Background:

This was a chase that I did not plan on doing. I was working in Trenton for most of the week and finished the job early. On Saturday morning, I had checked the models and information and figured, if I could leave Trenton by 2 pm, I may be able to chase if things developed the way I figured they would.

I left Trenton right at 2 pm and arrived in Fergus around 4:45 pm. Immediately I fired up the computer and checked to see what was happening. Storms were ongoing in Southwest Ontario with some large hail within them. Radar indicated a few cells forming to my northwest so I plotted a track to intercept them. As I had all my equipment already packed, I spent about 20 mins watching the development before heading towards Arthur. My target area for the day was a rectangle between Arthur Mount Forest to Orangeville. The cells to the north were moving southeastward and a lone cell to the west was tracking east. I figured these 2 cells would intersect in this area.

Satellite Image - Thanks Des

Chase:

At 5:25 pm, I was in the car and tracking northward. I arrived about 20 minutes later to the south side of Arthur and decide to head east along Hwy #9. The cells in front of me were tracking a little further south than I plotted so I wanted to track a little east and watch. As I moved about 6 kms east of Arthur, I pulled of and watched the cell to my northwest. I got out my still camera and took a picture. It started to beep and nothing. It then took a picture. What was going on??? Well to make a long story short, I figured the batteries were dying. Nope. Learn your camera. I had somehow changed setting to time-delayed shots. What a rookie mistake. No pictures due to this. But it will never happen again.

Aside: Immediately upon fixing this, I read my manual cover to cover twice to find other features that may cause problems. A word to the wise: learn your camera before you go out, not there as it will cause you to miss or take bad pictures.

A few weak funnel clouds formed within the updraft core but they died very quickly as the cell moved southeastward toward me. I saw a few scud clouds that resemble a wall cloud but they were not close to organizing and soon dissipated.

At 6:05 pm, a tornado warning was issued for Conn, about 10 kms to my northwest or directly where I was watching. With me in the bear cage, I knew I was not in the right area. I immediately got in the car and head to the southwest away from the main updraft core to an area that I could view and observe safely.

This turned into a good thing as the system began to intersect with the second cell to the west and weakened greatly. The show with this cell was over but the heavy rain was still on track for me. As I did not want to get caught in this, especially with the 2 cells merging, I decided to beeline south to Fergus and observe the intersection from a better vantage point. As the 2 cells merged, they both lost intensity and became outflow dominant and became a large rain producer.

At this time, I was about 2 kms from home and decided to head around the rain and encountered about 2 mins of torrential rain and some gust to 60 km/h but little else. On the back side was brought sunlight and further observations of the cells indicated they were dying quickly. I packed it in for the day and headed home.

Radar Animation Of the Day (296 K)

A good chase day with things going the way I liked. I was a little too close to the action this time but still within my comfort area for observing these storms as I had 2 routes to take if things got hairy. The presence of the cell to the west actually worsen my chances as it caused both cells to die out instead of regenerating them.

Statements:

TORNADO WARNING
UPDATED BY ENVIRONMENT CANADA. REGIONAL CENTRE TORONTO ONTARIO.
6.05 PM EDT SATURDAY 24 JULY 1999.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING UPGRADED TO TORNADO WARNING FOR..
REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY OF PEEL
WELLINGTON COUNTY.

TORNADO WARNING CONTINUED FOR..
DUFFERIN COUNTY.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR CONN IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THIS STORM IS TRACKING SOUTHEAST AT 50 KM/H.

THIS IS A WARNING THAT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH TORNADOES ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING IN THESE REGIONS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS. TAKE IMMEDIATE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS. EMERGENCY MEASURES ONTARIO RECOMMENDS.. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO GO TO A BASEMENT OR SMALL CENTRAL ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS. DO NOT STAY IN A VEHICLE..FIND STURDY SHELTER OR LIE FLAT IN A DITCH.

THIS WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8.00 PM.
END/1/CHADWICK

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT

ISSUED BY ENVIRONMENT CANADA. REGIONAL CENTRE TORONTO ONTARIO.
8.24 PM EDT SATURDAY 24 JULY 1999.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT CONTINUED FOR..

SOUTHERN ONTARIO.

A COLD FRONT TRACKED ACROSS SOUTHERN ONTARIO THIS AFTERNOON. SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE HAS BEEN REPORTED FROM MANY LOCALITIES ACROSS THE REGIONS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND TORNADO WATCHES AND WARNINGS WERE ISSUED BEGINNING JUST AFTER 10 AM THIS MORNING AND PRECEEDED ALL EVENTS BY SEVERAL HOURS.

A SELECTION OF THE SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS FROM SATURDAY JULY 24 FOLLOWS. ALL TIMES ARE IN UNIVERSAL COORDINATED TIME AND CAN BE CONVERTED TO EDT BY SUBTRACTING 4 HOURS.

