Erik & Kelly's Storm Chasing Blog

Its been quiet.....

2010-05-20T08:43:00.000-05:00

Well, it has certainly been quiet over the last few weeks and due to one unfortunate thing, we have had to put storm chasing on the back burner until I resolve this issue.

Meanwhile the Plains are lighting up quite frequently. Kelly and I have created a Facebook fan page to keep up with short, daily updates. If you are a member of Facebook, feel free to "Like" our fan page at Erik & Kelly's Storm Chasing Page. Here we will highlight a few of our partner chasers as well as what is happening in the Plains.

When we do get back up and running, we will be sure to blog our latest chases in detail here!

Two Days and......

2010-04-12T22:16:00.000-05:00

Certainly we came out to do some storm chasing but Mother Nature is holding out on us!! We have done a lot of driving and we have been through 6 states at this point. So what comes next?

It appears that tomorrow will be our best day. The set up shows a very narrow corridor of 50* dew point air from north central Kansas up through Nebraska, and South Dakota. It looks the the highest potential is in central Nebraska into south central South Dakota.

So we staged a little too far north today but that was based off of earlier forecasts. So, we have about 5 hours to our staging for tomorrow. That means it is time for the group catch some shut eye for a early drive out tomorrow.

Preliminary look at the first full day in the Plains, April 12th.

2010-03-28T10:21:00.000-05:00

This is called "Dreamcasting". Looking at models that are far out in the meteorological future. I usually do not look more than five days out but with a trip Kelly and I have been planning for months, I just cannot help myself!!

Certainly in planning a trip to go storm chasing, the one thing you cannot plan is the weather. People have asked us, "Where are you going?" The best answer we can offer is, "We don't know. Somewhere in the Plains." So now that we are only two weeks out, we can start planning our daily target areas. But we will not really be able to pin point our target areas until the immediate days before. So therefore, no hotel reservations will ever be made!

I pulled this image from Twisterdata.com this morning. It shows a low over SW Kansas / SE Colorado.

The lifted index tells us how unstable of an environment we have. Here, our April 12th target area in Kansas, shows a lifted index of -6. This tells me that thunderstorms are likely with some reaching sever limits.

Another component of severe weather is moisture. This shows the amount of precipitable moisture that the atmosphere contains. In this forecast it will hold a little over and inch.

In order to get thunderstorms to rotate, which will assist in developing possible supercells and tornadoes, we need shear. This depicts the surface level winds and the winds. Surface winds over northern Kansas are coming from the east and the upper level winds are coming in from the SSW.

All in all I am quickly learning the models and what part they play in storm prediction. At this time range anything could happen. We may have sunny weather or we may have conditions more favorable for significant severe weather development.

I will continue to review the models to get a more firm idea where we want to target on the days of our trip. Certainly three full days in the Plains will not give us much room for error.

The Beast's Shake Down Run

2010-03-15T07:43:00.006-05:00

On Thursday, the 11th of April, Kelly and I ran our first unofficial chase together. It was a shake down run for the Chase Beast for the 2010 season. Also it was time to get Kelly acclimated to something other than arm chair chasing!

The day promised some pop up showers and possible storms. We are within the 2% risk for tornadoes as well. We started by sitting a while watching the radar and noted a line of developing showers heading north along Rt 59 from I-55. These were developing pretty quickly so we set our target and headed off for the "Chase". These showers were developing pretty quickly and training up Rt 59 through Plainfield. As they reached Plainfield they started to dissipate but still gave us some awesome photo opportunities. We spent a little time watching the system pass from a cemetery on 127th which gave us a great vantage point and another potential spotting location!

Unfortunately, I had to head off to work for about an hour for a meeting. While there Kelly watched the storms and the radar. Luckily nothing really developed during that time so we didn't miss much. After I got out we headed off to eat and then back out for further shake down.

Before eating we noticed this one cell over Byron that just kept blowing up over the same spot and sending its weather to the north like it was a smoke stack. I was interested but did not know if it would be worth the hour drive to get there. But we headed west anyway.

When we got near Oswego on Rt 30 there was a lone cloud that looked like a small cell with a wall cloud, but it wasn't. It was just how the cloud was shaped. It gave us some great photo opportunities and we shot up several pics of the crepuscular rays. It was beautiful!!

