This was the first chase event of the year for The Storm Patrol Co-Host Jordan.  The Storm Prediction Center in Norman issued a moderate risk for severe weather for this event, with a 15% hatched area for tornadoes over Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky.  I just could not resist a chase event this early in the year.  The weather models had been all over the place as to where and when this event would take place, we had been watching this event unfold for nearly a week.  It originally looked like it might setup in western Oklahoma, but as the days went by the severe threat began moving farther and farther east.  My chase Target was initially Little Rock, Arkansas for this day.  I knew the initial storm mode would be linear but I figured there was a possibility of a few discrete super cells forming in front of the line.  My plan was to head to Little Rock and make adjustments from there.  This ended up how it played out, except the lone super cell that did form popped up in Tennessee which was way out of my range.  I left Carthage, MO at around 8:30 AM and headed to Little Rock, dropped south to Malvern, AR and began traveling east to keep some distance between myself and the line of storms that was currently stretching from northeastern  Texas through Missouri.  I continued east in Arkansas until reaching Stuttgart, AR.  By this point night was quickly approaching so I knew that if I was to be able to see anything it would have to occur in the next couple of hours.  The area around Stuttgart is known for rice farming and the terrain is very favorable for chasing, there are few trees and few hills.  I began heading northeast from Stuttgart to the town of Brinkley, AR at which time I only had about 1 hour of daylight left, and no super cells had popped ahead of the line except one lone tornado warned cell in Tennessee.  A tornado warning was issued for a segment of the line that was now nearly over Little Rock, I knew that if I was going to see anything before dark it would be now or never.  I got on I-40 and began racing towards the warned cell, it was near the town of Lonoke, AR when I arrived.  The couplet appeared to be completely wrapped in train both according to radar and my observations.  I could make out the definition of a wall cloud within the rain, and possibly a funnel, but that was the extent of it.  The line of storms was traveling very fast so there was no possible way of keeping up with it at this point and it was nearly dark so I decided to call the chase and head back home.

 

TOTAL MILES TRAVELED:  830

LEFT HOME: 8:30 AM

ARRIVED HOME: 12:00 PM