August 30 Hennepin County Minnesota

Kind of a frustrating day after getting suckered into the supercell coming out of South Dakota which was promptly killed by the wicked 700mb temps.   What was left of the shortwave and triple point finally triggered a bomb of a supecell in western Hennepin county right at dark which tracked over the metro area but thankfully did only minor damage.

After hanging around Norwood, MN watching tower after tower loose the battle with the cap to our west, we drifted north and east towards home.  This cell to our south tried to get going but would soon be swollowed up by the next updraft to the south  which would be tornado warned soon after.

Peeking through the low level junk, we could see the tower exploding over Delano, MN about 10 miles to our south.

The towers were pretty going up with the sun setting to the west.  I have a very strict personal rule about chasing in tmetro areas due to safety concerns and even with the cell only about 10 miles to my southeast, I was not about to compromise.   That being said, I made the decision not to intercept the storm and just follow the updraft to the northeast.  15 years ago I would have, but I like to think I've gotten a little smarter over time.

Even Godzilla knows better than to mess with a tornado in the west metro.  There were A LOT of really good, experienced chasers who were in postition to safely observe the storm.  After reading some chase accounts on F5Chaser and Stormtrack, obviously there were some newbies who have more balls than brains.  Chasing in a tree and lake infested metro area and getting hit by the tornado or being within feet doens't make you a hero.  It makes you a moron and once again gives chasers the reputation of being nothing more than blood and guts adrenaline jukies. Darwin, table for one please.

We followed the storm east where it exhbited the classic nuclear bomb explosion look as it fed off the massive amount of CAPE in place.

One thing I thought was intersting was how weak the surface winds were and how well organized this supercell was.

We found a spot which was reletively void of ambient light and took the time to enjoy the spectacular light show as the cell was warned over and over again after producing the tornadoes in Orono and Plymouth.

The following series of shots were all taken looking east/southeast from far northwesten Hennepin county between Dayton and Champlin just off the Mississippi River.

The lightning was just nuts.  This video is 13 minutes edited down to 32 seconds.

Foggy moon looking east from near homw as the storm continues east into Dunn county Wisconsin after producing another tornado in St. Croix county Wisconsin.

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