We headed up Rt 30 and into Sugar Grove. We were keeping our eye on three cells progressing northward over LaSalle County into DeKalb. Even though they were nothing we targeted them for the practice. Shortly we ended up on a highway access road just south of I-88 on Dauberman Rd. We set up camp there.

We were there for a couple of hours and shot some video and a lot of photos. We watched one cell form and collapse before hitting a mature state. We then watched another low topped cell form and stay intact for over 30 minutes as it lumbered along to the north.

We hung around until close to 8:00 updating Facebook and just having a good time just sitting there out in the middle of nowhere. It was a chance for Kelly to get use to the chase and a chance for us to bond more. We are both very excited and looking forward to our trip to the Plains for some real chasing starting April 11th. We plan on taking as many runs like this before hand to ensure the equipment is tip-top.

Stay tuned for regular blogs coming up! Especially during our trip, April 11 through the 15th!!

Getting close to 2010 Chase Season!

2010-01-28T19:29:00.002-06:00

Well, a lot has changed since my August post!

First off I have met someone who has dreamed of Storm Chasing for a long time. She friended me on FaceBook early in the season last year and has been following me since. We talked back and forth every now and then. But, recently we started talking more! We finally met up this past Sunday after chatting on IM for hours. Now our first date was a Ham Fest!!! I know, not quite a first date but it was pretty much the happiest day of my life. Kelly has really brought joy and happiness to my life and will make this chase season even more special!! She brings an element of self taught forecasting that will pair up well with my intuition!! We are planning an April vacation to the Plains for some real chasing. For her, it will be baptism by fire, as long as the weather gods smile upon us!
Secondly, I just received my Amateur Radio License, KC9RGS. Couple this with joining the Kane County ARES! I can't wait to make my first call on the radio that just came today!
The Chase Beast is getting prepped for the season. I have added new interior warning lights all around. Add this with the new Ham Rig I feel that I will be a communications hub while out in the field! Additionally I am working on a passive EVDO/1X repeater for my NetBook. In theory it should get my signal outside of the Chase Beast and give me better reception. Some other field items have been added as well.

All in all this year will be a great year. I have a new chase partner and girlfriend, Kelly. I have my ham ticket. And, I have money to seek out a monster in the plains!! I cannot wait for this season to get started!!! Meanwhile Kelly and I will beef up our computers and prep for the trip. We will also review a forecasting and reading of the radar. She will be attending the DuPage Advanced Seminar with me to become certified as a spotter.

Happieness has been a long time coming for me! This year is the first year of the rest of my life!!

AMAZING Shelf Cloud!!

2009-08-10T22:32:00.002-05:00

Lately every chase seems to be the same. Go out, get rained on a bit, curse the radar, then go home whipped. Yesterday was different!

I got out on the road about 3:00pm and headed north to Ben's location at RT47 and I90. As I was approaching, he started to head up to Harvard, IL, to catch an approaching weather front that was traversing the Illinois / Wisconsin border.

As I approached I took some video on Rt14 and and it really only looked like your standard weather front with a small shelf cloud. As I approached Harvard, I saw that 5 minutes made a huge difference!

At a closing rate of an estimated 120MPH, both the front and myself approached each other. and before I knew it, it was right on top of me! It was moving so fast I was snapping pictures over my shoulder and out my other windows. I was doing this without looking at the view finder!

The pictures turned out better than I expected for just shooting from the hip! I was essentially driving down the road, looking for a suitable place to stop and set up but the front was moving so fast, I could not get out of town in time. It was the one time I was glad for automatic on the camera!

Anyway, you can visit my album on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017260&id=1080780280&l=d571e0c197

No outlook but chased anyway!

2009-07-23T22:56:00.003-05:00

SPC did not issue an outlook for our area today but storms did pop up and were severe. But I was hunting cold air funnels.

Over the last few week several reports of cold air funnels were made across our area. So, I was hoping to catch one today. Instead I caught up to a nicely developed cell approaching Hinckley from the north.

It was showing some rotation and a nice hail shaft just north of Hinckley but as it crossed Rt 30 it developed a lowering. There was no rotation to it but it was supporting some nice scud development that reached half way to the ground.

