Friday, June 29, 2007
I am absolutely in LOVE with South Dakota right now... today amplified that in a big way. I am obsessed with wolves... ask anyone. Half my office is wolves. Needless to say, when I snapped away over 100 pictures at a wildlife refuge here in South Dakota, I was in complete heaven. Half a dozen Arctic Wolves appeared in view as we crested a hill and hung around for quite some time, some coming as close as a few feet from my van. I was stopped on the side of the road and snapped more pictures than I could possibly count. It was amazing! I was shooting on my 70-300mm telephoto and was using it on 70mm half the time! Here is a tiny fraction of the pictures I shot...
On the way out to Montana, I'm hopeful to see a few more of these beautiful creatures earlier in the day when they may be more active. The plan for tomorrow is to head up through southwest North Dakota and into eastern Montana for what will likely be the final chance to chase this trip. I intend to be back in Denver by Sunday evening. More later; in the meantime, enjoy the shots. I was almost beside myself!!
1 comments
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Currently in Hill City, SD after driving from Ogallala, Nebraska today. Attempted to get on some storms straddling the Wyoming/South Dakota border, but bad terrain, no roads, and the marginal severe threat kept us from pushing west. Did more sight-seeing today and got some good use out of my 70-300mm zoom lens as I nabbed a few wildlife shots through the Black Hills.
 Mr. McLean at Car Hendge near Alliance, Nebraska.
 A coyote after finishing a meal running along side the highway in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
 A heard of Bison in the Black Hills.
 One of about a million prarie dogs around the Black Hills; he let me get close.
 Fortunately it was something never seen! -LOL-
 Crazy Horse in South Dakota.
0 comments
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
I'll be heading out the door in less than 90 minutes to begin this final venture of mine during this Mayathon 2007. Convection ongoing in parts of the mountains including a tornado warned cell near Woodland Park which has a law-enforcment reported funnel cloud. That storm is very slowly drifting to the south and likely will not make it out of the higher terrain, thus am not going to jump for it. At this point, I will maintain my current plan to head up into Nebraska overnight as forecasts show little chance these storms will survive east of I-25 and probably won't go long enough into the evening to stick around for lightning. Heavy rain is a concern as well, but again, will remain limited to areas in the mountains. Will be hanging around here in Denver for another couple of hours before I end up on the road, so I'll keep tabs on the situation and make any last minute revisions as needed. Right now, I'm not seeing anything which makes me want to hurry out the door.
0 comments
Back home in Lakewood as of an hour ago; a surprisingly quick trip considering I started the day in northeastern North Dakota! Today's 983 miles from start to finish straight through added up with yesterday's 587 for a total of 1,570 miles for this bust chase. Over the three days, I added over 2,000 miles to my season with probably another couple grand upcoming over the next few days, meaning I'll easily top the 25,000 mile mark and may even set myself up for 30,000 miles pending the remainder of the season after this week.
Not much more to add as the forecast for the next few days looks marginal at best, but with day comes a chance, so taking these last few days to get out before the real world returns, the weather is simply an excuse at this point. What I see is what I'll see... I just more than anything want to enjoy these last few days on the road with no pressures... I'll be on the road by rush hour...
Good night from Lakewood!
0 comments
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Tim and I are finally stepping into home turf as we're merging off I-80 onto I-76 heading for Denver. Looks like we'll make it in around 11pm. Tomorrow afternoon, I will take my van out for the final days of my vacation before returning to work next week. I'm probably heading back north into Montana or the Dakotas before the end of the weekend and play around in fairly marginal setups in hopes for some hail, structure, and of course, lightning! Tomorrow has interest, but I'm leaving later in the day and thus may target lightning on my way into Ogallala. Before then, I'll update upon my return to Lakewood and get a good night's sleep before wrapping up this epic stretch of time! Over 1,000 miles will be logged today which will make yesterday's bust a 1,500 mile plus venture. Yee haw!
0 comments
We just passed through the town of Manchester, South Dakota where 4 years ago Sunday, the F-4 tornado went through and wiped the small town off the map. A memorial was put up over the weekend in which one of the plaques talked about that storm. We checked it out and are enroute to Huron for lunch. From there, we will head out to US Hwy 281 and drop south into Grand Island before jumping on I-80 for home.
0 comments
Tim and I are southbound on I-29 in Fargo, ND heading for home. Will make a brief stop in Manchester, SD to check out the memorial.
0 comments
A clear sky bust... first of the year. Not a single storm fired at all anywhere in the state of North Dakota. Storms are ongoing now southwest of us and may noise up the joint in a couple of hours, but with 1,038 miles between our hotel here in Grand Forks, North Dakota and my apartment in Lakewood, I think I am going to call it a night and squeeze a few hours of sleep before tomorrow's long haul home. A few shots showing today's bust! We certainly had some laughs..
 Mr. McLean 1; bird 0 (please have a sense of humor; we found this guy embedded on the truck's roof-rack).
The below shots were taken by me as I was tossing large rocks into the lake and shooting the splash at a high speed. Passed some time doing this as it was painfully obvious I wouldn't be shooting much else.
So 1,038 miles to Lakewood for tomorrow which sits us at around 14 hours drive time. A long haul after a bust, but we'll manage. Hopeful for a midnight arrival to my apartment before hitting the road again Wednesday evening.
