Chase Complete

August 17, 2026 - 23:20

As the plane wheels lifted off from Philadelphia International Airport last month, the weight of the last few weeks finally started to lift. We had spent nearly a month tracking a series of storms across the eastern seaboard, and the final chase day in the City of Brotherly Love turned out to be the capstone of the entire trip. Now, on the eve of flying back to Denver, it feels right to put a bow on this one.

The last setup was not the classic tornado outbreak we had hoped for when we first rolled into the region. Instead, it was a messy, low-topped squall line that pushed through the Delaware Valley just after sunset. The radar showed a nasty bow echo forming west of the city, with strong rotation signatures on the leading edge. We positioned ourselves near the airport's cargo lot, watching the shelf cloud roll in like a dark wave. The wind went from a light breeze to a screaming gust in about ninety seconds, and the rain came in sheets so thick you could not see the tail lights of the truck twenty feet ahead.

We did not get a tornado, but we did get a solid wind damage report from the National Weather Service, with measured gusts near seventy miles per hour. A few trees went down along the Schuylkill Expressway, and a construction crane near the Navy Yard was locked in place. For a chase that started with so much uncertainty, it ended with a clean, textbook example of a progressive derecho. That is the thing about this hobby: you rarely get the exact show you ordered, but if you stay patient, the atmosphere usually gives you something worth the drive.

Now, with the bags packed and the chase vehicle already on a trailer headed back to Colorado, the only thing left is the long flight home. The maps are rolled up, the data logs are saved, and the memory cards are full. Philadelphia was not the most photogenic chase we have ever done, but it was honest work. And sometimes, that is all you can ask for.