October 13-14 storm setups

By DAN ROBINSON Editor/Photographer

Thanks to a lack of instability, the upper system moving through the central US was a bust for storms on both Saturday and Sunday for much of the lower Midwest. I did not see a single flash of lightning on either day. On Sunday, I was originally optimistic due to clearing skies and the very strong wind fields in place. Winds were mostly unidirectional, but had a slight turning in the low levels that I felt that the overall strength of the flow could compensate for, if given some instability to work with. I headed out originally planning to go northeast to Champaign, but upon seeing the instability not taking off like I wanted through the breaks in the clouds, I stopped moving east in favor of meeting the line of showers just to the north in Taylorville. The line of showers had just enough of an arcus to warrant pulling over for a couple of shots, but that was it for the day.