The snow have cometh! A long awaited gift a few can admit to here in Denver after a quiet Sept, Oct, and November. Several snowstorms over the last couple of weeks have covered Denver in about half a foot of powder. The storm over this last weekend was the biggest of the season so far dumping about 6.5 inches in Lakewood. The storm that started last night and continues through this morning has left about 3 inches with another 1-2 expected through about noon before tapering off to flurries and eventually clearing skies.
My drive in this morning was nothing out of the usual for a snow morning. Took about 45 minutes, twice as long as normal, and was filled with the usual slow spots. I had one moment of slide at Alameda just east of Federal at a side-street stop light where a slight downhill incline left me sliding to a jittery stop just beyond where the white line likely was. Poor woman turning onto the street probably had a momentary freakout when she saw my big white van coming at her at a cock-eyed angle.
Fortunately that was the extent of my adventures in terms of trying to crash. The slow drive allowed a chance to take a few pictures enroute to the lightrail. Nothing calender-worthy, but an excuse to pull out the D40x and its 18-200mm lens. Snow was actually pretty heavy through most of the trip with big ol' fat flakes coming down. Made for a scenic view on the way in.
I'll post some pictures later this morning after I return to a normal lab to where I can break out my laptop and pull them from the card. With everyone arriving late, there was a frantic rush to get people in labs to which finals were being held. As a result of me being on time, I ended up losing my quiet lab for a busier one and won't bother breaking out my laptop til I either go to my quiet lab, or get an idea of how long I'll be here.
Enjoy the snow all! This may be it in terms of anything substantial for quite some time. Next week, the GFS shows a zonal, benign flow after a slight chance of light snow on Friday.
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Monday, December 10, 2007
WELCOME TO THE NEW LOOK OF TORNADOESKICK.COM!!!
As you can see, I have gone live with the new layout for the website! Most of the main sections are up and running, but there are still some areas needing work. I am in the process of completing several smaller pages, so there are a few places where you'll stumble across a missing page. Also, the search bar is running slow, so I am trying to recode that to get it a bit faster. I may eliminate blog searching from the database and see if that quickens the process (over 1000 entry pages may take some time).
As for the blog, a Blogger search bar has been added which will allow you to search for specific stuff in blog entries. Since that seems to work, the site search will likely see quicker search times as I'll rid of all blog-related items.
Feel free to surf around, but pardon the dust for the week! I should have the site at 90% before the end of the week!
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Tuesday, December 04, 2007
So the realm of projects has taken over for me over the last month. Between the new website and upcoming release of my 2006-2007 highlight DVD, I am doing well with passing the SDS. Funny to think I was chasing February last season and that's less than three months away. Will it be the case for the 2008 season, I guess time will tell!
Nothing really deserving of an entry today, just feel as if I've been pretty distant in terms of my online life lately. Obviously this is due mostly in part to the insane amounts of multimedia production I am doing. This is exactly why I am not only getting a degree in Meteorology, but also Technical Communications. I enjoy them both and one fills the chaseless void nicely.
Website Status: The website progress has slowed as I've been focused on getting the foundation of the new DVD laid out. I anticipate launching the new site about the same time as the new DVD just to make more noise about them. I do not think the video section will be updated as I'd like at the time of launch, but that's not going to be a big deal for me. The old chase logs will take on the new overall template, but they will not be the same as the new log pages coming for 2008. It would just be too time consuming to try and do 200 different pages like that. I may do a few of the bigger chase days like that (May 12 '04, May 29 '04, etc) just to give a tease to the new look. Again, this isn't a HUGE change from what's up now, but I think its more organized and will flow a bit better.
DVD Status: All the chapters are underway and I am in discussion with my buddy,
DJ Dani Garza who will once again be cranking out some tunes specifically for the DVD. I've sent him a few vid clips so he can create the tunes as he sees fit. I'm also gathering my photos which will play a much heavier role in my videos than previous versions simply because I failed to document a lot of prechase stuff like I did back in 2004/2005. Still working out how to present that best. Lastly, I am thinking about doing a cool little preview for the DVD... right now, most of that is in my head as I'm drifting around a few ideas, so stay tuned for that as it spills forth from my ears.
Weather News: None... or at least very little. High winds made for a beautiful evening and very nice morning as I left the apartment at 6:45am with temps in the 60s. I do love the Chinook here along the front range. It's a warm wind that I will certainly miss when my time finally comes to leave here. We've had a couple small snows, but nothing to write home, or a blog, about. This warm weather will end midweek and give way to cooler temps and a chance for light snow. Nothing in the long-range that looks too promising. My hunch is that will be the story for the 2007/2008 winter weather season for us.
Lastly, another show on storm chasing is due to start running next week. Women's Entertainment will be broadcasting a 6-part series on the Minnesota storm chasers,
The Twister Sisters. Why is this newsworthy? Because the finale episode in Jaunary stars myself and my good buddy and chase partner,
Jon Van de Grift (
our show bios here). One of the many chase projects I was doing over the summer was shooting this episode. While the weather was overall pretty quiet, Jon and I mustered some good times by dancing around in all the southwest Nebraska flooding back in June. With the show airing on Women's Entertainment, its not really so focused on chasing, but the people who chase. Jon and I will likely be portrayed as freelance media chasers trying to make our stuff on the news. The joke is the show will make us look like a couple of money grubbing low-lifes who are gay! LOL Obviously other pokes have been taken and rightfully so as my TV debute in which I am actually a focus is Women's Entertainment as opposed to something like Discovery or even SpikeTV. Hahaha. Another good buddy of mine, Doug Kiesling, wasted three hours of his life in good humor as his phone call of completely laughter and tears quickly trasferred to me when I saw his creation...
Our show airs in January. I'll have an exact date later.
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Saturday, December 01, 2007
Coming soon...
LUBACCA: Come Hail or High Water
Production is underway and expect copies to be available by January 1. I am working feverishly to attempt to have these ready to go by Christmas, but that's going to be close. I'm well underway now, and I am taking pre-orders (use the PayPal buttons on the
DVD description page). DVD price will be $24.95 which includes shipping!
If you purchase my current DVD,
Lubacca: The Storm Tracer Saga after November 30, 2007, you will be given a discount on the purchase of "Come Hail or High Water".
Featured chases on the new DVD will include...
May 5, 2006 - Seminole, TX Hailstorm (uncut)
May 23, 2006 - South Dakota Storms
February 23, 2007 - McLean Tornado and Wind Storm
April 13, 2007 - Seymour, TX Wedge
April 21, 2007 - Texas Panhandle Tornadoes and Cactus Damage
May 3, 2007 - Colorado Storms
May 14, 2007 - Ft. Lupton, CO Hailstorm
May 31, 2007 - South Kansas Tornadoes & Lightning
June 7, 2007 - Wisconsin Rapids Hail Aftermath
There will also be a multitude of bonus extras including a picture montage covering my 2006 chase across the country which landed me in my hometown. Also included will be a lightning photography slideshow and the usual mix of music videos set to the tunes of my buddy, DJ Dani Garza!
Pre-order your copy now!
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