chasin the wind

Someone oughta thank me...

2006-10-19T09:13:00.000-05:00

After an incredible storm season, both with southeastern tornadoes and with hurricanes, I decided to start a "severe weather blog."

Obviously, that was enough to stop most severe weather within a 200-mile radius.

At any rate, our "second season" is underway down here right now, and today promises to be a little rough, so I'll keep you updated. In the meantime, don't forget Bo Knows, my other blog.

Back into the fray...

2006-05-17T11:21:00.000-05:00

Over the past few months, I've been waiting for the "big-un" that would give me link-able chase footage and/or photographs, but it's not happened thus far. In the meanwhile, the political side of me is long overdue for some "venting", so I'll probably devote a couple posts here to political and social commentary.

Weather-wise, though, it's not all been calm. We've had some storms through here, and I've gotten a handful of interesting cloud formations on camera...just no twisters yet. Still, it's mid-May and we're only getting high temperatures that are about 6-10 degrees below our "normal" for this time of year, so our storm season's peak may well be yet to come. Thus far, we've seen the reverse of our typical spring season, as they've been caused by northern cold fronts moving into our area, not the warm gulf air pushing the cold air out....we'll see soon enough whether it'll just be a relatively quiet season, or one that's just been delayed a bit with the unusually long spring.

The next few posts, though, will likely be concerned with politics, however, as between the NSA surveillance allegations, the ongoing Iraq conflict, the Iran crisis, and the Immigration issue, national news has been quite active. Any of you who followed me from my old blog know I can be pretty opinionated, and I don't mean to run off folks who are more interested in weather, but I'm committed to not resurrect "Bo" just yet.

Pretty much a bust...

2006-03-10T07:51:00.001-06:00

The major event predicted for yesterday never really materialized here. In north Mississippi, there was one tornado that caused damage, but I know of only two tornado warnings issued statewide.

We did have significant wind throughout the day, causing some light damage here and there, but again, nothing like what was expected.

One factor, I think, is the fact that the morning started out relatively cool and overcast. This didn't allow the cold front to collide as strongly with our typical warm, humid air as it would have if the lead edge had come in after a half-day of sunny skies.

At any rate, after about three hours of driving in blinding rain, trying to get an angle on one cell or another, I drove back home behind the line, enjoying the sunshine and the smell of fresh rain. Was a good day out, if not necessarily "productive."

Another front is forecast to move through in the next few days....updates on that to come later.

Pretty much a bust...

2006-03-10T07:51:00.000-06:00

Today's the day

2006-03-09T00:02:00.000-06:00

Wanted to put up a quick post about today before morning...

Thursday (today) is forecast to be a very significant weather event. We have a particularly potent blend of ingredients that, quite honestly, this area doesn't see often. The preliminary outlook forecasts the potential for wind gusts in excess of 70KT and hail over 2" in diameter...along with a significant chance of tornadoes.

If the front moves through as scheduled, I'll be busy all day, and hopefully will have some video and/or photos to share when I return. Everything's charged up, loaded up, and set to roll.

I'll post the story soon...

Already starting...

2006-03-05T23:03:00.000-06:00

Earlier today I posted about getting my vehicle ready to go, due to a forecast for possible severe weather through this week....tonight there are severe thunderstorms in the north part of Mississippi. This will likely be our "kickoff" week for this year's "tornado season."

I'll post any developments or significant events as soon as possible, but from all I can gather this caught the forecasters by surprise tonight, so their forecast for later in the week may pan out to nothing, or happen much earlier than they are currently anticipating. Still, this is the first significant line of storms to come through this year, as other severe weather has been limited to very small pockets.

We'll see what tomorrow brings...

Starting to gear up

2006-03-05T15:16:00.001-06:00

I'm working on getting my chase vehicle ready for the upcoming season....anyone who wishes to donate a Mobile Threat Net system to me, please leave a comment and I WILL be in touch...lol

I'm essentially upgrading my power inverter and mounting my jotto desk elsewhere. I would love to hear from folks who have experience with dash-mounted camera hardware...I want something that will allow me to mount my video camera using the standard tripod shoe such that it can be removed and popped back atop my tripod quickly. Don't know if there's such a critter out there, but any leads to acquiring such a device would be greatly appreciated.

About my vehicle: I drive a 2000 Ford Excursion with the V-10 Triton gasonline engine. It's equipped with a jotto desk to hold my laptop, which is running a GPS system so's I don't get lost...lol. I also have bluetooth enabled on my laptop so that I can connect thru my cellphone to updated weather information.