Til later, goodnight from Grand Forks, North Dakota!!
0 comments
Monday, June 25, 2007
Sitting at Devils Lake, North Dakota waiting for the cap to snap!
0 comments
We hit the road at 8am and are shooting east on I-94 to North Dakota. Target at the moment lies in the north-central part of the state.
0 comments
Tim Samaras and myself enjoyed a nicely structured and highly electric storm this evening in eastern Montana after taking a long way around through Wyoming and both Dakotas before shooting west on US Highway 12 to I-94 and eventually catching up with this storm shortly before sunset. We spent most of the evening trying to capture lightning and chased along side this storm to our current overnight stay in Miles City, Montana. A full log will be upcoming, but in the meantime, a few photos...
Looks like we'll be heading east along I-94 tomorrow for central North Dakota at the least. Likely to end tomorrow near the ND/MN border. More updates tomorrow... goodnight from Miles City, Montana!
1 comments
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Tim and I are blasting north on I-25 with a preliminary target of Buffalo, SD.
0 comments
After seeing what happened in Manatoba, Canada yesterday, its likely I'll be cruising up to the Dakotas with Tim Samaras and crew as early as 10am this morning. I awakened to the question about going and was immediately wide awake and packing. I'm heading over to meet with Tim around 10ish and we'll be on the road before noon. This isn't for certain at this point, but I'm quickly gathering my gear and will update via text message from the road assuming we head out. Looks like I'll be returning by Tuesday. More later...
0 comments
Saturday, June 23, 2007
I continued my website catch-up work by updating my 2007 Lightning Photo section which now stores 50 shots from this season alone! I'm hopeful to continue to add to that over the summer as our focus becomes more localized and the monsoon heats up. Speaking of monsoon, I may finally get my chance to test my skills in Arizona in August. More details to come, but I may get a week down there before classes start to chase the monsoon and shoot my heart out!
0 comments
I've made long overdue updates to my index page to get up to speed on my latest chases as it had been since early May since I made the changes. While doing this, I updated the log stats and found my career mileage after yesterday's chase eclipsed the 80,000 mile mark! Funny to think that over 25% of my chasing career miles have been in this single season. Figuring on at least a couple thousand more miles through the summer and fall, I fully expect to hit 100,000 miles next season assuming I maintain some chase regularity after my graduation. It's becoming quite apparent that my two biggest goals for next season are to hit 100,000 miles and nab my 100th tornado.
1 comments
Friday, June 22, 2007
Made it home a couple hours ago and just finished watching my handy-work on 7News from my 277 mile venture out east this afternoon. Those miles set me over the 22,000 mile mark for the season and continue to add to my record-setting season. The storms have all but dissolved along the Colorado/Kansas border and will officially end today's events. One of the forum chasers reported seeing a brief landspout near Deer Trail and is relaying possible reports of two other landspots near DIA. Unfortunately no pictures exist on those reports as I was sitting in Deer Trail for about 15 minutes and would like to have seen this. As for anything around DIA, I was playing around in the core at the time, so unless they were fifteen feet in front of me, I wasn't seeing much of anything. Once the tornado warning was issued with confirmed funnels, I blasted east and got ahead of the storm within a few minutes; saw the rotation and a couple of funnels; nothing I could confirm touching the ground, but would love to get a time on those landspouts in case I was on the wrong side of the terrain.
A funny note on today's chase; I was dressed in business casual as I went to the news station earlier in the day to complete some work. Not my usual chase attire, but at least it was comfy.
Nice to get out again as its been over a week. The weekend looks very quiet and very hot. We could see a few reports of 100 degrees on Sunday which makes me want to cry. I hate summer heat! LOL And its a lengthy span, too with temps in the 90s well into next week. Fortunately I will be on the road come Wednesday, so hopefully I'm either sitting under hefty storms or cooler temps.
So with that, I bid everyone a good weekend. Nice to end this week on a hail of a note. Nothing compared to Roger Hill who nabbed some good sized hail in Nebraska! Just saw his footage on 7News with mine and wished I had been there! Congrats on the catch, Roger! You know how I like big hail!
0 comments
Calling it early as the outflow dominate line is pushing east into more stable air left in the wake of its own cool outflow. Stopped in Arriba and turned around heading west where I have just passed through Genoa on my way back to Denver.
0 comments
Sitting in Limon and actually got on a surprisingly decent storm east of Denver after making my trip to DIA. Took a lunch break at Qdoba and fired out on I-70 into Byers where I intercepted a severe storm producing blowing dust, nickel to quarter sized hail, and some heavy rain. A tornado warning was issued which shot me east out of the core to get in front of the storm where I observed a couple of funnels and a decent area of rotation just outside of Deer Trail. I stayed in front of the storm along I-70 into Limon where I sit under the occasional CG sipping away a Cranberry Raspberry Snapple and deciding my next move. GRLevel3 is showing an outflow dominate line of storms from I-76 south to near Colorado Springs. Nothing looks exceptionally inviting just yet, although there are some enhanced areas of convection just to my east between here and Flagler. I'm waiting things out in Limon to see how the next 15 minutes unfold. Also worth a mention is a weak area of storms in Larimer County back along the foothills which may provide lightning in a few hours, so I'm going to keep tabs on that as well. So with that, off to my Snapple and watching...
