Well, today the first official thunderstorms for 2014 in Chicago go into the books. As I’ve done in the past, here is a blog of the event. This year, like 2011 and 2010 it came in the form of thunder-SNOW, instead of the thunderstorms we’re typically used to seeing in spring. The Chicago area seems [...]
Facebook weather pages are a popular source of information, but it is important to understand the nature of the posts being made. I run a page on facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/TornadoChasing which serves two main purposes. The main purpose is to showcase my work as a storm chaser and the other is to spread weather information and forecasts [...]
Summary: Intercepted several severe warned storms noting photogenic rain bands, several gustnadoes as well as possible tornado we could never get confirmation from. Called chase early to begin long drive home for work obligations the next day just as storm goes tornado warned, giving us all brief heart attacks. Stats: Tornadoes: 0 Hail: 0.50″ Wind: [...]
Summary: Drove around most of the day, re-adjusting target for miniscule parameters in hopes of initiation before catching a brief glimpse of a dying, non severe storm as the sun set. Stats: Tornadoes: 0 Hail: .00″ Wind: n/a The Forecast: Large expansive warm sector ahead of slow moving trough. Ample instability under modest flow along [...]
Summary: Chased late season high risk outbreak in local turf catching the large, long tracked and unfortunately deadly EF-4 tornado that tore through Washington Illinois. Stopped to perform search and rescue before resuming chase catching a distant view of a second tornado near Dana, IL. Called chase once storms got too far ahead and had [...]
Here is a quick link to my video of the tornado that moved through Washington, IL on Sunday November 17th 2013. We were near the town of Roanoke when we caught view of the tornado, a more detailed log will be coming in the next day or so.
Summary: Ignored more obvious tornado target to gamble closer to home. Got on tornado warned supercell that quickly went outflow dominant noting dramatic storm structure. Core punched storm experiencing 70mph winds and hail up to nickel size. Called chase as storms congealed and moved on. Stats: Tornadoes: 0 Hail: .88″ (Nickel) Wind: est [...]
Summary: Got incredibly close to large, violent wedge tornado just south of Wayne, NE. Back window blown out by strong inflow winds during escape. Stats: Tornadoes: 1 Hail: .88″ (Nickel) Wind: est 100-120mph inflow/outer circulation of wedge tornado. New Milestone: First window lost in chase career. The Forecast: Impressive, deep, compact and powerfull early fall [...]
Summary: A very chaotic chase as we nearly drove into a record breaking tornado, got caught in an unbelievable traffic jam due to a mass exodus before nearly getting rolled by a smaller tornado near Tuttle, Oklahoma. Learned of devastating news that would change the storm chasing world forever as the historic storms claimed some [...]
Summary: Overslept and missed the main play of the day. Forced to play secondary area of development noting some pretty non-severe structure but no actual severe weather. Stats: Hail: 0.00″ Wind: n/a Tornadoes: 0 The Setup: Similar setup to previous day with same frontal boundaries continuing south/east. Similar parameters were in [...]
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