This was a tough day of chasing after seeing what friends bagged less than hour ahead of us. I'm not sure there was anything our group could've done other than leave an hour earlier to get up in time to see these storms. We missed the first tornado by less than an hour and barely made it across I-90 in South Dakota in time to catch the dying second tornado after it destroyed a farm house. Unfortunately whatever condition that was in place before we got there disappeared quickly after our arrival (our absence, perhaps), so there were no more tornado reports after that til well after dark. It was a fun and epic chase as we ended up as far as Pipestone, Minnesota before turning around and giving our forth storm of the day a final chance before sunrise. We ended the night in Sioux City, IA over a Chili's dinner and celebrating a good day. Verne Carlson and company had the shots of the day as they were within a couple hundred feet of the first tornado. After a quick night's sleep, we made the long journey back to Colorado where we arrived home over 1,600 miles later.
Approaching the remnants of the tornado which destroyed the farm house just west of I-29 in Eastern, SD.
This makes the third tornado for me in 2006 and puts me at 18,820 miles for the season up to this point. I'll post a full report here soon after I decide whether or not to make it twice with the new website format.
Meanwhile, check out
Verne Carlson's report. Its amazing!
