Refueling And Waiting

Our storm chase vehicles (front two) are fueled up while the occupants buy snacks and beverages at the Phillips 66 U-Stop about .2-mile south of the Minden, Iowa exit  (Exit 29) off Interstate 80 just before 4:00 PM on Saturday, April 9, 2011. This was part of the storm-initiation waiting phase which continued
minutes later about .2-mile north of the exit at the cleared site of a former convenience store. Walking by the cars are Iowa State Meteorology students Tristan Morath (left) and Nick Carletta. Monitoring weather conditions in the car at center is Bryce Link (back seat) and Ryan Alliss (front seat). Inside the store were ISU chasers Ethan Milius, Tyler Roney and Sam Schreier. The "official" chase began about an hour later with our cars traveling west on I-80, then north on Interstate 29 before zigzagging northeastward throughout the night in western Iowa. A prolific evening of storm chasing was just around the corner as a significant tornado outbreak was literally just on the horizon.