Cass County North Dakota
North Dakota setting the stage for some late season thunderstorms
Note how much closer the shelf cloud is to the cell at this point.
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| September 1st Cass County North Dakota |
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| A late summer cold front comes crashing into eastern North Dakota setting the stage for some late season thunderstorms |
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| Initiation near Cassleton, ND as a strong low level speed max passes ahead of the cold front. Temps on the warm side were in the low 90's with dewpoints in the low 70's. On the back side of the boundary, temps were in the upper 50's with dewpoints in the mid 50's. The mid and upper winds were out of phase once again running behind the cold front effectively limiting the severe potential. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Cells which fired out ahead of the cold front struggled due to the large temperature / dewpoint spread and the lack of good upper wind support. Everything was very high based and rain on it's own updraft due to a lack of shear killing the cells after about 30 minutes. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Random boredom shot looking north at an elevated base moving off to the northeast at over 40 knots. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| I knew if a cell could form just ahead of the cold front, it would stand the best chance at going severe and possibly tornadic due to some very good low-level dynamics. It would be brief if it did happen. This cell finally tried near Arthur, ND. Note the shelf clouf approaching from the west. That is the cold front itself. Surface winds were gusting to 40 mph from the south/southeast at this time.. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The cell passes pretty much over the FGF NWS radio transmitter for the Fargo, ND area. The cell tried to occlude but rapidly stretched out as it became undercut by the advancing cold front. Note how much closer the shelf cloud is to the cell at this point. |
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| One last try at staying inflow dominant as the cell out runs the cold front briefly (and me) as it is moving northeast at nearly 50 knots now. This lowering had a lot of rising motion to it but I doubt it was rotating. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The cell finally gets caught by the outflow from the rapidly advancing cold front effectively gusting it out as it began to merge with the shelf which was riding the boundary. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The shelf cloud marking the border between two different seasons is now the show as it moves steadily east near Argusville, ND | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| View looking north on the west side of I-29 with Gardner, ND in the distance. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The recently harvested grain field provided some beautiful contrast to the approaching shelf cloud | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| View looking northwest from east of Argusville, ND. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| One last look from east of Harwood, ND before the shelf overtook me and the temps dropped like a rock into the upper 50's. I did meet up Eric Whitehill (from the Twister Sisters TV series) who was also chasing this day in Fargo for some dinner before making the 3 hour drive home. There was a lot of heavy rain behind the cold front which made for a very tough drive for about 30 miles from Fargo, ND to Barnesville, MN. Hopefully this event does not mark the end of the chase season for 2008. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| A merged three photo panoramic showing the beauty of the eastern North Dakota Red River Valley | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Simply beautiful chase country with a breath taking view of the horizon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008 Chases Main Page | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||