- APRIL 18, 2002 DAY CHASE
Chase 1: Shear Apes
1.Steve Jaye: Driver
2.Brian Dillon: Team Leader
3.Jolene Vandermeer: Navigator
4.Sam Bowerman
Chase 2: Lightning Stalkers
1.Joe Millard: Driver
2.Peter Hasa: Team Leader
3.Billy DePriest
4.Adam French
Chase 3: (Sausage Fest) Heavily Equipped
1.Scott Bort: Driver
2.Mike Bardou: Team Leader
3.Mike Ottenwhiler
4.Jon Cutting
Chase 4: Thunderstruck
1.Erik Kabela: Driver
2.Erin Hokanson: Team Leader
3.Ashley Brooks: Trip Logger
4.Heather Woods
First official chase of 2002! After multiple morning weather discussions, the team decides to head out. The original plan was to head to the Wisconsin-Illinois border area, but then storms started to fire up in Iowa.
11:00am: Leave Mueller parking lot
--Heading west on US 30
11:18am: Merge onto I 65 north
11:25am: After arriving on I 94 West, heavy traffic permeates the interstate. There is discussion over the CBs as to get off or to stay on.
11:40am: Chihuahua is spotted in a semi stopped off to our left. The dog is barking and pawing at a little window by the feet of the man in the seat.
Peter: "At this rate we can just watch the squall line come in."
Scott: "Yeah! Over 40, darn it"
11:55am: Leave Indiana, hello Illinois
"Hey I've had more fun at a funeral."
Erik: "Steve, the storms aren't going anywhere."
Erin: "I stay say here."
12:13pm: Upon entering onto the beloved I 80 heading west we get to pay a 30 cent toll.
12:27pm: Heavily Equipped takes temperature/ dew point reading of 84/ 66
12:43pm: Enter Kendall county, a happening place, ok, not really
1:04pm: T/Td of 90/ 61
1:15pm: "Not only does Heavily Equipped take observations they also are living "La Vida Loca."
--Exit off and take a left onto IL 351
--Turn right onto Civic Road
1:40pm: Turn right into Flying J and stop
--Contact with base support
--Delicious lunch of pizza and Chinese
--Quality time in the sun and in a truck stop with "showers???"
--Look at TOILET
2:09: Contact with base support again
2:11: Leave Flying J
"Shower 99 is now ready for use."
--Left onto Civic Road
--Left onto IL 351
--Merge left onto 80 east
2:16pm: Exit right and merge onto I 39 north /51
2:18pm: Heavily Equipped does it again, T/Td of 90/ 60
2:22pm: *Note for future chases: Lead car's speedometer must be operational!
--Trucker: "Be careful. Don't get right in the middle of it."
2:40pm: Take exit 87 and turn left onto 30 west
2:45pm: Turn right into Angel's Truck Stop and stop
--Slight possible overheating problem with Joe's car
--T/Td 91/ 60, 27mph gusts sustained at 20 mph says Scott
2:47pm: Wind gust of 35 mph
2:54pm: Take off again
--Right onto 30 west
3:03pm: T/Td 91/ 58
3:06pm: Turn right and head NW on 52
--Hear on radio--Jackson county under severe thunderstorm warning and in Grant County Wisconsin there is a radar indicated tornado
3:15pm: Enter Dixon
--Left onto east 7th street
--Right onto Galena Avenue
3:18pm: Turn right into Clark station and stop
Erin "We're going to Clinton, it's like the armpit of Iowa."
--Lady filling up gas tank at station: "I'm going to go the opposite way you guys are and then I should be safe . . .RIGHT?"
3:20pm: Contact base support
3:30pm: Packing it up and leaving the Clark Station
--Storm is moving ENE towards Clinton
--Left onto Galena
--Left onto toll way I 88 west
--Yet another 30 cent toll
--Mammatus spotted NNW
--Merge left onto I 88 west
3:44pm:T/Td 89/ 52
3:53pm: Possible wall cloud with scud to the north
--Tornado watch until 8pm
--Take exit 26 and head onto IL 78
--Turn right onto Crosby Road
--Turn right again onto some lonesome road where kids on bicycles were riding after us
4:03pm: Turn left onto probably an unnamed road and pull over
4:05pm: T/TD: 86/ 61
--Scott reports 17 knots sustained SSW wind.
Peter "We should get these two a room!"
--TOILET reports 200 strikes a minute!
--Gust 27 knots
Erik: "Pete is the toilet boy."
--57 counties in a tornado watch until 8pm for central Iowa and Cedar Rapids area
4:12pm: Take off, kids on bike playing around nearby.
--Turn right.
--Turn right onto Portland Avenue heading west.
--Freight train spotted.
--Turn left.
--Right onto Cherry.
--Left onto Lincoln way (30W) in Morrison.
4:20pm: T/TD 84/ 55.
--Turn right onto N 84.
4:30pm: Pull right into AGRI King and contact base support.
4:31pm: T/TD 85/ 63. Winds have died down to an average of 10 knots and from the south.
4:37pm: Start up again and turn right onto Waller Road (84)
--Left onto 14th Avenue
--Cross Mississippi River into Iowa, the "Fields of Opportunity"
--Right onto N 2nd Street.