0 comments
Not the best of chase days today, but something to keep an eye on. With temp/dew spreads so large today, downburst winds seem to be the primary threat close to home with moisture improving out further east where a few storms may drop some hail. SPC and NWS-Boulder mention a heavy rain threat further east with the potential for flooding. This would be enhanced in areas in Sedgwick, Phillips, Yuma, and possibly Logan and Washington Counties where flooding was quite prevalent last week and may still carry lingering effects today. Slow storm motions should enhance this flood potential and make for much easier core-punching of storms. Shear is pretty weak today and thus any tornado potential will be pretty meager at best. Definitely a hail/flood type day. How long storms can remain going into the evening hours will determine whether lightning will be a factor after dark. My initial thoughts aren't very high on that prospect, but hopefully slow storm motions will keep things pretty close to home and allow us more of an opportunity to stay out and shoot. Dews as of this writing were in the upper 40s across the front range and mid to upper 50s along the eastern plains. With temps crawling into the 90s, mixing will definitely be an issue which should throw dews in the upper 30s and lower 40s across the front range and upper 40s to low/mid 50s across the eastern plains by afternoon.
I am taking a friend to the airport around 3 this afternoon, thus will already be out east today around 4. Pending what's ongoing or looking to be by that point, I may hold my position near E-470 and Pena and kick it as storms go.
0 comments
Welcome to another round of I should be sleeping! LOL The first day of summer didn't feel like the first day of summer; it felt like a day in the middle of summer, just like yesterday, and just like the next few upcoming days. I hate summer, I hate heat. Dry, wet, it doesn't matter. Hot is hot; I've spent time in both types and they both have their own characteristics of suck. Either way, its hot and I don't like it.
Fortunately today wasn't as bad as forecasted due to cloud cover and wind. In fact, a few dry storms moved over the area today and actually did some notable damage across Denver. We had some decents gusts here in Lakewood, but nothing as bad as mentioned in the article. Winds picked up again in the last hour, but very comfy temps are making for good sleeping weather.
Being up this late, I snuck a peak at SPC's forecasts for today and see northeastern Colorado is in a slight for wind and hail. While I'm not sure how much of that I am buying into, its enough to warrent hauling a camera around with me tomorrow. I probably won't go full setup in the van, but I may pack a bag with the laptop and data card on the off chance something does occur.
This weekend is remaining iffy in terms of whether or not I'll be chasing. I probably will not make any major trips beyond the CO, NE, KS area unless I am heading out with Tim and company or something really is screaming big setup. If that's the case, I'll likely be heading out with Tim and company anyway. Stay tuned for updates in regards to that.
With that said, I'm pretty well out of anything useful to post. I think I am going to toss on a sheet, turn on the fans, and open a window and enjoy this cozy night. Will hope for some local action tomorrow in terms of hail as my hunch is assuming storms develop, they won't last much beyond sunset, so I'm not going to hold out much for lightning. We shall see! Good night all!
0 comments
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Been a few days since I've updated, but was on a vacation from my vacation! LOL I spent the weekend in Ohio to see family and friends and returned this morning. I'm looking at at least two more trips before my Mayathon officially closes; one this weekend into early next week, and a final trip over the next weekend. I return to work on July 2 and will turn into a more local chaser through the summer unless a huge setup evolves. As July turns the calender, I turn into a more local spotter chasing after flash floods, an occasional hailstorm, and most certainly nighttime storms for their lightning. Lots to catch up on from the last few days, but will update again tomorrow with a status for the weekend. I'm hopeful to ride shotgun with Tim Samaras for this trip as we've discussed the possibility. His latest update mentions a chance to chase the Plains of Canada, so I'm very excited at the prospect of that opportunity. Stay tuned...
1 comments
Friday, June 15, 2007
We are less than an hour out of Denver; actually passing through Wiggins on I-76 right now. Thankful to be out of Nebraska... but Jon is singing Gorillaz, so I am contemplating jumping out of a moving car with Mr. McLean and take my chances at the tuck-and-roll at 82mph. It is worth the mention that Jon has been driving since Lincoln, but by his own fault. I have offered several times to take the wheel, but he has declined reasoning that I always drive, however I think its a ploy to avoid having to listen to my butt rock. To his credit, he has driven most of the miles over this passed week, so it has certainly been nice not having to worry about it. Kudos to him for taking the wheel out of my hands for a bit.
0 comments
Waiting for Jon to get our rental at the Lincoln, NE airport so we can head home.
0 comments
Thursday, June 14, 2007
A quiet day here in Lincoln as we wrap up production. Tomorrow Jon and I will drive back to Denver from here. The weather looks interesting for the next few days, but I'm gonig to give myself a break and go see friends and family back in Ohio for the weekend. The system coming in through the weekend holds potential in the northern Plains, but not enough to make me want to turn right back around and drive up there. I've done quite well over the last few days and deserve a break with friends, see my Dad, and eat a Donato's Pizza or two! In the meantime, we expect a quiet evening weather-wise tonight and much of the same for our drive home tomorrow. Aside from web-related work, this probably be a stretch of a few days with little chase-related activity. Upon my return to Ohio midweek, the GFS is showing a summer-time ridge in place over the US, thus I may elect to return to a normal working schedule and maintain my chasing focus to local stuff aside from major days. After 21,843 miles thus far in the season, I am going to take a well-deserved break. I figure by Monday, the 25th of June, I'll be back to a semi-normal life again!
