June
18, 2025 (Click on images to enlarge them)
As the heat appeared ready to make its move in for the summer, my son Ryan and I took this last severe storm opportunity near our home to head out. The Storm Prediction Center put out an Enhanced Risk with a 10% risk for Tornadoes.
Storms were predicted to initiate around noon, so Ryan and I got an early start. As we headed out, we were unsure whether we would go eastward on Interstate 70 or take Interstate 70 to Interstate 55 and head north from there. As we got to Interstate 55, we made the last second decision to head north.
A small storm started to develop to our northwest and grew rapidly. We decided to latch onto this isolated cell as it moved northeastward. We exited Interstate 55 to go north on Highway 4 to get the storm in our sight as it moved toward us. The target location to meet the cell was Carlinville, Illinois. With rotation still on the weak side at Carlinville, we drove back east to Interstate 55 and then continued north. Finally, the storm became Tornado warned, but it still had very weak rotation at the base.
We continued to move along with the Tornado Warned Storm. As this storm moved northeast over the next 2 hours, the storm went through many cycles of wall clouds, various levels of rotation, and the ingesting of multiple new updrafts that formed just to its south. But during those 2 hours, the storm could not spin up a tornado.
As we drove into Farmer City, Illinois, something in the distance caught our eye just over the tree line.
Initially, it was like any other wall cloud and lowering we had seen all afternoon. When we came out into the open with a view and neared Bellflower, Illinois, the sound of "Tornado" rang out in the car.
Right in front of us, we watched the final, rope-out stages of a Tornado. Did not last long, and then back to calm.
After the brief show, the storm seemed to wind down and the Tornado Warning was dropped. We made the decision to end our chase and head for home.
One last treat was in store as we neared Edwardsville, Illinois as we were treated to a full arc Rainbow.
It was a long afternoon stair-stepping our way through the middle of Illinois to keep up with the storm. Although we did not see the EF1 Tornado at its peak in Farmer City after the 2+ hours of stalking the storm, it still was a nice reward to see the rope stage finale near Bellflower, Illinois. The rope stage of the Tornado was only rated EFU because it did not hit anything to provide any damage indicators.
Storm Survey
Our Trip
9.5 Hours - 433 Miles
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