FIRST CHASE OF 2005

THE 2005 STORM SEASON BEGINS

March 23, 2005

As I was headed home for the National Hurricane Conference in New Orleans with a stop off in Gulf Shores where Hurricane Ivan came ashore and in Atlanta for a school talk, a line of weak storms was trying to develop along Rt. 58 as I reached Emporia, Va. I stopped for something to drink and the temperature dropped some 10-15 degrees in about 5 minutes. However, as the cold front pushed eastward from Emporia, a line of storms developed south in North Carolina and small isolated storms developed along the front in Virginia. I started heading east to stay with the line and watched the radar as new storms developed and died. I stopped along Rt. 58 several times to shoot photos of the development and then would continue eastward. Once into Suffolk, the storms or lack there of were looking weak and having a hard time getting going. So I decided to head on home and once there, see what would happen a little later as the front approached the coast. Well, as luck would have it, I was in an accident along Rt. 58 and missed out on the line once it made it to Virginia Beach. That story at another time. Below are a few photos of that day as storms tried to develop for the first real signs of spring.

Near Franklin, Va. the line started to show some signs of life. This cell would develop and move over the Hampton and Newport News area as a weak spring thunderstorm.

I pulled off of Rt. 58 onto a little side road and then a farmer's dirt driveway as I noticed these low hanging clouds beneath this developing storm. It looked like a wallcloud developing but of course it wasn't.

Here is another shot of the storm and low hanging scud clouds just a few seconds later. These clouds would quickly dissipate and the development of this particular storm would too. I decided to head home from this point and wait to see what happened later in the day and evening. Unfortunately, my day ended here. More on all that later.

All Images Copyright Jesse V. Bass III and VaStormphoto.com