Other equipment includes a radar detector with an integrated weather alert, a CB radio, a semi-mobile scanner, and xm satellite radio. I use a Sony Handycam for video footage and a Canon PowerShot S50 (5MP) for still photographs.

Complete the outfit with a stearns heavy-duty rainsuit, a good collection of Classic Rock and Classic Country CDs, and several cartons of cigarrettes, and it's chase time!

Oh, and a major credit card...noticed the price of fuel lately?

At any rate, the SPC and AccuWeather are both forecasting a strong potential for severe weather this upcoming week, especially from Wednesday forward. This due to a good dose of warm, moist Gulf air colliding with a fairly strong cold front from the Northwest, with the added effects of a shift in the jet stream that makes severe weather even more probable.

At some point in the near future, I'm going to post a blog entry about my thoughts/feelings as I look at such a forecast and find myself hoping for bad weather. The notion of wishing for severe storms and tornadoes is something that I'm sure every chaser (well, at least any with any semblance of conscience) struggles with, and I'll try to put into words exactly how I feel towards this dilemma.

More to come soon (hopefully).....

Starting to gear up

2006-03-05T15:16:00.000-06:00

Long time no storm...

2006-02-07T10:30:00.000-06:00

Our weather has been spotted with a little bit of severe stuff. Last Friday (2/3/2006), there were a couple of pretty significant storms, though. All-in-all, it's been relatively active, but not particularly exciting...it's been those storms that even die-hard fanatics tend to stay inside on. After all, not a lot of "chase" vehicles are going to do well with 2-3 inch hail potential from a 35,000 foot storm.

So still no major stories of the year, and no pictures, but I have a nagging feeling this will be a festive spring.

Severe weather today

2006-01-13T08:13:00.000-06:00

Not a lot of real action, but a line of severe storms moved through in the early morning hours today. By sunrise, though, most of it had dissipated. We're under watches until about 2 p.m., so there's a chance of some formation later in the day, I suppose, although I'm not overly optimistic.

Maybe more as the day develops. I'm still waiting for the "big front" that will bring in our real winter weather.

And I'd like to wish myself a (belated) happy birthday, as well. Seems I've used up half my warranty now. Time to start cutting back on the daily mileage, I suppose.

A serious note

2006-01-04T15:32:00.000-06:00

I had intended to post a significant post this evening about a major tornado that struck Mississippi several years ago, but the mining tragedy in West Virginia has pretty much claimed the biggest part of my mind's resources for the day.

Say a prayer for the recovery of the lone survivor.

Say a prayer of thanks for the one miracle that God did grant.

Say a prayer for comfort and understanding for those who aren't very happy with God right now. They need it.

Finally, say a prayer for your loved ones, and realize that they may not always be there. Hug your spouse and your kids. Call up your parents and tell them that you love them, if you can. Look around at all that you have and all that you love, then thank God for every bit of it.

Happy New Year! (Finally)

2006-01-02T16:08:00.000-06:00

I really intended to post yesterday, but just didn't feel up to it. Had a very late night at the clubhouse and couldn't get motivated to do much of anything after I got home except stare at some TV and chat with a bro for a bit.

Today's been a lot more productive. Washed wifey's car, washed the dog, washed my scooter. Washin' the kids now.

Weather-wise, I don't know what's about to happen, but my camcorder's charged. The high today was around 80 degrees. The skies have been clear, and the SPC's convective outlooks don't seem to indicate much probability of severe weather, but to have a little rain and 70-80 degree weather this time of year seems to indicate that the likelyhood of instability will be relatively high when the weather turns off cold again.

Added to this the fact that our winters are historically very active months for tornadoes.

About that photo...

2005-12-30T20:37:00.000-06:00

If you'll look at the upper left corner of this page, you'll see a photograph of a massive tornado. That photo was taken from a vidcap of some chase footage I shot on April 6, 2005.

A brief story of the day: I woke up and helped get my kids ready for school. My wife was working as a teacher's assistant at the time, so she took the kids and headed out. When the warnings started coming out to our west, she called me to make sure I had heard. I assured her that I was gathering my stuff up at that very moment. First through town to top out the gas tank (I had a good hour before it would be near), then out onto the rural county roads in a carefully-calculated intercept route.

A couple of "sidebar" points:

First, it's really exciting to be coming through town, amped up about heading into a tornado-spawning thunderstorm, and hearing the sirens going at full-tilt warning people to take cover.