0 comments
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Coasting east on I-80 about 70 miles from our overnight stop in Lincoln, Nebraska. A late start and having to be in Lincoln tomorrow kept us from chasing into Oklahoma where several tornadoes were confirmed by chasers. Today wasn't a total waste as we went for day 3 of flooding here in southwest Nebraska. We scored on US Highway 6 about 15 miles east of the Colorado/Nebraska border where the highway was shut down due to a creek overflowing onto the bridge. We arrived midafternoon and shot the area for over an hour as water levels dropped to a safe point to allow traffic to cross. A bulldozer finally arrived to clear the debris from the bridge to break up the damning effect left by shrubs and other junk. I'll probably post a spotter log documenting the events today as they were mostly remnants from previous day's rain. In the meantime, a few photos..
More will come later!
Will probably update again tomorrow once I wake up. We're hopeful to sleep in a bit before getting on with our final day's activity. Going to shower immediately upon my arrival tonight to clear myself of all the crap floating around in the water today. Ick! Good night from somewhere on I-80 here in Nebraska...
1 comments
Good morning from North Platte! Enjoyed a full night's sleep last night and have finally awakened to look at the models and forecasts for today. I'm not excited at all about any real severe weather chances here in Nebraska or southward into Kansas. The risk threat in Oklahoma doesn't justify making a long haul south. Again, the best options for today ride in flood chances across southern Nebraska into possibly northern Kansas. We're expecting to be working our way home Friday, so today is our last day with this crew. Unfortunately there isn't much going out beyond the realm of what we've already heavily documented over the last couple of days. Obviously its nothing Jon and I mind, so we'll see what we make from this. Nothing else to add at the moment; will sit down and discuss today with the crew and get an idea as to what is going on. My opinion is we'll get pretty much the same stuff here as we would driving into Lincoln, so save the gas and time and stick close to the area. We've hammered down flooding in Imperial and Ogallala, so perhaps we will slide east a few miles to the next decent sized town and see what's going on out that way. More later...
0 comments
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
I returned from Applebee's and cranked out the log for today's 97 mile venture which resulted in the mess you've seen all day. Click here or the image below to view the chase log and see the raw video embedded in the log.
0 comments
Drying off and relaxing after a short day today! We returned to North Platte and vedged out the rest of the afternoon here at the hotel. In the last two days, I destroyed a tape, lost my Imperial footage, damaged my video camera, and tossed a pair of socks. The image below is my drying a pair of socks. I finally broke down and bought a pair of sandles from the local Wal-Mart to avoid having to wear my soaking wet boots.
My flood footage is being used on KMGH, Channel 7 in Denver this evening at 10pm. Weather Producer Chris Spears wrote a story covering our ventures today. The weather story can be found here; it has the raw videos online. Check out 7News at 10pm to see the video aired.
Jon and I are heading across the street for dinner and will make an early night out of things. I will likely post a log later tonight on sometime tomorrow covering today's events.
0 comments
Eastbound on I-80 heading from Ogallala to North Platte after documenting another round of street flooding in the city of Ogallala earlier this afternoon. Fortunately I was able to capture my video onto my laptop before the camcorder ate shit. I'm looking at the LCD screen of my cam which is blinking an eject sign with the error C:31:42. I did score my video for the day, so that's all good considering it looks as if we're going to call it a day and return to the hotel to dry off, change clothes. In the meantime, here are a few video stills from Ogallala this afternoon...
 Jon rescueing a womam from a stalled car.
 A car with water up passed its bumper drives through flooded roads.
0 comments
Monday, June 11, 2007
Sitting in North Platte, Nebraska relaxing after a good day! We set out for hail, flooding, and lightning and we got them all! Hail was the least of our goodies as we briefly scored west of Imperial, Nebraska with some marbles. We then ventured into Imperial where we shot extensive street flooding. Unfortunately my camera chewed my tape and I lost all the footage. I put a new tape and shot some back up footage on the way out before we ventured north for lightning. That turned out to be the big payoff for today! I nabbed nearly a dozen good shots including some multiple bolts in one frame! In fact, as we speak, Jon and I are aiming our cameras out the 4th floor window of out hotel to shoot crawlers looking west. I'll be posting those as well!
In the meantime, check out the log from today which documents what we could! The lightning definitely stole the show today!
This was one of the shots I took a few moments ago as I was uploading the log...
Looks like we'll be moving north into northern Nebraska and possibly into South Dakota for tomorrow, so we'll see how it all plays out. Going to try and grab a few hours of sleep prior to then, so with that, goodnight from North Platte!
