Archive for May 2009
I’m still smarting from the bad chase trip. There are some things I need to change for 2010:
1) Lose more weight. I lost 20 pounds before the trip but this time I need to lose more; hopefully get down to 200 by May 1st 2010.
2) Get a better backpack. I have a regular book backpack and while it works alright, it’s not setup for what I use it for. I saw some camera/computer one at Fry’s that sells for around $90.
3) Trip assignment. I’ll probably go again on Trip 2 as that’s the most favored time (climate favored) for Tornadoes. Trip 1-3 could cover this. Trip 4 and 5 usually see supercells but by then tornadoes aren’t as likely as before.
As for 2009, there’s a chance I can go on the Canadian trip in July. We’ll see if that pans out.
So this trip was one big bust. We pretty much chased “see text” days and 1 slight risk.
This pretty much has been the worst trip I have ever been on. While we had a few more storms than 2006’s trip, the fact that the overall pattern is shit and that we went home for a couple of days makes this the worst trip.
I feel bad for Project Vortex; all that money down the drain for nothing.
awful trip
We left Thursday night but came back yesterday because of the massive cold front. We plan on going back Tuesday morning for the next 7 days.
We did chase Friday though and had a decent bow echo with a shelf cloud in Missouri though.
URGENT – IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 297
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
605 PM CDT WED MAY 13 2009
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS
LAKE MICHIGAN
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY EVENING FROM 605 PM UNTIL 1100 PM CDT.
TORNADOES…HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER…THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH…AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES NORTHEAST OF ROCKFORD
ILLINOIS TO 30 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF BLOOMINGTON ILLINOIS.
FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU7).
REMEMBER…A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH
AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION…CONTINUE…WW 293…WW 294…WW
295…WW 296…
DISCUSSION…DISCRETE CELLS ARE FORMING IN THE ZONE OF WAA TO THE N
OF THE EARLY CONVECTION AND ONGOING MCV IN SE IL…AND WELL E OF THE
COLD FRONT BACK IN IA/MO. LOCAL WIND PROFILES APPEAR SUPPORTIVE OF
SUPERCELLS ACROSS CENTRAL/NRN IL WHERE LOW-LEVEL SHEAR IS MAXIMIZED
AND DEEP LAYER SHEAR IS STRONGER COMPARED TO AREAS FARTHER S/SE.
GIVEN THE STRONG LOW-LEVEL SHEAR AND MOIST PROFILES…A FEW
TORNADOES MAY OCCUR DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS. LARGE HAIL AND
ISOLATED DAMAGING WINDS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER
STORMS…AND AS THE FRONTAL SQUALL LINE APPROACHES FROM THE W BY
EARLY TONIGHT.
GFS and the Euro are showing a bleak picture for severe weather for the next couple of weeks. Both are showing either heavy ridging or some other negative feature.
My video camera arrived yesterday and so far I’m impressed. I like the fact that I can record in Tv or Av mode; on the HC5 it was just Auto mode. 24p is amazing as well.
I’ve purchased the HV20 off of eBay as well as a Kestrel 3000 anemometer.
My trip leaves in 2 weeks; the first trip got a good tornado a couple of days ago and I’m hoping we have a repeat performance as well.
