Scott McNally

@BoKnowsWeather Looking forward to marginal risk days in July that nobody cares about!

Quite the train of large supercells to get caught in. Sooner or later- bad things will happen with so many out in the same area.

@BoKnowsWeather @StCroixStorms Nice work fellas!

@StCroixStorms Miles and I saw a baby tornado today. Little dopey ropey that nearly fizzled out by the time the sirens actually came on- just West of Fairmont, MN. We went thru the core of the cell as it was strengthening and then the rainy and wind blown mist from a semi in front of us as we cleared the heavy stuff was literally shooting off 90° to the right towards the storm rather than simply behind the truck which suggested some pretty strong inflow into the cell. Here’s a sped up timelapse and then at the end of the clip it starts over for the part where you see the tiny rope- at normal speed. In the first few seconds you can see how nice the base of the storm is rotating.

@EricTheSpaceCat Clouds as far as I can see without driving 50 miles north.

@scottmcn20 When it rains it pours! 😁

Hoping for a chance at sprites tonight! @EricTheSpaceCat

@EricTheSpaceCat That is some clear video! Nice capture!

Slow motion lightning a little bit ago from southern Minnesota. The storm was throwing out a lot of CG strikes. 960 FPS

@EricTheSpaceCat Mid lat aurora on cams too! One camera south, one north!

@scottmcn20 Same here! Was just prepping gear. Good luck!

The aurora on 4.20.26 weren't epic, but I'll take any Twin Cities metro aurora I can get. You can see my chase here. youtu.be/aPYy_f0HE7o

The May Full Flower Moon rising over Hudson, WI. #moonhourtmsocial

@Stormchaser_TS I was in St. Louis for a soccer tourney this weekend. Looked at options to stay thru today and chase. First time in STL and no thanks for chasing. So many trees and no sight lines. Definitely no grid road system that I was on. I’ll stick to my open farmland of southern MN.

It’s 7:30 in the morning im working for a few hours before chasing this evening across my home turf. I did not sleep very well last night. Today is on my mind. I’m worried nervous about what might actually unfold today. I am running on caffeine today. To everyone that’s coming to Chase our local meteorologist are heavily relying on your reports today. This is not Oklahoma where you can look out the office and see a tornado 10 to 20 miles away. This is Missouri, where we have trees and hills. Remember when you’re posting on social media today a simple tag to our local Nws office helps. Remember to be safe today, River Crossing are far and in between. #mowx

@Hobartmetalhed @oldscarf1stweek I’m a MN storm chaser in STL for a soccer tourney, flying out Monday morning. Thought about staying to chase Monday, but storm chasing has to be terrible here. Trees everywhere, no sight-lines and erratic road network off the major highways. I’m fine leaving.

@oldscarf1stweek With a potential for big storms in central and eastern MO on Monday this could be an even more dangerous problem with the terrain and road network especially around the STL metro.

