CHASE LOG

 

DATE: May 24, 2004�� TIME: 17:00 to 20:00�� STATE(S): Iowa

COUNTIES: Boone, Dallas, Story

CHASE CREW: Loren Karr, Fenner Stevenson, and Travis Stevenson

BASE CREW: None������������������������������������������ CHASE # 6

 

��������� Day began with cooler temps, highs in mid 60�s, and dew points in lower 60�s.�

��������� We left Boone and traveled west on US highway 30.�� Just west of Ogden we noticed quite a bit of rotation in the clouds.� We stopped east of Beaver and assessed the situation.� We observed many low hanging clouds, many that dropped down for a minute or two before returning back up to the main cloud.� From Beaver we headed south on county road P54.� About 3 miles south of Beaver we again stopped to watch the clouds.� We held this position for approximately 15 minutes.� Again we witnessed many hanging clouds along with dramatic rotation.� We tracked the rotation, moving south through Berkley to county road 305th Street.� On 305th St. we headed east, stopping just west of US highway 169.� Again we watched the rotation.� We stayed in this location for a few minutes until the precipitation and wind caught up to us.� From there we headed south on US 169, then west on IA highway 141 to Woodward, where we turned north on IA highway 210.

��������� While driving through Woodward, the precipitation caught up to us again, and as we curved east out of town, we were hit by heavy rain and high winds.� We managed to outrun the heavy rain, and when we entered Madrid we decided to go to the south end of town and see if we could see any rotation.� As we stopped at the cemetery south of town, we could see some rotation, although not as great as it had been earlier in the day.� As the rain began to fall, we went east out of town on IA 210.�

��������� About two miles west of Slater, we came across a curtain of strong wind and rain.� We could see it would only get worse as we drove, so we pulled off and watched the power lines flop in the wind.� After the rain lightened up some, we headed east towards Slater.� In Slater we again found ourselves caught in a high wind and heavy rain mess, so we pulled off at the Casey�s store.� We noticed that Casey�s, along with other stores in the area, had lost their electricity.�

��������� As we sat in the lot as Casey�s we came to the conclusion the storm had gone from a severe storm to a heavy rain producer, so we decided to head for Boone.� We headed north out of Slater on county road R38, and found a fair size tree branch down blocking two-thirds of the roadway.� We were able to get around it, and then battled heavy rain most of the way to Ames.

 

 

 

 

 

1200 UTC Day 1 Outlook Graphic

SPC Convective Outlook showing a portion of Iowa as a high risk for severe storms.

 

 

 

 

 

Photos from May 24, 2004 Chase (#6)

 

Looking west from our position three miles south of Beaver.

 

 

 

 

Looking southwest from intersection of 310th Street and US highway 169.