Forecasted Severe Weather for NE Iowa Remained at Arm's Length

An Enhanced Risk by the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) posted for north and northeast Iowa on Saturday July 23, 2022 hinted at a good opportunity for a possible intercept. A cold front behind very hot and humid conditions created the potential for "significant" severe weather later in the afternoon/evening. Shown above are the SPC categorical, tornado, hail and wind outlooks for the day. With my gear all packed and ready to go, I departed for northeast Iowa around noon in anticipation of a storm encounter via Highway 13. Storms were already approaching the Rochester, Minnesota area.

1:20 pm CDT. First stop (with a view) to check on the northern storm's progress. Would they begin to track southeast and cross the border into Iowa? The panoramic image above looks northwest from Chicken Ridge Road, about a quarter-mile west of Highway 13, and about 2.5 miles south of Elkader, Iowa in Clayton County. Skies were beginning to darken. Highway 13 is visible at background right as it continues north.

1:37 pm. Second stop. Image looks northwest at stormy skies as seen from County Road B65 (205th Street), about .4-mile west of Highway 13 and about 2 miles south of Farmersburg, Iowa in Clayton County. The storms were skirting the Minnesota/Iowa border but as of yet not dipping south. I had originally anticipated staying put here for their arrival. iPhone 11 camera.

1:43 pm. Looking north. My vehicle in the foreground.

Radarscope image corresponding to 1:44 pm. Line of storms in south-southeast Minnesota, tracking ESE. Note the tornado-warned polygon in the Rochester area. The target icon at lower right indicates my location.

1:46 pm. Wild flowers in the foreground with stormy skies in the background. It soon became apparent this position was going to be too far south for an intercept, so I resumed north on Highway 13. I was already a bit past my "60 mile radius solo maximum distance from home policy" by the time Highway 13 ended at the US Highway 18/52 junction. I was not prepared to follow the severe storms into Minnesota, which were still another 35 miles distant and staying north, so I turned west on US Highway 18 toward West Union, Iowa. The intercept attempt was over.

3:14 pm. Tornado warnings were squawking on my weather radio for southeast Minnesota at this moment, almost in taunting fashion. This image looks north while westbound on US Highway 18 east of Postville, Iowa. The tornado-warned area can be seen at far right, toward the northeast. At West Union, Iowa it was Highway 150 south and toward home. The far north advance gamble had not paid off. All told, the trip covered about 185 miles, all without much to speak about. It happens! Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.