March 8th 2009 IN mini-supercell structures
Low cape high shear event! Very compact 500mb short wave trough provided dynamic support and lead to a pretty decent surface low. What stood out was the high values of 0-1 km shear. That and I was waiting on things to clear up to allow for some sunshine. Well with 500mb speeds being what they were and a 45 knot low level jet storm motions were in the excess of 40 knots. Unchaseable really, just way to fast!
22 tornado reports came out of this thing and most were produced by a fast compact bow echo. The thing had pretty interesting structure on radar with a nice rear inflow notch, and at least two distinct couplets. produced a lot of damage in southern IN. The day got going really early with a line of mini-supercells in IL producing quite a few tornadoes. Then they just kinda fell apart for a little while. I planned on intercepting a cell just to the south of a small line. And as I watched it approach from my angle I couldnt really pick out a base until it was right on me. Pics below are shot in northern Montgomery county around Linden, IN
As this cell and getting a glimpse of some of the others further north it was easy to tell why they were struggling! They were getting sheared apart. You can really see the turbulence in this image. The low level shear was just ripping these cells apart!
It still was an impressive cell with some insane vertical motion. It even produced hail, albeit small.
This is the backend of a small line. The spot in the image is a bird struggling in the 30 knot gusts. With 20 knots sustained.
Video below its a little long.