Summary: Witnessed the most incredible single tornadic event in my chase career. Two violent tornadoes churning side by side for 20+ minutes. Also witnessed several other tornadoes in what will undoubtedly be THE chase of 2014. Stats: Tornadoes: 7 Hail: 1.00″ (quarter) Wind: est 55-60mph RFD Milestone: Most violent tornadoes witnessed in a single chase. [...]
Summary: Intercepted several storms catching far away glimpse of landspout tornado as well as a pair of after-dark tornadoes. Saw some decent structure along the way as numerous storms went up in south central Nebraska. Stats: Tornadoes: 3 Hail: 1.25″ (Half dollar) Wind: n/a The Forecast: Ample instability under moderate capping ahead of surface triple [...]
Summary: Got on tornado warned storm in wrecked environment. Had a few intense brushes with the core and witnessed several gustnadoes before letting storm go as darkness fell and it became apparent the storm wouldn’t produce. Stats: Tornadoes: 0 Hail: 2.00″ Wind: est 75mph forward flanking core gusts. The Forecast: Warm, moist and unstable airmass [...]
Summary: Got on southeast moving supercell that tracked through Chicago suburbs encountering intense straight line winds, hail up to golfball size. Also witnessed numerous powerflashes while following storm to attempt lightning photos. Turned around from home once storm moved out of area. Stats: Tornadoes: 0 Hail: 1.75″ (golfball) Wind: est 70mph. The Forecast: [...]
Summary: Tracked monster HP supercell for a few hours across southern Nebraska witnessing a number of low contrast, brief tornadoes ranging in size. Tangoed in the bears cage getting clipped with strong inflow winds. Stats: Tornadoes: 6 (preliminary count – could change!) Hail: 1.00″ (quarter) Wind: est 80mph inflow winds. The Forecast: Slow moving trough [...]
Summary: Chased potential second day tornado outbreak but instead wound up with grungy storms on a classic 15% MDT risk bust. Stats: Tornadoes: 0 Hail: 0.00″ Wind: n/a The Forecast: Same system as previous 2 days, slowly moving east as it occludes, pushing severe potential further and further away. Airmass was forecast to recover form [...]
Summary: Gambled on warm front play in Illinois on what became a tornado outbreak down south. Witnessing only sub severe but somewhat photogenic storms. Stats: Tornadoes: 0 Hail: .50″ (dime) Wind: n/a The Forecast: The slow moving system from the previous day was forecast to bring some impressive dynamics that would set the stage for [...]
Summary: Played surface low with minimal probabilities and ended up catching a low contrast tornado. Stats: Tornadoes: 1 Hail: .75″ (penny) Wind: n/a The Forecast: Powerful cut off system with vertically stacked low now in place. Intense speed shear overspreading all of warm sector with sufficient instability in place. Morning activity would affect the days [...]
Summary: Chased, I mean sat around in Kansas for another cap bust. Stats: Tornadoes: 0 Hail: 0.00″ Wind: n/a The Forecast: A powerful cut-off system to be was entering the plains and this would be the initial pieces of energy. Great speed/directional shear was in place with ample instability for storms however the main [...]
Summary: Dashed into Iowa to catch isolated, but elevated storms with prolific hail cores. Got cored with hail up to ping pong ball size before night fell and storms transitioned to linear mode. Stats: Tornadoes: 0 Hail: 1.50″ (Ping Pong) Wind: n/a The Forecast: Strong baroclinic zone setup with quasi-stationary boundary draped across the midwest. [...]
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