It was also trying to form a teeny, yest I wrote teeny, roll cloud over head. That, had rotation! Unfortunately it was raining so I couldn't get the video camera out to get a clear shot.

I noticed that Ben, KC9TOR, was making his way to my location so I went to meet up with him since this cell was heading south. Once we met up we decided to head north to intercept a twin cell coming out of Wisconsin.

Once we arrived at our staging point in Popular Grove, we noticed that it was moving slow. Also noted that it seem to be following the same line as the previous cell I was on. Thusly, the new cell's life was limited due to the colder air the previous ones left behind. So I headed south to end the day.

Funny, earlier I washed my truck nice and clean. Well, I didn't concern myself with that when I was trying to intercept!!!

Dry Air = No Storms!

2009-07-14T19:42:00.002-05:00

It is the calm before the storm. Sources state the week of the 21st may be our week. Will this be true? Right now we suffer 35% humidity but tonight we may see some storms. A little wind, a little rain.

So until I get something to write about, and dry air is about as boring as watching sand grow, I will just leave it at this. Enjoy the picture courtesy of NOAA. It was taken just west of Hurricane Rita.

Chase turned to spotting today.

2009-06-19T22:33:00.001-05:00

I started out going after a well developed discrete cell heading towards Morris. Just as I was getting on 55 it fell apart. I had Kane Co ARES plugged into the scanner and heard Ben advise his location to the net so I figured I would head up there.

We watched as the system moved our way. The velocity showed some broad rotation but really nothing significant. The system turned more linear as it approached. Did catch a few good pic of a couple of cells building just to our west. At one point we had a ring of mammatus around us so we were directly under the anvil!

We were able to watch a couple of shelf clouds build up. This was interesting to me since I had not seen the genesis of a shelf cloud before! There were no obvious outflow boundaries from this system. Just one great mass of nothing but disorganized storms. Oh how I wished for some discrete cells but this would not happen.

Once the gust front moved thru the winds picked up. I believe we measured around 40mph at our location but there were several reports of 60 mph + to the east of us.

ARES net called our attention to some tighter rotation just to the north of us and we moved off to investigate. I was marked with some nice white scud in a broad ring but really no significant features. After this we broke off and bugged out since there was very little organization to the west.

All in all a bit of a bust but at least we tasted some action! Thanks Ben and Mike for letting me join in. I really do need to get my ticket and a rig so I can join the net!

Looking for the broken cap...

2009-06-18T23:09:00.003-05:00

Well, today was a bust. It appeared all the right ingredients were put into place for some good ole down home MCS to move on in and rip up the landscape but as luck would have it, the cap did not break.

Nothing but sun for us, except for a brief clouding over before sunset. Meanwhile Iowa and Wisconsin is having fun fun tonight with some nocturnal MCS complexes.

So the chase beast lies in wait for the opportunity to go on a real storm hunt adventure. Cameras are ready to go as we wait for the afternoon to cook the upper levels and break the cap. I would really love to video the genesis of a discrete cell forming and dying. If it decides to spit out a tornado or two, great! Hopefully it just does it in the rural areas!

06/01/09 Chase

2009-06-03T12:46:00.003-05:00

Ok,

Today I had two primary areas of interest and I was half way between both. Once I went out about 4:00 I fueled up the chase beast and reviewed the radar. At that time nothing was warned. I decided to head north because the cells over Rockford liked promising and the south part I was originally targeting had not lit up. Those storms were just crossing the Mississippi.

As I was heading north Ben Rock (Kane Co ARES) was calling hail at rt 47 and I-90. I was 30 minutes from there in rush hour traffic on Rt47. I took some video out the windshield as I was approaching Elburn. What I captured was an outflow boundary from earlier storms that were over Lake Co. Ill. It was sweet! By the time I found a spot to pull off it was almost on top of me. Got some pics. The outflow cooled things off dramatically!

About the same time I hear Ben calling out a slowly rotating wall cloud at the same location. I was still a bit away and even if I did not stop, I would have missed it due to the coin toss I made to head north or south.

About this time the storms coming off old Miss starting looking more organized. I loaded up Delorme and decided if I cut straight south, I could get to Ottawa in time. Definitely a nice drive!
I passed back under the outflow boundary on a dirt road and saved some gas with the tail wind it was generating.

