Chase Recap: 2025-03-05 ~ Allegheny Bliss
iPhone panorama of my favorite scene of the day. Altoona, PA ~ 5:49 PM EST
My 10th year of chasing has finally begun! It actually felt really good to get out from behind a computer screen for a day and take in the road and some cool clouds, even when the overall setup was rather marginal.
I started the chase at 8 AM departing from Hoboken, NJ for south central PA. It was rather warm when I left the after, high 40s, but you could feel it was more of spring-like air mass. Halfway through the three and a half hour drive west was when I hit the stratiform rain. My initial target city was Greencastle, PA but looking at observations while eating lunch in Shippensburg, I realized I needed to continue further west as the clear slot was taking shape over Pittsburgh and initiation would be within the next hour or so. I continued on I-76 where I eyed the town of Berlin, PA. Unfortunately, I failed to realize that there was a 35 mile gap between exits past Bedford. I had no choice but to commit further west than I wanted to.
Timelapses from the Altoona vantage point.
I had entered the clearing east of Somerset, PA. It was evident in the developing cumulus that the shear was ripe, but yet the lacking instability would fail to take full advantage of this turbulence. Once I got off of I-76, the developing cells were already overtop of me so I already had to backtrack east towards Berlin. I was not in Berlin long before I eyed what looked to be a strengthening cell nearing Cumberland, MD. I calculated I could get a good view of it at this parking lot I found on Google Street View in Clearville, PA, some 30 miles back east. In the commute there the storm had its moments, but ultimately when outflow dominated the moment I got to the parking lot of this wedding venue (makes sense why the parking lot had a fantastic southern panoramic view). By this time, the line to my northwest was looking more robust. Other isolated cells were out of range so I decided that given the terrain it was working towards, I could get a timelapse opportunity out of it. I headed for I-99, where it up-trended and even went severe-warned for 30 minutes. In Altoona, I located a parking lot of a Kohl’s along a ridgeline. It had a great view of the valley and I knew the storm would propagate and drop over the opposing ridge to my west. It was time to just set up time lapses and watch the show.
While far from the most impressive thing I’ve seen, it had a bit of a shelf cloud and had intermittent lightning every 3 minutes or so. What made it really enjoyable though was the sun setting underneath its rather high base, shining rays through the curtains of rain falling on that ridgeline. That was really the most enjoyable sight of the day and made this day trip worth it on a personal level.
It felt really good to get my 2025 chasing season underway. Had this been any other chase, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed this chase that much. After a lackluster northeastern campaign in 2024 and a long offseason (emphasis on long), it felt great to just be on the road and hearing thunder again. It was just what I needed after so much time behind a desk this winter.
Cheers,
Ethan