May 25, 2007 showed lots of promise early on in the day as SPC had issued a moderate risk for southeastern Minnesota.  Things looked to be coming together for an early Spring tornado outbreak in the region.  

 

We left around mid-morning and headed north into southeast Minnesota by early afternoon.  Wall to wall sunshine helped temperatures soar adding to the instability.  We positioned ourselves ahead of a developing band of cumulus which were forming on the leading edge of the dry air intrusion coming in from the west.  We figured we'd be in great position for the early development of storms.

 

Below are some pics of the cumulus starting to develop as we stopped near Stewartville Minnesota, which is south of Rochester.  

 

 

 

We remained in the same location and watched as the cumulus continued to grow.  A few began to glaciate on top, and soon a few rain shafts were visible below the cloud bases.  A tornado watch was issued by SPC around this time, so we were feeling pretty good at this point.

 

 

We continued to watch as the storms tried to get better organized, but they just couldn't get there.  

 

 

By this time we could see the handwriting on the wall.  This day was a complete bust.  No tornadoes formed anywhere in the Midwest this day.  Only a few small hail reports came out of Wisconsin later on in the evening.  We had a long depressing drive back home after we gave up for the day.  That's the risk you have to take in chasing though.