JULY 27, 2023 MINNESOTA: MUCH NEEDED MID SUMMER SEVERE STORM
Really pleased with how this day went considering the blah storm season we had in Minnesota in 2023. I originally was going to blast north towards the true boundary near St. Cloud, but stopped halfway through the Twin Cities metro as a storm broke the cap west of New Ulm. I had been eyeing that area all day so quickly got down there and intercepted the storm just north of Franklin, MN and sat in nearly the same spot for 2 hours watching this thing. It was great and definitely something I needed! The storm had some decent structure at times and was surprisingly photogenic. Constant thunder from this storm and could hear the hail roar from above at times. Really cool to get out there and watch this supercell as new updrafts kept forming on some kind of pinch point on the tail end of the boundary, possibly right on a weak surface low that was stationary.
Stopped to take a quick photo as I approached the severe thunderstorm near Winthrop, Minnesota.
Goofy high based lowerings on this storm when I first got on it. Interesting features though.
Western updraft starting to take over with action areas near the core on the right side of the image.
Skinny updraft pumping away and starting to produce a strong rain/hail core here. Love all the features of the storm in this shot, especially the couple weird looking bases.
Heavy rain and hail core opening up north of Franklin, Minnesota.
Decent storm base here with scud rising up into it.
I was surprised to see this bowl lowering form on the new western storm rather quickly as it was taking over the show. VERY slow rotation but it was rotating and condensating for about a minute.
The death of a storm right here. Might be my favorite shot of the day thought. Skinny updraft and almost an LP look to it with an eroding base. Time to head home!
New updraft to my west as the storm as I was on died and I was heading back home.
Couple of towers still trying to hold on at sunset.
