Vacation Mode: Off?
June 16, 2024
While on vacation in northern Minnesota, chasing wasn’t really on my radar. But that quickly changed when the region was placed under an Enhanced Risk with a 5% tornado probability. I checked the models, felt the humidity hanging heavy in the air, and just had this gut feeling—I knew I couldn’t sit it out. Around 2:30 p.m., I left the cabin, camera and phone in hand, and made the drive southwest, towards initiation that had begun.
I arrived in Motley shortly before the storm went tornado-warned, and within half an hour, I watched tornadogenesis happen right in front of me. The storm looked angry—rapid rotation, low base, and that eerie sense that something big was about to happen.
And it did.
The tornado dropped and stayed on the ground for a while, well-defined and intense. As the storms moved east, two other tornado warned storms developed to the north and south. A tornado warning sandwich if you will.
I didn’t have my full chase setup—just my main camera and my phone. Normally I’d have brought my GoPro, a second camera, and my iPad for radar. But sometimes, chasing stripped down like that makes you more grateful to be able to capture what I could and be in the moment- raw + real, face to face with nature.
Eventually, the storm became rain-wrapped, and visibility dropped. I made the call to turn around. I was so grateful that I got to see what I did, especially considering how challenging chasing can be in northern Minnesota’s forested terrain. With limited roads and thick tree cover, visibility is often a chaser’s biggest enemy in this region.
On the way back to the cabin, I passed through Merrifield and saw clear signs of damage—trees snapped and scattered across roads, fresh scars left behind by the same system. It's quite humbling to see shortly after seeing the storm that had produced that.
Back at the cabin, dinner waited for me. My husband was so excited to hear the full story and genuinely happy I got to experience something so rare for that area. We spent the rest of the evening fishing and relaxing on the boat. It felt like the best of both worlds—chasing a tornado and then unwinding with the people I love. A short chase, a strong storm, and a peaceful ending. Can’t ask for much more than that.
