Memorable Memorial Day

On the Memorial Day holiday (Monday, May 27, 2024) the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) had only a Marginal Risk (Level 1) outlook posted for eastern Iowa, and I wasn't too expectant of any severe weather until my weather radio alert suddenly sounded in the afternoon. Sliding north and east of Cedar Rapids was a small isolated severe-warned storm cell. I thought, okay I'll get in the car and hopefully capture a few shots with my camera from down the street. I did so, with no other spotting gear other than the camera. The Radarscope image above from 3:44 pm CDT shows that storm cell.

But almost immediately, I could see there was a lot more to it than a cool shot from a distance, and after driving past some obstructing trees to the north, an obvious wall cloud hung beneath the storm, and the chase was on. The image above shows that wall cloud while northbound on Alburnett Road in the northern part of Marion, Iowa at 3:42 pm.

3:46 pm. Now eastbound on County Home Road north of Marion, with the wall cloud to my northeast.

3:51 pm. Eastbound on Austin Road, just east of Highway 13 northeast of Marion. Storm is now showing a more menacing tornadic appearance. Downdraft is at left.

3:53 pm. Radarscope reflectivity (top) and velocity (bottom) return of the storm.

3:55 pm. Radar capture. Note the hail core (lavender color) just northeast of my location (target icon).

3:56 pm. Slowly following the storm on gravel roads, here looking northeast from Barrett Road, south of Austin Road, one mile east of Highway 13. The lowering at center (right of the downdraft) was noticeably rotating and I phoned in a report of this to the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities.

3:59 pm. The lowering has now tightened and continues to rotate. I expected a brief funnel or tornado from this, but it did not occur. Another storm report to the NWS.

4:22 pm radar capture. I had driven as far east as Whittier, Iowa, then decided to abandon this storm for another promising line of storms approaching the Cedar Rapids metro area from the northwest. 

4:28 pm. Brief stationary spotting location on White Road, about a half-mile west of North Marion Road, north of Marion, Iowa. This image looks northwest at the new line of approaching severe-warned storms. The most intense area is at the far right.

4:38 pm. Relocated again at my final stationary location-- looking north from North Marion Road, about .75-mile north of White Road. This ominous looking severe warned storm is tracking slightly to my north and east.

4:38 radar image. Of particular interest is the small hook-like appendage just north of me which was soon to show itself visually.

4:41 pm. A funnel-like feature dips low to the ground, confirming the radar signature.

4:41 pm. Looking north at approaching storm from my spotting location. 

4:42 pm. Similar image.

4:43 pm. Radar capture. Appendage contains a small area of hail.

4:44 pm. Storm is evolving into a more linear shelf cloud...but it would produce a surprise soon!

4:45 pm. Similar zoomed-in capture. The whitish area on the leading edge of this line of storms at right center is beginning to rotate. 

4:46 pm. Dual-pane radar image, with the bright area at bottom (velocity) in the same location as the new rotation.

4:47 pm. A better view of the rotating feature (center), resembling a down-reaching hand. 

4:47 pm. Similar view.

4:48 pm. Looking northeast. Now with a more obvious funnel. This was probably a Quasi-Linear Convective System (QLCS) "transient" tornado along the leading edge of the squall line. Reported this to the NWS.

4:51 pm. QLCS line is being replaced by heavy rain behind it. This storm would for the most part pass to my north and east. What started as a seemingly innocent isolated storm cell would turn into a memorable day on Memorial Day! 

Postscript: The last image from my raw photo catalogue for this event seems to provide a tantalizing visual that indeed there was a brief QLCS tornado touchdown (center, between two trees) at 4:54 pm. Nikon Z6ii camera.