Day Seven

Promising day, weatherwise.  Slight risk for ND and northern MN.  Started in Grand Forks, ND with an interesting twist.  Earlier in the week (it’s been a week, already!), one of the students was bitten by some insect or spider, and his hand became inflamed.  It came down, but early this morning it became much worse.  After briefing we brought him to the ER, where he was treated remarkably promptly and we were on our way.  Since we were so close to the potential area, we stayed close, driving into East Grand Forks, MN.  Whitney gave us some information about the Red River of the North and the levee system in place (see pictures).  It’s one of the few major rivers that flows northward.

After lunch (wonderful pizza buffet in EGF) and several crossings and recrossings between the two states, we drove to Crookston, MN, about 20 miles east of EGF (see pics below, coming).  The temp and dew point weren’t too bad (80s and high 50s), and it could have been worse (Minneapolis hit 103).  Apparently numerous parties were looking at the same data, as we saw two professional chase tour vans and a pair of amateur chasers in the same McD’s parking lot (we used their wifi).  We were there for an hour or two, waiting for the sh*t to hit the fan.  After testing out our handheld weather instruments in the parking lot, we loaded up and went to a rest area to the west.  The kids were then asked to create a transect, measuring the weather conditions in five different places while we waited for the sh*t to hit the fan. 

Around 7:30 pm local we decided that the sh*t was not going to hit the fan (too strongly capped), so we packed up and headed south on I29 for Fargo, ND.  On the way we saw a pair of storms moving east, one of which looked like it had a wall cloud (it didn’t) and a very nice beaver tail in front of it, and a fine looking rain shaft.  The other was about 80 miles away, and it was distinctly multicellular.  It even had a tornado warning on it at one point, but I don’t think it verified.  Nevertheless, it made for some really good pictures—we even chased it for a bit south of Fargo.  Our consolation prize for the big bust.  I anticipated that the latter storm would hold together and hit Fargo, but no such luck.  There was one tornado report (somewhere near Bismarck, ND), and it wasn’t anywhere near us.

A fairly large group decided it was laundry time, so we packed up our delicates and found a 24-h laundromat.  No major problems, except for a well-toasted woman who was fascinated to hear we were storm chasers, then proceeded to ask us for a ride five blocks away.  Several sick kids, too—it’s like Ten Little Indians here.  While at the laundry, one of the kids got his hand slammed in the van door.  He’s ok, but this apparently wasn’t a good day for hands.

A quick midnight briefing (our latest yet), and a bit of relaxing before bed.  Looks like a travel day tomorrow to be prepared for Thursday.  Probably Des Moines.  Not many miles today, but it sure felt long.