cold-weather, funnel clouds, I sat along the highway south of Inver Grove Heights and watched the system head to the northwest, then turn slightly and head over West St. Paul.

Other than the quick shift in direction, I didn't notice any rotation, indicating the forming of a tornado, but as the storm moved to the east side of St. Paul, it sure seemed possible that it could.

MPR's Bill Kling is due to be on Talk of the Nation in a few minutes. It would be ironic if Minnesota Public Radio interrupts the national program for tornado warnings. But, it can't be helped.

3:10 p.m. - The storm seemed to weaken (probably because of the "heat island" effect if it actually existed) and then caused more warnings in the northern suburbs.

A tornado reportedly touched down briefly in Coon Rapids. But for the most part, the giant cloud was good for some visual interest, but not much more.

6:17 p.m. - If you're a lover of cloud formations, this was your kind of day...

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Comments (3)

Bob. Remember: It's only a matter of time before we see one of these storm chasers get killed on camera.

Posted by Heather | June 21, 2011 3:04 PM

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From the 11th floor of a downtown Saint Paul building, some very obvious rotating was happening in the black clouds to the northwest of us. Frightening stuff.

Posted by Sarah Hilton | June 21, 2011 3:10 PM

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//before we see one of these storm chasers get killed on camera.

Heh, true indeed. I circled around behind it and followed from behind.

Posted by Bob Collins | June 21, 2011 3:33 PM

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