This day had a lot of potential in the thumb… Unfortunately the sun came out and sucked all the moisture out of the air, leaving one cell to the north. The storm had some high winds and hail, but was quite a disappointment for what could of been a promising day.
I got out of work and began to head south into the better environment, watching radar to the SW hoping some of the cells that were firing could get going – Towers would go up, drop some moderate rain, and die out. After realizing what was happening, I drove north quickly to the one cell that was doing anything to the northwest. Visibility was not the greatest ahead of the storm, leading to almost no chances to see anything decent. I drove out to the Bay/Midland county lines, only to get pounded by rain, while peaking at radar to see a tiny bit of rotation hidden behind everything.
Approaching the cell near Kawkawlin, MI 4/29/2014
I met up with a coworker who followed me in the core near Linwood, where it appeared a lake breeze off the Saginaw Bay ramped up rotation as the cell got closer to the water and began to form a wall cloud. I stopped to get a few shots before watching the storm jump out over the water.
Forming wall cloud near Linwood, MI 4/29/2014
After that, it was another trip down the road to make sure it didn’t drop a waterspout, which didn’t happen. From there, it was time to simply take in the structure, and think about the wasted environment to the SE and what the cell would of done had it actually been where I’d of liked it to….But that’s not up to me.
Structure as the storm heads out over the Saginaw Bay, 4/29/2014
Structure as the storm heads out over the Saginaw Bay, 4/29/2014
Structure as the storm heads out over the Saginaw Bay, 4/29/2014
CJ Postal 