eyewall Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I headed out of Southern Pines, NC down to Rockingham via US-1 then west on US-74 toward Monroe, NC just before 4pm. It was apparent a backdoor front had set itself up near the NC/SC border and as I left cells were initiating on this boundary as a weakening MCS passed to the north near the VA border. As I approached Monroe the 1st in a line of training supercells was beginning to to right turn somewhat farther south so I knew I had to find a road option southwest. I chose state route 75 which was just about perfect and that took me to Waxhaw, NC. I was trying hard to cut off supercell #1 at around 6pm or just a few minutes after. I wanted to stay just ahead of the core and get to its south side to see any potential meso/tornado. Unfortunately that didn't happen. Traffic in Waxhaw slowed me and I was just too late and got "cored". I was real worried I would lose a windshield as I was not near any good cover when the hail started and I was aware this storm had a history of dropping baseballs. Thankfully I only caught the edge of the core and "only" had to endure some quarters and half dollars. I drove back north into downtown as at this point I was on a local bi-way called Rehobeth Rd. In town the hail was nickel to quarter sized and I decided to wait it out and instead go after supercell #2 as I was already in great position for that storm heading Southeast. Once the hail stopped I headed back south down Rehobeth Rd. once again. I knew the next storm would likely take almost the same path as it right turned as well. I had a few minutes so I decided to shoot some of the hail that was quite a bit larger as I headed in that direction. I found some up to 2 inches in diameter or so and that is after a good 20-30 minutes of melting. Sure enough this is when supercell #2 rolled in. As the second storm moved in the sky grew extremely dark (even for the time of evening it was as sunset is not until 8pm or so now). It also had that famous green color to it. The base was quite smooth overhead and rain free so I was in great shape to see any meso and/or wall cloud, which I did. In fact I was in too good of a spot because sure enough a rotating wall cloud was headed in my direction at 6:40pm. I took some video of it and then knew my only option to try and keep up with it was to head south on this 2 lane road. Unfortunately as I did so (since this is chasing in the jungle out here) I lost the clearings and fields I was near and hit forest. The storm also turned more to the right and the meso passed directly overhead. I wish I was able to shoot this part, but I was more concerned at getting to a safer spot and one more clear of trees (which of course present a debris hazard). As it did the rotation became quite rapid (much more then in the video clip where you have to watch closely to see it) and it became clearly visible. I obviously watched this for a minute but the storm was moving rather quickly so my view didn't last long in the trees. I tried to keep up with it in hopes for another clearing but it didn't seem any would be found and I saw storm #3 riding the train in my direction also. It would be getting dark in the jungles as it arrived so this where I decided to end my chase for the day as I was very close to the SC border. I headed back north and east and as I did caught the edge of supercell #3's core with some hail once again, but it wasn't overly large and it wasn't much of a problem. Right around sunset I caught a great shot of the back edge of the storm with the sun shining right on it and then as it got dark I decided I would go for lightning on video at 210 fps. I think I caught some good ones but have yet to review that footage. Below are pics from the adventure! By NC standards I think it was a great day! Wall Cloud Interesting lowering on the left side of the wall cloud Large Hail Some closing in on 2" in diameter (20-30 minutes after it fell!) (sorry for the blur on this one) One of the largest stones I found (Again 20-30 minutes after it fell!) This is a blurry video cap because my still camera started giving me crap but again very large by NC Standards! This is the largest hail I have ever seen since being here. Great mammatus ahead of supercell #1! The back side of supercell #3 Some footage of hail falling and lightning to come soon. Here is a clip of the wall cloud: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lookout Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Fantastic stuff eyewall, as usual. So good in fact, I'll pin it for a while. It's really cool to see you get a big win with your chase. Hard to believe you guys were seeing such widespread severe hail while there literally wasn't a cloud in the sky here, despite being in the slight risk area. I have actually *NEVER* seen hail that big. For whatever reason storms just don't produce hail here for the most part. And when it does, it's usually just pea size hail. Never seen hail larger than a quarter here. So it goes without saying, I would love to see some larger hail here, although not baseball or softball size..needless to say. Thanks for sharing the pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyewall Posted April 10, 2011 Author Share Posted April 10, 2011 Fantastic stuff eyewall, as usual. So good in fact, I'll pin it for a while. It's really cool to see you get a big win with your chase. Hard to believe you guys were seeing such widespread severe hail while there literally wasn't a cloud in the sky here, despite being in the slight risk area. I have actually *NEVER* seen hail that big. For whatever reason storms just don't produce hail here for the most part. And when it does, it's usually just pea size hail. Never