EVENT TIME : 1999 /7 /24 : 23:35

LOCALE : VALENTIA , PETERBOROUGH AND THE KAWARTHAS
EVENT DESC : HEAVY WINDS BENDING TREES OVER, ESTIMATED AT 80 KM/H
EVENT TIME : 1999 /7 /24 : 23:20

LOCALE : YELVERTON , YORK-DURHAM
EVENT DESC : QUARTER SIZED HAIL FELL FOR 5-10 MINUTES
EVENT TIME : 1999 /7 /24 : 23:10

LOCALE : TORONTO/VAUGHAN CITY LINE , TORONTO
|EVENT DESC : 6 INCH DIAMETER TREE SNAPPED OFF AND BLOWN ACROSS THE ROAD, VISIBILITY DOWN TO 1/4 MILE DUE TO BLOWING DUST
EVENT TIME : 1999 /7 /24 : 23:06

LOCALE : SCUGOG , PETERBOROUGH AND THE KAWARTHAS
EVENT DESC : LOTS OF DAMAGE FROM HIGH WINDS
EVENT TIME : 1999 /7 /24 : 23:05

LOCALE : CENTRAL ESSEX COUNTY , WINDSOR-ESSEX-KENT
EVENT DESC : WALL CLOUD, MICROBURST ON HOWARD AVE AND TEXAS RD.,120 KM/H WINDS, POWER LINES DOWN
EVENT TIME : 1999 /7 /24 : 22:30

LOCALE : BARRIE , BARRIE-HURONIA
EVENT DESC : 100 KM/H WINDS
EVENT TIME : 1999 /7 /24 : 22:30

LOCALE : LEAMINGTON , WINDSOR-ESSEX-KENT
EVENT DESC : GUSTS TO 80 KM/H, PEA-SIZED HAIL
EVENT TIME : 1999 /7 /24 : 22:30

LOCALE : WOODSTOCK , LONDON-MIDDLESEX-OXFORD
EVENT DESC : TORRENTIAL RAIN
EVENT TIME : 1999 /7 /24 : 22:30

LOCALE : BEETON , BARRIE-HURONIA
EVENT DESC : TORNADO SPOTTED BY CANWARN, HAD TO SHUT DOWN DUE TO LIGHTNING
EVENT TIME : 999 /7 /24 : 22:25

LOCALE : 3 KM SE OF STRATFORD , HURON-PERTH
EVENT DESC : MICROBURST, 80 KM/H WINDS, MARBLE SIZED HAIL
EVENT TIME : 1999 /7 /24 : 22:20

LOCALE : CHATHAM , WINDSOR-ESSEX-KENT
EVENT DESC : TREES DOWN THROUGHOUT THE CITY DUE TO WINDS
EVENT TIME : 1999 /7 /24 : 22:15

LOCALE : LONDON , LONDON-MIDDLESEX-OXFORD
EVENT DESC : 100 KM/H WINDS, PEA SIZED HAIL, TREES DOWN THROUGHOUT THE CITY
EVENT TIME : 199 /7 /24 : 22:00

LOCALE : CHATHAM , WINDSOR-ESSEX-KENT
EVENT DESC : 120 KM/H WINDS, TREES DOWN, POWER OUT
EVENT TIME : 1999 /7 /24 : 22:00

LOCALE : BALM BEACH , BARRIE-HURONIA
EVENT DESC : 2 PEOPLE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING, ONE SERIOUS CONDITION OCCURRED BETWEEN 22UTC AND 23UTC
EVENT TIME : 1999 /7 /24 : 22:00

LOCALE : SHELBURNE , WATERLOO-WELLINGTON-DUFFERIN
EVENT DESC : 94 KM/H GUSTS
EVENT TIME : 1999 /7 /24 : 21:58

LOCALE : CHATHAM , WINDSOR-ESSEX-KENT
EVENT DESC : 5.58 P.M. EDT WINDS ESTIMATED TO BE APPROX 120 KPH, TORRENTIAL RAIN, LGTCCCG, MARBLE SIZED HAIL. LARGE TREES BLOWN DOWN, POWER LINES DOWN THROUGHOUT CHATHAM-KENT, PORTION OF CIVIC CENTRE ROOF IN DOWNTOWN CHATHAM BLOWN OFF. ALL AVAILABLE EMERGENCY CREWS/FIRE
EVENT TIME : 1999 /7 /24 : 21:45

LOCALE : SARNIA , SARNIA-LAMBTON
EVENT DESC : HEAVY RAINS AND SMALL HAIL, HIGH WINDS
EVENT TIME : 1999 /7 /24 : 21:00

LOCALE : 5 KM N OF KINCARDINE , GREY-BRUCE
EVENT DESC : POSSIBLE 2 TORNADIC WATERSPOUTS, HALF INCH HAIL
EVENT TIME : 1999 /7 /24 : 19:57

LOCALE : ELLIOT LAKE , SAULT STE MARIE-ALGOMA
EVENT DESC : 2 CM DIAMETER HAIL
EVENT TIME : 999 /7 /24 : 19:00

LOCALE : SUDBURY , SUDBURY-NICKEL BELT
EVENT DESC : "GUMBALL" SIZED HAIL (APPROX 2 CM IN DIAMETER) HYDRO OUT IN SUDBURY & ESPANOLA

THIS EVENT IS STILL IN PROGRESS.. LISTEN TO UPDATED WATCHES AND WARNINGS.
CHADWICK/PAYNE

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)