7/10/2008 – Kane County Shelf Cloud and Derecho

Wow, two separate chases in one day. More amazing is that I was able to drive no more than 100 miles total today and make it back for a home-cooked dinner! That never happens chasin' the Plains.

Panoramic of the beautiful shelf.

After this early afternoon’s chase to Waterman, I spent the afternoon and early evening working on research. As I was working, I kept a “radar eye” on the derecho that was progressing through Wisconsin (with origins in Minnesota). I finally pulled the trigger on chasing at about 6:30 pm as the bow echo neared northeast Illinois. I wanted to intercept the storm at its apex, but remain outside of the traffic that is common in the Chicago exurbs. Therefore, I decided to head east and north out of DeKalb toward the Burlington area in western Kane County. As I neared Burlington, my eyeballs devoured one of the best shelf clouds I’ve ever witnessed. The shelf stretched across the entire horizon – from north of Chicago, westward to the Quad Cities. I followed this fast moving shelf cloud, and attendant derecho, south toward Big Rock in southern Kane County. At this point, I had to give up the chase since the storm was moving too fast. I then progressed through Hinckley, where I went through estimated 50-60 mph winds, and onward to Waterman, where I ran into pea-sized hail. I wish all chasing was this easy! Below are pics, in chronological order, of the storm as it progressed from northern to southern Kane County. A short video of the shelf is posted at the end.