The storm chasing problem. Chaser convergence is man made. The issue is not just more people chasing, it is how concentrated they’ve become. On higher end, media publicized setups, with a narrow corridor for discrete supercells, you can end up with 1000-1500+ vehicles compressing into a very small geographic space. Add in limited road networks across parts of the Plains, especially in areas with dirt roads or sparse grids, you get something closer to a parking lot vs experiencing extreme weather. When that many vehicles are trying to reposition around a single storm, basic mobility breaks down. We’re pushing carrying capacity, and that is not just inconvenient, it is dangerous. When a violent tornado does develop, you will have hundreds of people with limited escape options and delayed reaction time. There is also a degradation of decision making in these environments. When you are surrounded by other chasers, especially ones who appear confident or experienced, it creates a kind of herd mentality. SN dots are on. Livestreams are poached. People anchor themselves to the convoy, group instead of independently evaluating storm motion, road options, and escape routes. That is the skill gap that’s exponentially tied to your safety. If 1 car commits to a bad road, others follow. It only takes a few poor decisions at the front of that pack to cascade into a situation you can’t control. Many casual chasers come into it expecting the classic isolated tornado in open terrain, the kind of scene popularized by media and iconic footage, fresh from days before. Yesterday was reactionary to the Enid, Braham tornadoes days before. Those shots are plastered on phone screens and national news outlets the last couple days. Everyone in the state of Oklahoma thinks it’s obtainable and easily accessible. There is a well studied pattern in risk behavior where individuals underestimate danger when they see others taking the same risk without immediate consequence. In storm chasing, this shows up when people watch others get very close to a circulation and come away unharmed. It creates a false sense of safety. The absence of immediate negative outcomes is interpreted as evidence that the behavior is acceptable. Over time, that shifts the baseline of what feels “normal,” even though the underlying hazard has not changed. There’s not real consequence for bad driving behavior. Oh, someone posts a dashcam video or photo of your car on Twitter? You can blow a stop sign, speed, pass, there’s no traffic enforcement for hundreds of cars and a handful of police. There is no consequence, yet. How to fix? First is better self regulation within the chasing community. *All* chasers, not just “experienced” chasers need to model good behavior, the burden is not on who is the most popular, it’s on all of us, not just in positioning but in how we talk about risk. We can promote the secondary and even tertiary targets while discussing uncertainty. Everyone is entitled to the same road in this country. The same view of a storm. The idea needs to be if you a road at or past carrying capacity, don’t choose that road. We can’t blindly follow your GPS because everyone else has the same route plugged in. At a higher level, there is an argument for more structured education. Less about Skywarn, more about things like Skip Talbots storm spotting safety videos on YouTube. Not gatekeeping, but realistic onboarding. If more newcomers understood that most chases do not produce photogenic tornadoes, and that positioning and safety matter more than proximity, you would likely see fewer people making impulsive decisions in high traffic setups. However, that’s not what’s ever going to reach feeds or the algorithm, it’s up to us to do that. Storm chasing is not going to get less popular anytime soon. access to data, live streams, and forecasting tools has made entry easier. The crowd doesn’t have to be the biggest threat before the storm. It’s up to us.

@EricTheSpaceCat Good stuff Eric!

Slow motion lightning tonight from southern Minnesota. 960 FPS Sony RX0 II.

Snagged a nice bolt while picking up the kid from practice. ⚡️#mnwx ⚡️

Aurora substorm trying to kick off. Shooting from Afton, MN. 11:24p #aurora #mnwx

@EricTheSpaceCat @Stormchaser_TS Maybe tonight, or will the Iowa storms be too far SE by dark?

A couple red sprites from last night. The first one shows a bit of a halo. I have more footage to review. I am hoping I got some more.

@EricTheSpaceCat I shoot at 24p, 2fps, .5”, ISO 12800. Then can color grade like normal video. It’s a great blend between timelapse and video.

@scottmcn20 I haven't tried that yet but it sounds useful. I am in the process of trying different settings. For meteors I use native 60 FPS for quick motion and initially did the same for sprites. Last night I started testing 24 FPS. S&Q seems like a good next step.

The storm system over MN, WI, MI is producing sprites. If you have clear skies above this storm it is worth trying for sprites. In this clip with audio the storm answered my question "... are there TLEs?" with perfect timing. My first April sprites and first sprites of the year.

@EricTheSpaceCat Have you tried S&Q video for sprites? I’ve started shooting aurora and it comes out really smooth and nice. Can shoot ISO 12800 for really clean video.

@scottmcn20 I am hopeful for tonight but I am back inside at the moment. A small cell is perfectly blocking all my views right now. The one just north of Albert Lea is in the way. It was clear until it was dark enough to try for sprites.

Spring sunset. 4.14.26. Sound on. #mnwx

Four years ago today, Palmer IA. Twin Cities under the gun Monday for all hazards.

The calm before a wet and stormy few days.