It was really nice to get out again so early this year! we left
Blaine,
MN around 11, got to
Owatonna (my original target) around
12:30, sat around there, got some data, had a bite to eat. Headed south to Albert Lea. Sat around the gas station down there for a while, watched a couple different areas of CU, saw the
Faribault storm go up. Finally decided to chase it after realizing that the trend for the IA/MN border area wasnt good, Booked it up to
Owatonna, got off 35, took some back roads. Tried to get our way through rural areas to get the best view of the storm.. Booked it east and north on the pitiful road networks in Rice/Steele county (never realized how hard it is to chase a storm that is moving northeast at 50 mph). Finally caught up to it. From about 4:30-6:15 we didnt have radar because we thought we had lost our connection, Turns out it was radar problems at MPX, if we had known their radar was down, we could've just as easily have used La Crosse radar if we had known. Got into Goodhue county, tried following it, end up calling it a day just west of Red Wing as we really didnt want to chase a weakening storm in to WI. All in all, it was cool to meet some new people, especially some of the more experienced chasers. Felt good to get out again so early as well, and atleast it wasnt a clear sky bust for us. Did see atleast 1 well defined wall cloud and possibly 2 other weak ones. Stats 3 counties (Rice, Steele, Goohue), no tornadoes, no hail, howling wind (probably 25+ sustained surface winds before initiation), 1 tornado watch, 2 severe thunderstorm warnings, 276 miles
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3/25/07