Illinois Supercell: May 27, 2019
The story of this chase goes back to the 26th. I bailed a moderate risk event in eastern Colorado early to start going east, as the setup was performing well short of expectations. I...
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Northeastern Oklahoma: May 22, 2019
A grueling forecast makes for a tough chase decision. Flooded roads rule out targets. Is it even worth it?
Peak Tornado Season: Active or Quiet?
Late May is typically considered the peak of tornado chase season in the Plains. What makes this period more or less active than usual?
West Texas/Panhandle: May 7, 2019
This storm chase was all over the place. I left Oklahoma City for Amarillo, TX first thing in the morning and arrived earlier than expected. Despite this time savings, storms were already developing by...
OK/TX Panhandles: May 4, 2019
Yesterday’s storm chase was focused on the High Plains. The first stop was Amarillo, TX, to stop and assess the environment around midday. I opted to drift north, as there were signs that convection...
Clay County, Texas: April 30, 2019
For the first time in what seems like ages, a tornado outbreak was threatening a broad swath of the Plains and Midwest in April. With the focus of tornado activity expected to be around...
April 30 Severe Threat
Tornadoes and large to very large hail will be possible Tuesday afternoon and evening over parts of Oklahoma and Texas, while another focus area for tornadoes may evolve in southern Illinois and surrounding areas....
West Texas: April 22, 2019
I woke up very early today. I couldn’t sleep and I was on the fence about chasing, but I rarely back out of a chase unless the setup completely falls apart. Going into today,...
Southwestern Oklahoma: April 3, 2019
I started the chase near Turkey, TX, as I observed agitated cumulus along the dryline relatively early. There was one robust storm north of I-40, otherwise some other convection was ongoing just to the...
Texas Panhandle: March 27, 2019
Heading out for this chase, I knew there was the potential that storms would not fire at all. The environment was fairly marginal, more specifically, there was very little, if any, meaningful large-scale forcing....
SREF links
Field D 1 D 2 D 3 12H SVR 03z 03z 03z SIG TOR 18z 21z 00z 03z 18z 21z 00z 03z 18z 21z 00z 03z 12H SVR 09z 09z 09z SIG TOR 18z...
Violent Tornado Parameter
The Storm Prediction Center released a new composite severe weather parameter in 2018, known as the Violent Tornado Parameter, or VTP. In order to better understand VTP, it is helpful to first consider the...
First Chase of 2019
It’s February and it’s Oklahoma. Although I had never chased this early in the year in this area, stranger things have happened. When I saw an opportunity for storms only a couple of hours...
Five Years of Chasing, a Retrospective
I just finished my fifth year of storm chasing in 2018. Sometimes it’s hard to believe it’s been that long, while at other times it feels like it’s been much longer. Although I did...
2018 Travels, Stats
This was my fifth full year storm chasing and while it did not feature a lot of tornadoes, there were plenty memorable storms and other experiences. The year 2018 started in a unique way,...
Florence: Clues from the Past
Tropical Storm Florence is tracking west toward the United States, but its westward movement alone is not the most interesting aspect of this storm. In fact, most tropical systems move from east to west...