After a successful first day out on Saturday we were heading into unchartered territory on Sunday!

The greatest risk of tornados looked to be in and around the Missouri/Illinois border. For us, this would have left us too far out of position for our target areas on Monday and Tuesday, combined with difficult territory for chasing, so we opted for a target along the Missouri, Arkansas Border. Still difficult terrain for chasing, but a more reasonable gamble.

The biggest challenge with a storm chase in this part of the world is the ability to find a view. Dan did an excellent job scouting locations on our setup drive that brought us to a great overlook near the apropriatly named town of Westview MO.

The benefit of having limited viewing options is that there is little incentive to relocate, which meant we could sit back, relax, and enjoy what this storm had to offer.

After our target storm got closer we needed to reposition to keep our eyes on the area of the storm, most likely to produce activity. On our way to find another location with a view we were hit with rain and the first signs of hail; we decided to shelter at a gas station and let the storm roll over us. What we experienced was intense lightning and golf ball sized hail.

After the most severe part of the storm passed, we got back on the road to try and get one more view before the storm moved into the mountains.

As the storms continued to track North East we said farewell to our first MO storm chase and headed to Tulsa Oklahoma for the night.

The plan for Monday is to head to Texas and see what we might find, but not expecting a huge amount of activity in the locations we can reach today.