Hits and Misses from Our March 10, 2026 Illinois Storm Chase (Part 2)

 

Continuing west from our positions near Minonk and Pontiac Illinois earlier in the day to intercept initiating storms, we encountered this towering supercell at 6:26 pm CDT (Tuesday, March 10, 2026) in La Salle County, Illinois, less than a mile west of the village of Cedar Point. A tornado-warned storm near Kewanee, Illinois was ongoing, about 35 miles to our west. Unlike the chase earlier in the day, this storm was moving in our general direction.

6:30 pm Radarscope image, showing the tornado warning (red) and severe thunderstorm (yellow) boxes affecting the Kewanee and Princeton areas. The blue target icon shows our mobile location and heading.

 

6:44 pm. Closer to our target and with an Emergency Alert notification on my cell phone. The alert warns of "destructive baseball size hail."

6:47 pm. Rear Flank Downdraft (RFD) surge while looking north along County Road 1725th East about 2.2 miles southwest of the town of Tiskilwa, in Bureau County, Illinois. RFD cut is the brighter area at center.

6:48 pm. Similar view, stationary about one tenth mile south of 800 N Avenue. Image shows lowering just above the line of trees at center, RFD cut above it, and inflow tail cloud at right. This area was tornado warned. 

6:54 pm. Looking west from state highway 16 (Kentville Road), about 4.4 miles northwest of Tiskilwa, Illinois. The tornadic area of interest is at right, RFD cut at center.

6:54 pm. Looking northwest at severe-warned storm as seen from a wind farm on state highway 16 (700 N Avenue), about 4.2 miles southwest of the town of Tiskilwa in Bureau County, Illinois.

7:05 pm Radarscope image, showing our mobile location about 3.5 miles southeast of the town of Kewanee, and inside a severe thunderstorm warning box. We are just east of our original waiting location, Galva, Illinois!

7:18 pm. Looking southwest at a lowering feature from state highway 9, about 4.3 miles west of Elmira, Illinois in Stark County. The feature was part of a "tail-end Charlie" supercell and sports an inflow tail cloud at right. Darkness was now gathering making chasing these intensifying storms all the more dangerous. Nikon Z6ii camera.

Continued...