0 comments
I'm not very impressed with severe weather parameters today, but being out already, will take our chances. We're in Lincoln and likely to back west towards Ogallala to set up for today. Heavy rains and flooding look to be the primary risks of the day with a chance for moderately severe hail in stronger pulsing storms. Mid and upper level flow is almost nill, so not expecting much in terms of supercells or tornadoes. With that said, today will primarily be a spotter log for flooding, hail, and hopefully lightning after dark. We're looking at Valentine, Nebraska as our overnight venture to set up for another marginal day tomorrow. We'll check it out later in the day. We're swapping rides and will probably be out the door between noon and 1pm for our westward jog back west.
0 comments
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Jon and I have arrived at the Lincoln, NE hotel to which we'll be staying overnight. I've uploaded a couple of shots of the storm which we blew through in Ogallala this afternoon on our way out here. Definitely an impromptu chase of sorts as I was running GRLevel3 on the new Gateway from my lap as Jon drove us into Ogallala. We encountered a brief stint of marble-sized hail and some minor street flooding, but nothing really to write home about. Seeing as tomorrow remains uncertain in terms of chasing, I've dubbed today as a spotter log seeing as we did get on some action, albeit brief and rather weak.
I've also made a change to my June 7 chase which resulted in the documentation of some of the biggest hail I have ever seen. Seeing as the following days did not produce chasable weather and since I was returning home anyway, a mileage change was added to the chase which put the total for the chase at 1849 which sets a new single-chase mileage record. Also, after today's 505 mile venture, I've now racked up a total of 20,819 miles so far this season. At this point, I'm expecting to close in on 30,000 miles.
That's all I have for now. Will update again in the morning once we get things situated. Good night from Lincoln, Nebraska...
0 comments
After a brief stint of R&R yesterday, I'm about 30 minutes from hitting the road again. Jon is meeting me with the rental here then we're heading off to Lincoln, Nebraska for tonight. The best part of tomorrow's setup looks to be way to far north and in very unfavorable road areas to offer a chase. We might end up playing the southern end of tomorrow's risk in Nebraska if we chase at all. Tuesday and Wednesday look to be the better days, but those could use some work.
Off to pack the rest of my gear and get ready for a 500 mile trip today. Adios!
0 comments
Saturday, June 09, 2007
With no weather to chase, leaving Wakeeney for Denver to get ready for the upcoming week. Should be home before 1pm.
0 comments
I made it safely to Wakeeney after a dinner stop in Hays. Mexican was the order of the day as I scarfed down a couple of enchiladas at Carlos O'Kelley's (I think that's the same). Checked into my room and vedged the evening away happily. Was going to set up for tomorrow around here, but SPC's new day 1 shows nothing to be had out here. In which case, I'll be home early tomorrow afternoon after sleeping in late. Chris Collura met me out here, but unfortunately for him, he was heading the wrong way from home if tomorrow holds out to be nothing. None-the-less, it looks as if I'll be home midafternoon.
My laptop was shown as delivered, so I'll spend most of my free time getting my software and settings transferred over to the new machine. Pending my confidence in the new lappy, I may bring this one as a backup for the coming week just in case. I talked to Jon and we have most of the details sorted out; it looks as if we'll be on the road by midday Sunday.
Not much else to add so I think I'm going to tucker out for the night. Goodnight from Wakeeney; 703 miles later! LOL Had I known tomorrow was going to crap out, I likely would've driven straight home tonight. Ah well, such is the weather!
0 comments
Friday, June 08, 2007
Fuel stop in Salina, KS. Sitting just under 600 miles on the day and boy does my butt know it! Only a couple hours til Wakeeney.
0 comments
Moving along thru KC. Traffic not bad yet.
0 comments
Cruisin' along I-70 through Boonville, MO and expect to be welcomed in KC with rush hour. Booked a bed in Wakeeney, KS for tonight.
0 comments
Leaving my hotel in Normal, IL to begin my trek west into Kansas.
1 comments
After 16 hours and 826 miles, Chris Collura and I find ourselves in the same hotel we stayed at over a year ago in May where I forecasted the day I would chase back home to Ohio. Funny to think this is the second time I've stayed in Normal, Illinois... that's not normal! Unlike last year, I will be heading west, not east..
I posted the chase log for June 7's hail/lightning/tornado chase. You can view that by clicking here or on the image below...
This chase officially puts me over 19,000 miles so far this season which blows away last year's total and now I will continue to add to my single season mileage record. I should eclipse 20,000 miles before the end of the weekend.
As for tomorrow, a travel day back west before Saturday's setup. My target sits someplace along the Colorado/Kansas border on Saturday, so my goal is to reach an area between Topeka and Goodland on I-70 tomorrow. From here in Normal, IL, its 471 miles (approx 7 hours) to Topeka and 816 miles (approx 12 hours) to Goodland. I think I'll aim to make Salina tomorrow (582 miles), but I'll play it by year. No real hurry to get anywhere just so long as I make I-70 someplace west of Topeka.
That's all I've got for now... all my updates are complete and it looks as if the severe weather to the west and south will weaken before it plows through, so I'm going to crash! Good night from Normal, IL!
2 comments
Thursday, June 07, 2007
WHAT AN AWESOME CHASE!!!! I am having a career chase today! On top of the huge hail and possible tornado in Wisconsin, we just nabbed great lightning and a cone funnel in Rochelle, IL. We are heading south to our overnight stay in Normal, IL and may get more lightning shots! Here are a couple teaser shots...