About this time I noticed the storms I was after started taking a ESE direction which put them another 30 minutes south of Ottawa. As I got down to Ottawa I was able to intercept a small cell with some heavy rain but that was it. I think the outflow boundary started choking it out with the cold air.

On the way back home up Rt 71 I stopped for a couple of shots of the sun coming thru the clouds. It was a beautiful end to the day.

So my #1 chase rule, go with what will happen, not what is happening, if you are half way in between. My original spot I wanted to go to was about 75 miles south of me in Chenoa. This would have put me just south of the storms moving west to east. It probably would have given me some nice photo ops as the system was sagging south. I would have had a wait but probably would have had some great pics!

See outflow boundary portion of my chase video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQU0BXfPlbs

Beauty is in the mind of the beholder!

2009-05-27T11:23:00.003-05:00

Well, it is not pretty but it is. I will be receiving my NetBook from Verizon Wireless today. I have fully tested one of our demo units (pictured) and am quite satisfied with its processing. It better work since I just dropped $200 of money I really don't have on it.

I have tested the following applications with results:

- GRLevel3 radar application. No hang ups and processes just like on my desktop. I have also integrated the Delorme LT-40 GPS puck so that I can see my location relative to the storm.

- Delorme mapping with LT-40 USB GPS puck. So far so good. It is hard to get use to since I am a MS Streets and Trips user of over 10 years. But I figured if Reed Timmer uses it (and GRLevelX) then it is good enough for me!

- Logitech trackball mouse. This was an after thought. After trying to use the touchpad on the mini, I realized that this will not be easy to use in the chase beast. So I got a trackball mouse and using Velcro, mounted it between the cup holders in in front of the arm rest. This makes it so much easier to use!

- Spotter Net. This is the only hang up but it seems like this is a known issue. Spotter network tracks your GPS location and reports from the field. The issue is that after a couple of minutes, it freezes the GPS feed for all the applications using it. So, until fixed, I will keep it on manual until I need to make a report. I will poll the GPS and submit my report. Although it would be nice if they made an application for the Blackberry!

- Web Cam. At this point I only have the web cam that is built into the Netbook. Eventually I will get a 5mp web cam and mount it on the dash board. But this is nice when I am waiting for the cell to come to me, I can let my kids see me and talk to them on the phone. Also, for now I will only use it with Yahoo! IM. I need to see where my data usage is going to be with regular chasing activities.

Chase Beast Update

2009-05-04T23:13:00.006-05:00

I am getting closer to completion of my Expedition, aptly named "Chase Beast". I even left a little piece of myself behind... ...More on that later.

I mounted two of three radios in the center console. A 300 channel, truck tracking scanner and a CB. Yes, a CB! When you are chasing you need several forms of communication just in case one breaks down. I may work for the nations most reliable wireless service, Verizon Wireless (Another shameless plug) but in the time of disaster, it may not be there or it may be clogged with emergency traffic.

When the armrest is closed, you cannot see them. This is good for theft deterrent since you cannot see them! I have yet to decide on a 2 meter radio. I am not sure if I want an HT or a mobile. Eventually I will have both. Regardless, there is a spot in the lower left for the HAM rig.

Additionally I installed two more antenna mounts. This brings the count to three. The scanner antenna which is a 8db gain antenna. The CB antenna which is a commercial 27MHz antenna. And, a 144MHz to 172 MHz antenna for the 2 meter HAM radio. In addition to that I have a magnetic mount PCS antenna for my Verizon Wireless PC Card. I am holding off on a more permanent solution until I decide on if I will get a Netbook or purchase a smaller, used laptop.

Shortly I will acquire the Delorme LT-40 GPS puck and software to integrate with GRLevel3 radar and the Spotter Network. Also this will help me plot around the core or tell me if it is safe to punch it! Eventually I will get a commercial antenna for this and permanently mount it on the roof.

I am doing this project so that when I am not chasing, I can make the truck look normal. The antennas can be easily removed and the radios are hidden within the center console. Other items like the camera and laptop mounts will be easily removed and stowed in the back. At any point my up time is less than 10 minutes so I really do not loose time getting to the chase.