Second, chasing tornadoes in Central Mississippi has its own set of challenges that separate the experience from that of chasing in the Great Plains--in particular, numerous hills, curves, and trees. A knowledge of the territory gained through my years in EMS helps a lot, but there's still a bit of apprehension when you know a tornado that has done considerable damage already is roughly a mile to your west--and your view to the west is currently completely obscured by trees.

I stopped briefly to admire the storm, and looked for indications of its motion. Being in a cellular-free area, my only information about the tornado's whereabouts came from my weather and FM radios. Fortunately, radio stations around here take severe weather very seriously.

I made my final move, one that brought me to within about a half mile of the storm's projected path. As the trailing edge of the storm became visible over the horizon, I began filming. The tornado had left an intermittent path of roughly 40 miles already, and hadn't completely dissipated. Before my eyes, an obvious cone of rotation seemed to dissipate, but it was merely revealing itself to be a multiple vortex tornado, an assembly of five to six tendrils of rapid rotation within a much larger structure. As those vortices converged again, the tornado took on the form you see in the photo, and held this structure as it moved out of sight. Alas, I didn't pursue the storm further, because of another twister that was forecast to come much closer to my home and business, so I turned South to see what would develop there. No funnel there, but I'd see one more funnel cloud later that afternoon that wouldn't become a tornado.

In all, we had around five tornado warnings that day, and there was some damage in my county. Most of the damage was near White Oak in Rankin County, where one community took some pretty heavy damage from the storm I caught on film.

The remainder of the season was relatively uneventful, and I wouldn't have any more good footage until my Florida vacation the third week of June.

But that's another story.

Welcome!

2005-12-29T23:11:00.000-06:00

So glad you stopped by my twisted little corner of the world. I'll be posting here regularly, but don't expect a whole lot of politics. I'll be reporting on things weather-related mostly, and probably telling a few tales from my own life and from the lives of those people close to me who were affected by severe weather through the years.

My ultimate goal is to compile an accurate historical account of the significant tornadoes in Mississippi from 1950 to the present, and possibly at some point extend that work to cover the entire 20th century. Why? Well, first and foremost, I've found that even the records of some of the more notable events are flawed, in that they don't reflect all counties affected by an event.

For example: On March 3, 1966, an F5 tornado struck Jackson, Mississippi, and would come to be known as the "Candlestick Park" tornado, named after the shopping center it destroyed soon after forming. It continued into my county, killing twenty-six people here, yet if you look in my own county's listing of significant tornadoes, there's no mention of the storm at all.

Another story: On April 1, 1983, an F2 tornado did damage in several counties in central Mississippi. I was working late in my own business when it came through. Hearing what I assumed to be hail, I hunkered down in an interior room as the storm raged. I heard a corner of my building lift up then slam back down onto the wall. Upon exiting, I realized that it was not hail, but rather gravel from my roof that had been picked up and slammed against the windows of my office. Cars on the highway out front were in the median and off the sides of the road, as if they'd parked in random directions and locations. Out towards home, there was a distinct path of wind damage and numerous trees uprooted. A cinderblock building that was being used as a church had a wall blown out. A cedar tree at a relative's home was completely uprooted and dropped just a few feet from her home. Yet for my county on that date, there's only a record of "Thunderstorm winds." This, in spite of the fact that the NWS issued a tornado warning.

Inconsistencies like that are what I'd like to help put an end to. I won't be able to assemble a complete record, I'm sure, but I do want to collect as many news stories, personal anecdotes, and photographs as possible for an eventually published reference work. That's where you, my internet friends, come in. If any of you live in Mississippi, are originally from here, or have friends or relatives here, please contact me with your stories. I'll share those that I collect personally here, some that I'm sent from readers, and I'll tell a few of my own as well.

I'll also provide links to other sites from time to time that have interesting photos or footage of tornadoes, and when I finally get my ducks in a row for an honest-to-goodness domain of my own, I'll upload my own videos, photos, and such for your perusal.

And because it's just as much a part of me as severe weather, I'll talk about politics, philosophy, and theology occasionally as well. It's just too time-consuming to try to maintain more than one blog such that the topics aren't mixed. BoKnows (my old blog) won't be updated any more, but the posts there will remain there until they're archived on a yet-to-be-determined location. And to think that I abandoned it when I'd finally gotten up to #21546 in the TLB Ecosystem.

So now that you know what to expect, come back often. I'll be here.