--Severe thunderstorm warning for Clinton County.
--Left onto Main.
--Oops! Turning around .
Erin "Hey guys we just pulled into Happy Hill Ranch!!!"
--Right onto Main.
--Contact base support-storm is headed north.
--Left onto N 3rd Street.
4:49pm: T/Td 86/ 56.
--Tornado siren sighting...too bad there's no tornado and that the siren is not on :(
4:55pm: Rain.
5:05pm: Dime size hail while we are in Chickisaw county.
5:04pm: Pull over for a bit.
Erin about Ashley and Heather: "They are petting the hail."
--Contact base support.
--Take off.
--Enter Jackson county.
5:09pm: T/Td 76/ 71.
--Hope weakens.
--But keeping faith alive .
--Right onto 67 it ends and is JCT 52.
5:12pm: Rainbow spotted by Ashley.
--Rain decreases.
5:16pm: Cross another part of the Missippi River.
--Turn right onto Main Street/ Chicago Avenue in Savannah.
5:20pm: Thunder heard.
Erin: "I'm Thunderstruck!"
--Left onto IL Route 84 into Amoco/ McDonalds.
5:21pm: Stop.
5:30pm: Lightning.
5:36pm: Decision to take 20 back and follow storms back.
5:43pm: Hail again, pea size.
5:48pm: Cloud to ground lightning .
--Hail stops.
--Rain stops.
Peter "What did we do? We drove out to Iowa and drove right back."
Joe: "What's that right in front of us?"
Peter: "A cloud."
5:55pm: Go to cars.
--Severe gust just as about to enter.
--Hail again.
5:56pm: Rainbow.
5:57pm: Head back
--Right onto Chicago.
--Turns into Highway 84.
--Radio says that in Howard County there is a tornado warning. Oh well.
--See a flag that says "Give me liberty or give me death."
While Thunderstruck is looking out our front window at Heavily Equipped Erik says, "Now what are they listening to?"
Erin: "I'm afraid to ask."
Heavily Equipped: "Yeah I'm a believer" on 92.9.
--Enter Hanover which has a population of 850.
Erin: "Wow, it is actually smaller than my town!"
--95.1 talking about lightening safety on golf course.
--Right onto Washington Street.
--Cross Apple River while taking 84 N.
--Right onto Route 20.
--Cross Apple River again.
--Hear on radio that Stevenson county in IL is in a severe thunderstorm warning.
--And the quotes begin...
Steve Jaye: "Instead of the happy hour you'll have the Bulimia hour."
Scott: "Knuckles the cloud"
Steve Jaye: "I guess we don't even need to go to (RESTRAUNT NAME) to start vomiting now, weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Peter: "almost as pretty as you Mike"
Erin: "Watch out for snowmobiles" (snowmobile crossing)
Erin: "That's a cute Subway. It is a log cabin."
Ashley: "It's so pretty you just want to go up and hug it."
--Erik's dad calls and says that there is a tornado down the ground in Dike, Iowa.
"Are you aware that most people on this campus think we are raving psychos?"
"Some say we are a cult."
6:40pm: Cloud to ground lightning.
Erik: "Hey, leave the hicks alone!"
Jolene: "We'll probably get the a^$ of the storm."
Mike Bardou: "Did someone say the @^$ of the storm?"
--We are in Stevenson county.
"If we are at the a*$ of the storm, what do you call the tornado?"
--Due south of us is two and a half inch hail
6:55pm: Rain.
Erin: "Hail yeah!"
--Mammatus spotted by Erin.
About hail size...Ashley: "forget golf let's play baseball."
--Ashley serenades a cloud.
7:24pm: Mammatus.
--Convection behind this storm is not as great as previous storms allowing the storm to build and not soften out as much.
7:33pm: Head east on I 90.
7:35pm: Quarter-inch hail.
--40 cent toll.
--Turn right to McDonalds/ Mobil across highway.
7:40pm: Stop
--Chill and toilet break.
--We are letting the storm move on some so that we do not encounter the two and a half inch hail which the storm has already produced elsewhere.
7:52pm: leave
--Merge onto E I-90.
8:05pm: 40-cent toll.
--Oh no, it is Heavily Equipped again!
Heavily Equipped: "We don't need no, education..."
--Jolene suggests CB songfest.
Heavily Equipped: "Yeah we # 1."
Jolene: "I'm just a human compass. I don't need any instruments."
8:45pm: 40-cent toll.
8:54pm: T/Td 84/ 60. Haven't had one of those in awhile.
--Exit right onto 90 E Skyway, Dan Ryan Expressway.
--Skyway toll.
9:15pm: Hello Indiana!
--50 cent toll.
9:26pm: Lightning.
--Exit right onto 49.
--Toll 45 cents.
--Exit onto 30 in Valparaiso.
9:57pm: Turn right into Speedway to fill up gas tank and stretch.
10:05pm: Leave.
10:07pm: Arrive in Mueller parking lot.
Heather: "It's like developing a#$ callous."
Great chase everybody!
Final Mileage: 475 miles