 Huge hailstones in Wisconsin Rapids, WI earlier.
 One of several lightning shots.
 Exposure shot of funnel just west of Rochelle.
Much much more to come!!!
0 comments
HUGE HAIL!!!
1 comments
Softballs in Wisconsin Rapids, WI.
0 comments
On MN-16 just west of La Crosse, WI about to cross the Mississippi River. Just set a new single season mileage total and adding to it as we speak. Line of cells moving rapidly northeast. We are now ahead of the line.
0 comments
Chris and I are on I-90 about 10 miles west of Albert Lea, MN racing to get on the front side of developing line of storms. PDS Tornado watch issued til 10pm tonight under a high risk. A long day is in store.
0 comments
What the hell! That's our motto for the day! Chris Collura and I laughed at ourselves and left... east. We're blasting east on I-90 out of Sioux Falls, SD through Minn to Wisconsin for some cheese and maybe a good storm. We know the insanity of our choice, but why the hek not! torm motions be darned! We'll play just to play. And if worse comes to worse, I do love cheese!!! See ya'll on the flip side!!!
2 comments
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Bunking down in Wagner, SD tonight at the Super 8 with Eric, Amos, Rob, and Chris. The wimpy line of storms pushed through about 20 minutes ago and drenched us in rain. Nothing exciting at all. The report stays the same; the one tornado and very strong gustnado. The one tornado everyone saw; it apparently stayed on the ground for 30 minutes; looked almost like a landspout. No media as we were too far east to do much with it. The gustnado was the strongest I had ever seen! It spun up on the highway right on top of us; kicked up debris and flung it into the air. As it moved north of the highway, it took on a grove of trees and snapped large branches like trigs and flung them into the air. It them moved into White River, made a mess with blowing dust before moving northeast out of town.
Tomorrow, still planning my attack; thinking anything from Central Iowa into Southeast Kansas; haven't decided yet. Will check things out in the morning.
Short and sweet for now... goodnight from Wagner!
0 comments
Heading southeast out of Winner; saw the tornado from 20 miles east and a tree-damaging gustnado move through White River at 635pm. Hoping to intercept storms forming at the boundary collision in Central Nebaska as they move northeast into South Dakota. Current mileage for today is 430.
0 comments
We are 10 miles east of Martin, SD heading east on Hwy 18. Tornado 1 has lifted but lowering remains.
0 comments
Finally leaving Valentine northbound into South Dakota wuth Verne, Michael, Amos, Eric, and Chris. Had to replace a blown fuse in the HAM radio as we gassed up, but all working now. Target shifting west as system is slow to move out.
0 comments
Sitting in Valentine, Nebraska with several good friends of mine; Verne, Amos, Eric, and awaiting Chris to arrive as well. Contemplating our next move; go north to I-90, stay here, drop south... I hate days like this. Too many options with more than enough ifs to go around. We'll see... just chowed down some Ronald McDonald transfat and am sitting comfortably for now. Amos is talking Cowboys, so I need to go in and remind him who the better team is! ;o)
0 comments
Mr. McLean makes a friend north of North Platte!!!
Its a real life Koopa Troopa! And no, I didn't drive off with the lil' guy. He scurried back into the field with McLean's number! :o)
0 comments
Loading up and preparing to head out. I am going to stick with my I-90 target for today and head into South Dakota. I'm a few minutes away from leaving Ogallala to North Platte then north along Hwy 83 into South Dakota. The ten-million dollar question; will the cap break before dark? My thoughts... not so optimistic, but we'll see. A lot of chasers to be scattered across the region in hopes their little corner of the world will break. We shall see...
0 comments
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
I got settled in the hottub of the Best Western Stagecoach Inn here in Ogallala, Nebraska. This is a very nice hotel and its one I've wanted to stay at for a while. So far, very well worth the $55 a night.
As promised, the daytime lightning shots I took in Sterling. One of the perks of a digital camera; these two were the ONLY two shots of the 157 I snapped away while I was there.
Total mileage for today's spotter chase was 254 which puts me 56 miles shy of 18,000 for the season. Will update again in the morning once I get an idea of what to do. The target has definitely shifted to the west along a North Platte to Valentine to I-90 line, so I'm happy with my westward stop tonight, however, I'm contemplating a north/south option from I-90 to I-80 due to various reasons which hopefully will clear tomorrow.
So with that, good night from Ogallala!
1 comments
Heading northeast along I-76 to my overnight destination in Ogallala to position for tomorrow. Not much to speak of as I am at the tail end of a small parade of chasers dotted on Spotter Network along the interstate between here and Julesburg. I did muscle up a daytime lightning shot at the rest stop in Sterling as this small cluster of storms pooped out. Will post that here on the blog when I get settled in my room. Will dub today as a spotter log due to the positioning for tomorrow. Ciao for now!
0 comments
Ed Grubb and I are laughing it out on the south side of Brush as a boundary has formed and is moving into the area from the south. A couple of cells have fired to the south of I-76 and expect more to do so over the next hour.
SPC mesoanalysis is showing a very interesting area just south of Julesburg where CAPE and shear are increasing steadily and will make for an interesting play in the coming hours as the low level jet cranks up and storms move into that area. I may have picked a perfect overnight destination tonight. Stay tuned!
