View From The Cab

By David Tollefson, Columnist

Most of you have heard of that tragic wind episode in Central Illinois on Monday, May 1, along the I-55 Interstate. News reports mentioned “plowed” farm fields contributing to the disaster, that involved 40 to 60 cars and also semi-trailers. Seven people died and 37 were taken to hospitals.

In a May 3 contribution to DTNAg, well-known retired meteorologist Bryce Anderson, an occasional guest on past winter Linder Farm Network seminars that I have attended, had a detailed analysis of the quite rare weather conditions that contributed to the tragedy. Here it is:

Windy days are not unusual in the U.S. Midwest. Even so, the strong winds which raked blinding dust along a portion of Interstate 55 in central Illinois Monday, May 1, had some features both local and continental that created a wind tunnel. A National Weather Service summary of the dust storm notes: “The dust originated from freshly tilled and planted farm fields and was kicked up by wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph. Winds increased further during the day, peaking at 54 mph at the Springfield airport at 3:42 pm.”

Large-scale atmospheric features which were locked in place for several days created the repeated circulation for the strong northwesterly winds. “Westerly to northwesterly winds (45 to 55+mph) generated by a stalled low-pressure system over the Great Lakes were nearly perpendicular to a major highway (I-55),” wrote USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey.

DTN weather risk specialist Nathan Hamblin offered additional context. Hamblin noted the upper atmosphere on Monday, May 1, featured very strong high pressure from the eastern U.S. into the western Atlantic Ocean. In contrast, intense low pressure sat over the Great Lakes. In weather terms, “The {500-milibar} heights in the Great Lakes Region were almost record low for this time of year, over 3 standard deviations below the mean,” Hamblin wrote in an email. “At the same time, a trough was coming onshore along the West Coast and squeezed a high over Manitoba. A very impressive pressure gradient resulted, which caused a widespread area of gusty winds across a good portion of the Eastern U.S.”

Dryness and the timing of agricultural practices also contributed to the dust storm. “Topsoil was primed to be lofted into the air by short-term dryness,” noted USDA’s Rippey. “April rainfall in the area totaled about 2 inches, roughly half of normal…Fields were tilled for planting or had just been planted, leaving topsoil exposed…By April 30, corn planting was 40% complete in Illinois; soybeans were 39% planted.”

The recent dryness also likely contributed to the intensity of the winds through daytime heating on dryer ground – what might be thought of the local version of the southwestern U.S. Plains dryline. “Dry soils and sunny skies lead to more heating of the surface and increased mixing at the level near the surface. That mixing increases wind speed also,” said USDA Midwest Climate Hub Director Dennis Todey.

Big spring dust storms in Illinois have occurred before, but they are infrequent. The Springfield, Illinois, National Weather Service office notes central Illinois dust storm events on May 6, 1983; June 3, 1990; and May 17, 2017. All three events caused some traffic accidents and deaths but not to the extent of May 1, 2023.

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Having driven through Illinois on our way to the D.C. area, we never saw the area south of Springfield where this tragedy occurred. We often drove I-74 which went through the Champaign/Bloomington area to connect with I-70 in Indianapolis, Indiana to continue through Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland.

It seemed to me that the farm land in Illinois that we saw was maybe a lighter color than we would see in the corn states of Minnesota and Iowa. I do recall very little fall tillage done compared to what we’ve been used to around Pope County.

Recently I saw on the U.S. Farm Report that John Phipps, a regular commentator on that show, referenced the tragedy. His angle was that no-till practices might have prevented some the air-borne dust, but that weed control has been more of a problem with no-till or minimum-till. As a result, some farmers have returned to more tillage as more of a weed-control method.

I can sympathize with that frame of thinking. When Roundup came to common use in the mid-90s, weed control became SO simple and easy. Well, as we know, it became a little too easy. Now we have to use multiple methods and chemicals, pre-plant, pre-emerge and sometimes more than one chemical or trip after the crops come up and develop a “canopy” that would cover the ground and remain relatively weed-free through harvest.

In looking at a Google Earth view of the area around Farmersville, Ill., where this tragedy happened, it certainly could be very large fields of corn, beans, seed corn or whatever other crops are grown in that area. Huge fields contribute to great efficiencies of scale. Around here 60-foot planters are common. In that area of Illinois, there may be 90 to 120-foot planters traveling 10 miles an hour getting the crops in the ground (probably fewer rocks than we have around here, too).

Regarding crops around here, things are really moving along. Low spots where water stood a few days ago are now ready to be tilled and planted.

I think a lot of farmers in southern Minnesota are done planting both corn and beans. Larger operators can be set up to plant both crops at one time with two different planters.

For my area, things were getting dry, but at my place in southern Pope County we got .7 inches of rain in a very quick deluge on Tuesday afternoon, May 7. It was very welcome in spite of coming too fast.

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Please contact David Tollefson with thoughts or comments on this or future columns at: adtollef@hcinet.net