As for the piece of me left behind. Well, not exactly anything left behind except my pride. I will drilling out access holes in the bottom of my center console when one of the plugs got stuck. I had to exert downward pressure with a screwdriver to remove it. It suddenly gave way and the screwdriver, along with my hand, attempted to fit thru the 1" hole, thusly smashing my right index finger on the outer rim of the hole.

Needless to say I was glad there were no kids around since I uttered several obscenities!!! I will have that mark for a few months and I don't expect to have a finger nail there for long. It actually looks worse now then what it does in the picture.

So anyway, it is coming together and I am waiting for some storms to develop. But with the Jet Stream sinking, it is no allowing for the systems to migrate our way. Looks like we are in a quite weather pattern for the next eight days but that can change!

Working on the beast

2009-04-20T23:20:00.006-05:00

Well, I am officially geeking out my '97 Expedition for storm chasing. A few dollars here and there as well as a bunch of stuff I have stockpiled over the years has allowed me to start getting the truck ready for the chase.

I dropped one of four planned antennas into the roof. This was the easy one and did not require major dismantling of the interior. The other ones will not be so easy.

Also I installed two of four corner flashers in the back up light housing. These will be used more for warning at 45 degrees from the corners of the truck. I am disappointed in the light output on a a overcast day. I did expect more since these LED lights were bright as heck on my test bench. Looks like I will have to make plans for additional warning lights.

So my list is starting to shrink but I don't think I will be getting everything this season. Here are the things that are on the drawing board;

Front and rear alternating flashers using hide-a-way LED light heads. I just have to install the fronts
Scanner Antenna. Installed
GPS antenna. USB to hook into the laptop for mapping and tracking on radars and Spotter Net. This is about $80.00 and I have to get it.
2 meter antenna. I have the antenna from a while ago so no cost here. Just have to put it in.
11 meter antenna. AKA CB. Again, another one I have.
Depending on if the Netbook I may get has an antenna port, a 3db or 6 db gain antenna for that. Possibly in the future I will get an EVDO booster which is about $250.
Mount radio equipment in the center armrest. I have the 300 channel trunk tracker and CB. I have yet to decide if I am getting an HT or Mobile amateur radio. (This decision may affect the mounting of the 2 meter antenna mentioned above.)
Video camera dash mount. Still have yet to find one. Currently I bungee a tripod in the front passenger area but if I want to take a "Navigator" with me then I need to come up with a mounting solution.
Laptop mount. depending on the one I get but this may cost upwards of $250.00. I just may get creative as long as I can find someone with a welder I can barrow.
Additional LED warning lights. This can get quite expensive but if I can find all the parts, which I can, I can make this system as well and cut my costs to about 25% of the Code 3 lights that I have my eye on.
Portable roof mount anemometer. A basic one is about $90 but does not hook into the computer. But heck, for the price I will take it. It is also magnetic mounted so it would be easy to remove.
Some SAR equipment, including a chain saw. Which I see as the top needed item for SAR that I don't have.

I am sure the list will grow once I get back out on the chase but for now, that is what is on it. The good thing is, I don't have to pay for labor because I love installing stuff in cars!

This is cool

2009-03-28T10:09:00.001-05:00

So, I am a bit of a gadget freak. It is a wonder that ones life can be held within the palm of your hand. I can access almost anything thru my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Storm (Shameless plug).

But it is nice. If I have a thought, I whip out the Storm and send it to this blog! I can almost eliminate the computer.

We'll, time for a warm shower on a blustery day. I hope you understand I will not include a picture at this time! :-)
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Welcome to my life for all to see.

2009-03-28T09:42:00.006-05:00

Well, here I am in the world of dropping my pants around my ankles and showing myself to the world. Now to come up with some creative things to say.

Simply put I am married. I have two kids. I love severe weather and the outdoors. But, enough about me for now. I really need to get ready to take my son to Gymnastics. Then I must go to work. Keyword "Must". Not want, etc.

So welcome to my rants and ravings page. Hopefully it will be entertaining but most likely confusing. It may read like a book with a few pages missing. Or, if you are like me, you may be able to read between the lines.

I may not be a daily poster but I am sure this may be interesting. I do get creative, occasionally.