0 comments
Just filled up at the Conaco in Hudson, Colorado and am awaiting the arrival of chasing friend, Ed Grubb. Also waiting to hear back from Jon V who was on his way to Boulder last I heard from him. Since then, SPC issued a severe storm watch for the area with mention of tornadoes possible later this evening east of the watch box. Figure on hail for the early show and tornado potential increasing after 7pm as we move north and east. Should take me straight to my hotel in Ogallala for the evening. Nothing imminent to report and likely will hold my position as storms get their act together over the front range.
0 comments
Getting overnight stays lined up for the next couple of nights to avoid the issues of having to search for rooms after chasing tours get into town. I'm booked overnight in Ogallala, Nebraska tonight and reserved a room in Sioux Falls, SD for tomorrow night. I'm contemplating chasing the Day 3 moderate risk in Iowa before returning back west to Colorado. I need to arrive by Sunday morning, so that will leave me ample time to return home or chase another setup over the weekend.
Chase plans for the coming days...
TODAY: Chasing northeast Colorado with potential for large hail and possible tornadoes. Target will lie basically from Denver northeast along I-76 into Nebraska. Will follow storms eastward and bunk down in Ogallala overnight. Going to leave the city between 1pm and 2pm upon my completion of work at the news station. From there, I'll likely head to Highway 52 between Ft. Lupton and Hudson as storms should be well developing by then. East to southeast movement on the storms will enhance shear on surface southeasterlies and could enhance tornado potential. Will chase til dark or til an MCS forms; whichever comes first. Will not highlight lightning after dark unless storms are on my way to Ogallala.
WEDNESDAY: The big day of the week for sure; target lies in southern/southeastern South Dakota, likely along or just south of I-90 from Murdo to Mitchell. Major outbreak of severe weather possible in these areas tomorrow with the big concern being the cap. Further south, cap will be more of an issue, but I would imagine chasers from the Dakotas south into Texas will score something. A few storms should break from I-80 southward tomorrow.
THURSDAY: Looking at an area from Des Moines to Ottumwa for severe weather potential. Thursday will likely be a squall line type day with potential for a few isolated severe storms and perhaps chaseable tornadoes. Certainly not expecting the world here, but figure since I am out already, might as well chase it. Will take a closer look at things in the coming days.
That's the poop scoop as of now. Going to be an active period as the GFS is showing several chasing opportunities straight through next week. Will keep my eyes open for the future, but will be focused on the near term.
0 comments
Monday, June 04, 2007
Here is something we don't get to see too often here in Colorado...
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
315 PM MDT MON JUN 4 2007
..WINDS INCREASE TUESDAY NIGHT...PEAKING WEDNESDAY AHEAD OF THE TROUGH AXIS. THE INCREASING WINDS WILL LEAD TO A SIGNIFICANT THREAT OF SEVERE STORMS TUESDAY EVENING AS THE WIND PROFILE BECOMES VERY FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELLS. LOW LEVEL JET INCREASES IN THE EVENING WITH NAM SOUNDING AT AKRON SHOWING SOUTH WINDS AT 35 KT AT 800 MB...GIVING 0-3 KM HELICITY OF 360 M2/S2. SO...SIGNIFICANT TORNADO POTENTIAL IF THE SITUATION SETS UP AS THE NAM SHOWS. THERE COULD BE A FOCUS IN CONVERGENCE BETWEEN SOUTH WINDS TO THE SOUTHEAST OF US AND MORE EASTERLY WINDS ACROSS NEBRASKA...ACROSS NORTHEAST OR EAST CENTRAL COLORADO. SINCE THE WINDS WILL BE INCREASING THROUGH THE WHOLE ATMOSPHERE...WHATEVER DEVELOPS SHOULD PROPAGATE EASTWARD AND WILL LIKELY BE OUT OF OUR AREA BY MIDNIGHT.
I was already planning to chase tomorrow, but this ices it. Very rare to see such wording out here in Denver... I'm leaving straight from 7News tomorrow as I'm heading in to take care of a couple of things. Jon V will meet me there and we'll head out in separate vehicles as he'll be returning to Denver after the day is done and I make my way onto I-80 for Wednesday.
Update in the morning...
0 comments
A very big day looms on the horizon for Wednesday. All preparations for the trip are being finalized today and I will be on the road tomorrow. Tomorrow does pose interesting scenarios for eastern Colorado and thus may have me hanging back to play the area. With that said, I'll likely make an overnight stay along I-80 from Ogallala to Grand Island pending how far east I make it tomorrow. A target in southeast South Dakota should be easy to make from anywhere along I-80, thus I am not going to worry much about how far east I need to get the night before. As it stands right now, I am eyeing the area around Mitchell, SD and hope to be in that area by 3pm Wednesday. I'm going to bunk down overnight in the region and tentatively plan to return southward into Kansas to perhaps chase Thursday and Friday before making a return trip to Denver over the weekend to prepare for the next week.
As for today, better instability and moisture around may make for an interesting afternoon as storms fire and move southeast over the area. Not expecting much in the way of severe weather, but heavy rains and the potential for minor flooding may warrent getting out this afternoon. As of now, there are scattered storms north and west of Denver, but nothing more than pulse-type variety. As the afternoon moves on, storms should increase in coverage and intensity, thus will be keeping an eye on the sky through the evening hours.
