July 14, 1998

 Much of Minnesota and Wisconsin  were in the midst of a long heat wave.  That evening things began to get interesting.  Skywarn had been activated and things were looking promising.  I headed south on US3 .  As I drove through Proctor, Mn.  I could see some very distinctive cloud features through the trees.  I continued south toward higher ground with a much more clear view.  When I reached a clearing,  I was greeted with an awesome sight.  A shelf cloud, stretching from horizon to horizon was moving straight toward me.  Since these monsters are not associated with tornadic activity, I continued south, passing directly underneath it.  On the back side things got interesting as heavy rain and hail slowed traffic to a near standstill.  The Skywarn net control had requested that I continue south to Barnum, Mn. so I crept along, leaving the hail after 15 minutes.  Nothing severe developed this evening but it was worth the drive to experience such a bizarre sight. 

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