Exercise In Initiation

Iowa State University meteorology students and storm chasers Sam Schreier (foreground) and Tristan Morath toss a football back-and-forth in very breezy conditions while passing the time away during the waiting phase for severe thunderstorms to fire up (initiation). This image looks north from a cleared former gas station and convenience store site about .2-mile north of the Minden, Iowa exit (Exit 29) along Interstate 80. The atmosphere was building for a tornado outbreak as the open sun was providing fuel and instability at this moment--4:23 PM, Saturday, April 9, 2011--with temperatures in the lower 80s and dew points in the lower 70s. Schreier and Morath were part of an eight-person, two-vehicle chase group that included me. A supercell began forming in eastern Nebraska just before 5:00 PM, prompting the group to head west to near the Missouri River, then zigzagging northeast through western Iowa staying on the SE flank of a powerful storm system. The water tower in the background is less than a mile distant.