July 5 Wright and Meeker Counties Minnesota

Ample instability with cold temps aloft coupled with a weak low pressure center  creates an environment for storms to fire in east central Minnesota.

After dinging around getting yard work done, I took a break and noticed a TON of west moving boundaries heading my way.  With some fairly cold air aloft and good moisture / instabilty I figured I would go check out some of the storms as the environment was pretty good for "cold air funnels" or as I like to call them "non theatening cold air induced funnels".  About the time I was  going to get moving, this cell went up on the boundary just about right over head.

The cell was moving  north/northwest for a bit but I dropped it in northern Wright county and opted for new development in the southwest part of the county which was a little closer to a weak cold front coming in from the west which was aiding in the bulk shear.

A cell just to the southeast of Cokato, MN kept showing signs of having the VIL spike indicating a healthy updraft.  I was rather suprised as the storm organized into what was obviously a mini supercell.

The cell was pretty but never really looked all that threatening.  After about 30 minutes or so, the cell weakened so I decided to move west towards Meeker county and some new development near Litchfield, MN.

The Litchfield cell was obviously very outflowish and was running either right on the boundary getting undercut or was lagging just behind the sagging cold front.  John Wetter stopped by a quick chat then we both agreed it was time to start heading for home.

A couple of stitched panoramic views of the cell before breaking off the chase between Litchfield and Forest City.

2010 Chases