seen hail larger than a quarter here. So it goes without saying, I would love to see some larger hail here, although not baseball or softball size..needless to say. Thanks for sharing the pics. Thank you and I know what you mean. That is why I choose to go to the action as with convection it is so localized it may be years between great events at home. Here is some lightning at 210 fps: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEGa Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 wow - what an awesome chase!! i havent seen hail that large either...it would do a number on your car, thats for sure. n ga was pretty much out of the fun yesterday - so whats new lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gastonwxman Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Marvelous job there with the picture shots and video! Glad to see that you got in on some action while driving around. It's good to see that you were able to catch it all with the camera. Congrats to you. Fantastic stuff eyewall, as usual. So good in fact, I'll pin it for a while. It's really cool to see you get a big win with your chase. Hard to believe you guys were seeing such widespread severe hail while there literally wasn't a cloud in the sky here, despite being in the slight risk area. I have actually *NEVER* seen hail that big. For whatever reason storms just don't produce hail here for the most part. And when it does, it's usually just pea size hail. Never seen hail larger than a quarter here. So it goes without saying, I would love to see some larger hail here, although not baseball or softball size..needless to say. Thanks for sharing the pics. Likewise here. I've only seen hail get to nickel size every time it occurred here but never have I seen it larger than 1" and that made for an interesting experience as I watched it fall and collide with everything outside. If you've seen the pictures and video I posted of it, you could tell that it was bad to be out driving when it did. Gaston county was one of the hardest hit areas in NC from all the storms that kept training over it. Sad to hear that you didn't get anything. Perhaps with the next cold front that's expected to swing in for later Monday, you'll receive something storm-wise. It's almost hard to believe that you didn't see squat down your way with all the storminess going on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckeyefan1 Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Glad to hear you didn't get into any baseball sized hail yesterday during your chase. Awesome stuff as always Eyewall and thank you for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyewall Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 Thank you and nice job by Gastonwx too capturing what he got at home! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griteater Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Fantastic stuff eyewall, as usual. So good in fact, I'll pin it for a while. It's really cool to see you get a big win with your chase. Hard to believe you guys were seeing such widespread severe hail while there literally wasn't a cloud in the sky here, despite being in the slight risk area. I have actually *NEVER* seen hail that big. For whatever reason storms just don't produce hail here for the most part. And when it does, it's usually just pea size hail. Never seen hail larger than a quarter here. So it goes without saying, I would love to see some larger hail here, although not baseball or softball size..needless to say. Thanks for sharing the pics. The hailstone pictures I've seen posted on the 4/9 storm treads are the biggest I ever recall seeing in this area. This is extremely rare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyewall Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 The hailstone pictures I've seen posted on the 4/9 storm treads are the biggest I ever recall seeing in this area. This is extremely rare. Very true! It would be hard to beat it in NC! This is a hastily edited video of the hail I encountered: One more real grainy vid cap of one of the largest hailstones I found (seen at the end of the video from the top). That is a quarter resting on it so you can clear see this stone was actually a bit larger than 2 inches in diameter. This was at least 20 minutes after it started to melt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennedy Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Too bad I didn't know you were in my area , you could have dropped by place. It was indeed a very extreme night. We lost power and the hail was bad. It was coming from every direction , not just straight down. I was certain I was watching a funnel cloud across the top of my house ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyewall Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 Too bad I didn't know you were in my area , you could have dropped by place. It was indeed a very extreme night. We lost power and the hail was bad. It was coming from every direction , not just straight down. I was certain I was watching a funnel cloud across the top of my house ! You definitely saw a roatating wall cloud at the very least based on your location. On another note I estimated that that largest hailstone I found at 2.25 inches in diameter at the time the footage was taken. With 20 minutes of melting it was likely at least tennis ball sized (2.5 inches) when it actually fell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyewall Posted April 12, 2011 Author Share Posted April 12, 2011 I would be interested in doing a case study on this event at the AWC. Who would I contact on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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