Background:

After monitoring the models early in the morning, my initial target area was around Detroit/Sarnia for the threat of a few tornadoes. This was based on the high instability in the region (-10) good moisture along the slow moving warm front and decent shear in the environment. I decided to pass this area for a number of reasons. There was a possibility of me having to cross the border in the heat of the chase (thus delays for equipment registration), the storms would move in a southeast direction and I could lose them as the crossed over the lakes (St.Clair, Erie) and I really was not up for a long chase day. (Should have gone based on the warning for the Sarnia region Sarnia/Detroit for the afternoon.)

I redid my forecast and looked a current radar and satellite and noticed that some slight storms were firing in northern Michigan that would track over Lake Huron. The lift index was running around –4 and capes about 1200 so the instability was there. There was not enough there to form tornadoes but a good field of view and the ability to follow the cell made this location a little better for me.

Chase:

At 5 pm, after plotting the Kincardine region would be where the storms would make landfall, I left and headed to the area. I was taking a chance that the moisture convergence and warm lake temperatures would keep the storms active and that landfall would cause them to continue to build. After driving for a few hours I arrived in Kincardine and got some McDonald’s food at 7:01 pm. I wanted to chase on a full stomach and get some drinks before the storms landed.

At Kincardine, I noticed that the storms were tracking a bit further south than I plotted. Not bad considering it was 2 hours later so I headed south towards Clark Point. I tried to find a place to get a shot of the storms coming over the lake but I got lost in the cottages in the area and there was numerous trees blocking my view so I decided to get out of there and head south along Hwy 21 towards Goderich. At 7:28 pm a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the region of Huron.

I pulled over on a back road and set up the camcorder and captured some images of the cell building and a gust front that started to form of it. This was an interesting and new sight for me. I had seen them already formed but have never witnessed them form in their entirety. This chase was already a success in my mind. I took numerous video and still shots of this feature.

Large Wall Cloud Image Overlaced

The atmosphere just seemed to striate and scoop the moisture up like a vacuum. I was hoping that a gustanado might have formed but the winds were not strong enough and the ground not dry enough to allow soil to be picked up. At the time it crossed Hwy 21, winds picked up to gust around 70 km/h before it shot to the east-northeast in record speed.

 
Possible Wall Cloud Before Rain Wrapped

Decide to head further south to about 10 kms north of Goderich and cut southeastward toward Blyth. Just before entering the main rain core I held back and caught this possible wall cloud on the outskirts of the rain core.  It then became enveloped in the rain and I lost sight of it.  I decided to stay in this location for about 10 mins just in case things changed before heading south. The main rain core was here but I stayed back a little. A few times some small pea size hail popped the windshield but nothing too large to discontinue the chase (and my windshield is already cracked from past hail so it was no big deal) or report.

At this time, I noticed storms firing to my north and south. The north storm looked to fire in the area that the gust front was heading while the south storms were cells firing along this line. I continued through Blyth at 8:30 pm and decided to follow the lightning core and spend the rest of the chase taking stills. About 2 minutes later I saw this guy walking down the road with his thumb out as lightning was flashing all over the place. What is up with that? He was wet, no trees around and him, the human lightning rod. Deciding I was not going to film him getting hit, I changed locations and found a nice place to set up the camcorder and shot a few rolls of still lightning and the sunset.

As it was starting to get dark, I received a phone call from Dave Raynor telling me that a tornado warning was issued for Sarnia. Well, it was too dark and the storm motion would not have allowed me to catch it so I decided to take some night lightning shots to end off the chase.

Around 11 pm I pulled in to the house and finished the chase.

Looking at the radar, information statements and chatting with a few spotters, the storm I chased was the furthest north of the severe cells. The Sarnia cell was very violent with torrential rains, intense lightning and a possible tornado embedded within it. Another spotter, Paul Robertson, estimated 120-130 km/h winds with it and numerous trees and power lines down and some intense lightning.

An excellent chase day as I saw a few things I had never witnessed firsthand and, finally, got some good day and night time lightning stills.

Statements:

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
UPDATED BY ENVIRONMENT CANADA. REGIONAL CENTRE TORONTO ONTARIO.
7.28 PM EDT WEDNESDAY 28 JULY 1999.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ISSUED FOR..

HURON COUNTY.

STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN LAKE HURON ARE MOVING EAST-SOUTHEASTWARD AT 55 KM/H. DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 120 KM/H AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY WITH SOME OF THESE STORMS. THIS IS A WARNING THAT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING IN THESE REGIONS. REMEMBER SOME SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE TORNADOES..LISTEN FOR UPDATED WARNINGS. EMERGENCY MEASURES ONTARIO RECOMMENDS TAKING COVER IMMEDIATELY WHEN THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.

THIS WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9.30 PM.

END/1/TWN..

All Photos and information unless otherwise noted are copyrighted 1999 by Dave Patrick.  Any use other than authorized by them is against the law.  If you wish to contact me regarding use of these photos, please e-mail me. I have left any copyrights off the images to show the images unaltered digitally (except where stated)