0 comments
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Just got back from a quick trip up north in an attempt to get under a severe warned cell in southwest Weld County. The storms around here are of pulsing variety, thus it didn't hold out long. I took a few drops of rain near Brighton before returning home. Added 77 miles to my total for the season as I've closed in under 1200 miles to break my single season mile mark. With chases planned next week, I'll easily surpass that mark and likely approach the 20,000 mile mark for the first time in my career. I'm likely to close in on 25,000 by season's end. Nothing else ongoing in the area, so would imagine a quiet evening to ensue.
0 comments
I finally went out and ordered a new laptop. TigerDirect dropped the price on a laptop I've been eyeing for a while and with that, I opted to make the purchase. It's a Gateway MX6453 AMD Turion w/ 2 gigs of RAM; paid $625 with shipping. Has a Dual-Layer DVD burner, 160gb hard drive, ATI graphics card, and runs Windows XP Media Center, not Vista. The price I've seen it for prior was as low as $650, so the drop to $599 was enough to get me to pull the trigger. It should arrive late in the week which should be fine for my chasing starting the 10th. Obviously I am in no hurry to replace the Compaq I have right now, so waiting for its arrival won't be a big deal.
Finally glancing ahead to next week. Wow, talk about a wild stint! Starting as early as Tuesday and going through the weekend. I may play Tuesday on my way to Central/Eastern Nebraska on Wednesday. Tuesday looks pretty marginal, but I may head out that afternoon for western Nebraska or Kansas, stay out overnight and position for Wednesday. Thursday may be a travel day pending how far east a target pushes out. If that's the case, I'll back west to set up for the weekend chasing which may present itself. I need to return Sunday to swap vehicles for the TV show.
Weather should be about the same here in Colorado; storms in the mountains move east onto the Plains and poop out. Not expecting to do anything chase-related today except preparation work. Tomorrow I figure on much of the same; will pick up my new eye glasses at some point and get packed and ready for the next wave of chasing. Tuesday I'll be heading out at some point.
That's all from here for now... ciao!
0 comments
Couple of quick things before I retire for the night..
First of all, I published the May 31, 2007 tornado chase with lightning photos; you can check those out here. I have the June 1 chase linked, but not posted yet. Perhaps somethingo to do tomorrow. The two big chases of last week were the May 29 Limon Storm and May 31 OK Panhandle Storm, both which are up, so most of the interesting chases are posted already.
The other item of note was storms which moved through the area after 7pm this evening. One moved over my house with a quick shot of heavy rains and pea-sized hail. A couple storms held on til after dark and presented the first real chance to shoot lightning here in Denver this year. Unfortunately my storm south of town didn't produce anyhtin gout of the clouds. Jon V took shots with a storm north of Boulder, but came away with little as well. I made two trips this evening to try my luck, but times I didn't even get the camera from the van.
Will get up to speed on the forecast for the coming week so I may start to arrange my plans as to when and where I'll be leaving. Wednesday looks to be the big day of interest, so I'm keeping tabs on the days surrounding that. More tomorrow...
0 comments
Saturday, June 02, 2007
The DreamVision team did not get the go for the second week, thus my stint with them is over. I appretiate the time they allowed me to chase with them and wish them luck in their future endevours.
So with that, I get a week to myself to enjoy before beginning another stint with a production crew shooting a storm chasing show. I'm awaiting final details on that as of now, so it remains up in the air.
Prior to that, a good week of chasing looks to be upcoming, one I'll certainly be out on. While it was nice to enjoy my chasing last week, I'm looking forward to having my freedom again. Not to mention I miss my van! LOL Between Tim's truck and the dozen or more passenger vans, it was nice to get behind the wheel of a vehicle I know.
The trough being advertised arrives mid-week, meaning I probably won't head out again til Monday at the least. This lightens the load of stuff I was going to knock out today and will give me an extra day to return to a semi-normal schedule after getting home before 6am this morning. Monday I can pick up my new eye-glasses which have the anti-glare coating my current glasses don't have. Driving at night on wet roads should be a bit less of an adventure.
Haven't glance at the models much more than to get a grip on target days, but it looks as if I could make a case to be on the road Tuesday to chase Wednesday and possibly Thursday. I'm due to return to Denver on Sunday to get the rental vehicle for next week, so pending how that evolves, that'll influence my end-of-the-week plans. Pending where the system makes it eastern exit, I may chase it for a few days.
So with that, I'm going to get my web work caught up and enjoy a quiet evening at home tonight knowing I don't have to be up early in the morning. I'll toss out the logs upon their completion this evening.
1 comments
I am home. Going to bed now! Good night... or good morning. However you look at it.. LOL 1041 miles since leaving Liberal, KS less than 24 hours ago.
0 comments
A full moon at sunrise. Over 1030 miles with just a few more to go.
0 comments
Sun starting to rise, just now leaving Bennett after getting my van. I drove the last leg of the trip from Monument to Denver.
0 comments
Filling up in Raton, NM which should be the last stop before Denver. I have relinquished my driving in exchange for some Zs.
0 comments
Friday, June 01, 2007
| 
