Didn't Happen

These were the Storm Prediction Center's (SPC) Categorical, Tornado, Wind and Hail convective outlooks posted at 7:26 AM CDT on Tuesday, April 28, 2020. The eastern half of the state of Iowa was included with definite potential for severe weather, and the day's scenario looked reminiscent of the setup on May 24, 2019 where instability was greater in Texas and Oklahoma in the south but with greater wind shear in southeast Iowa in the north. That setup would produce a tornado southwest of Iowa City. This time, The Weather Channel was setting TorCons of 3 in eastern Iowa (30% chance of a tornado in a 50 mile radius), and Extreme Meteorologist Reed Timmer had pegged tornado chances for the Dubuque and Davenport areas in a morning briefing.

Garden variety thundershowers moved through the Cedar Rapids area around 1:00 pm, followed by some partial clearing. By 4:00 pm a small but promising cell began to form near Iowa City, moving northeast. I quickly got on US Highway 30 east, with the expectation that this cell would go severe and I would be able to intercept it in time. In reality though, by the time I reached it, it began to weaken. In fact, despite all earlier forecasts, NOWHERE in the state of Iowa were there any watches or warnings the entire day. In the image above, I am eastbound on US Highway 30, about .75-mile east of the town of Mechanicsville, Iowa, looking toward the weakening cell at 4:48 pm.

Looking northeast at the cell at 4:49 pm.

4:53 pm. Eastbound on US 30 just east of the town of Stanwood and 5 miles west of Clarence, Iowa. I would continue east until I was located between the towns of Clarence and Lowden before deciding to return home, realizing the show was over for the day. A major bust in Iowa. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

Radar capture for 4:55 pm. The large area at right was the object of my intended intercept. The small cell at lower left formed and then dissolved within a few minutes. The black arrow indicates storm movement.