Chase Log: 4/14/2012

Outlook: High Risk

Target Area: Southern/Central Kansas

Chase Partners: Jesse Hines, Ashley Poling, Jessica Chelewski

Chasers Encountered: Ben Holcomb, Cory Watkins, Adam Lucio, Lorraine Mahoney, Bob Hartig, Bill Oosterbaan, Robert Forry, Rocky Watson

Travel Time: 17 Hours for the chase

Miles Traveled: In all about 2,500 miles

Result: 5 tornadoes, multiple funnel clouds, golfball to tennis ball size hail

This was the first major outbreak of the year across Tornado Alley; only the second time has the SPC gone High Risk on the Day 2 Outlook and the first time they did it on the initial outlook. I've never seen a 60% hatch area for severe weather before in my life so we knew there was going to be a wedgefest somewhere on the Plains that Saturday.

We arrived in Norman shortly around 1:30 AM having no clue where our target area will be; Jesse and I wanted to head up to Nebraska to play the triple point while Ashley was thinking Northern Oklahoma along the dryline. In the end we decided to head up to Southern Kansas tagging along with Ben, Cory, Adam, and his crew.

We arrived in Kansas just in time for storms to fire along the dryline to our south; first storm of the day we went after was near Greensburg. Spotters had already reported a tornado with it south of town yet when we got to it the theme for that day began....FRUSTRATION!!!!!

 

Every storm we intercepted in Southern Kansas while showed promise did nothing more than funnel clouds and the occasional brief touchdowns (bird fart tornadoes as some chasers call it). Also to add to the frustration was hearing about the first tornadic cell we went after that day while struggled to do shit in SW Kansas moved further NE and produced an EF4 in Salina (I appreciated that kick in the nuts Mother Nature). It wasn't until we got on a storm near Kingman around 7:00 PM that our luck slowly changed; we watched the storm as it was SW of town and moved northeast towards Pretty Prairie when Jesse spotted a tornado right behind us on the road we were on (tornado #1 for us). Wasn't able to get film of it as it dissipated when we stopped, but shortly afterwards another one touched down a couple hundred yards away.

 

After that close but brief encounter with that tornado we tracked the storm to the NE for about an hour as it was cycling. Then shortly after 8:00 PM outside of Hesston the funnel cloud we've been watching for about 10 minutes or so touched down. 

It was on the ground for about 15 minutes or so before it lifted north of town only to have another one touchdown.

After this tornado there was one more touchdown that occurred from this supercell in the Lincolnville/Lost Springs area.

Our chase finally ended around 10:00 PM and we made a mad dash north to escape a tornadic cell that was heading toward Salina stopping in Nebraska to rest up before our trip back to Tennessee. This was just a warm up to my chase vacation next month when I get to be out for a week of chasing and hopefully add a few more tornadoes to the 5 I got from this outbreak.

Confessions Of A Broken Down Sasquatch

Greetings from the Boro,

I got a lot of stuff I need to clear off my chest; the combination of lack of severe weather and policy changes at my place of employment that has for all intensive purposes wiped out my chase season until May 19th when I hit the Plains among other things has made me feel the most awful I've felt in years. Most of the time I live a "life is too short to be mad" type mentality, but that was because I had no worries in the world. That has changed over the past couple of weeks.

First off with work; we're losing business (we averaged $13K/day in profit last year compared to $2K/day on good days this year) and my bosses' over staffing the store I work at has got the owner of the company on a warpath. We got 10 people on staff  while the other stores only have 2 (see why we're hemorrhaging money) so the owner brought it upon himself to enforce some changes in an effort to run some of the employees off. This consist of dress code changes, image changes (I had to cut my beard off and keep my long hair hidden in a beanie because he wants his employees have a  clean cut image), and new protocol on taking time off in which I now have to give a two weeks notice in order to take a day off (hard to be able to chase when you have to roll the dice on a setup that's not even shown on models two weeks out). Even with these new changes there is still no guarantee that the company will be able to avoid having to make cutbacks to stop the bleeding. My boss warned me that day could be in the near future where my pay gets cut, my hours get reduced, and yes if things don't improve layoffs are in the picture.

This is the first time in the almost 3 years I worked for the company I'm scared about my future, and my attitude has been seriously affected by the frightening reality I might not last the summer at my job. I've began to grow resentment towards some of the people who mean so much to me; I'm the type of person who cannot under any circumstances stomach anyone else's happiness when times are tough for me (it's not a knock on them, it's just I could care less about their happiness when I got a ton of shit to deal with). My chase partners were among those I had some resentment and even some jealously toward. They're both in relationships while I'm still single mainly because of my severe anxiety issues I'm too scared most of the time to go up to a lady and ask her out on a date or even do a little chit chatting and that right there tied in to their happiness which to be brutally honest made me sick especially when one of my chase partners made a joke directed at me I seriously took offense to.

Even after the apologies I wanted to severe ties with them (it would have been a decision I'd regret if I went through with it); they've been there for me through the tough times and they've been true friends to me and to do away with all that out of spite I wouldn't be able to live with myself :-(. There you have what I've gone through and I'm still struggling through it yet I refuse to allow it to overtake me. If that light at the end of the tunnel is there for anyone else that has gone through struggles I'm sure this Sasquatch of a man can find it ;-).

Chaser Con 2012 Recap

Greetings from the Boro,

This was my first Chaser Con and all I gotta say is I'm glad people twisted my arm into going because I had a great time got to meet some great people in the process. I'm not going into details about everything that went on outside the conference other than I got to hang out with some great chasers I've known for over a year on Spotter Chat and got to do some awesome things with some of them (from bowling with Matt and Jenn Sellers to going to a very expensive steakhouse with the core group I see in the chatroom).

Now I will admit that I only saw one presentation while I was at the convention Tim Marshall's and I did receive some minor static for not spending my entire Saturday in the conference room where the presentations were being held; while I do regret not being able to attend Jon Davies' forcasting class (had to pre-register) or the Andy G. tribute they did Saturday morning, my whole purpose in going was to meet the chasers I've gotten to know in the chatrooms in person and hang out, down a few beers, shoot the shit about whatever was on our minds, and listen to some stories of some past chases. In other words HAVE FUN!!!! As much as possible because chances are this was the only chance I would have at seeing everyone this year barring a meet up during or after a chase.

I've also heard excuses out the ass from people about not going; I'm not talking about those who want to save their money on chasing they get a pass because the convention isn't by any means cheap. Now for those who skipped out in order to simply "avoid drama" it's your lost and quite frankly a stupid lost because from my own end there was no drama. No cliques, no he said she said type horseshit, no my dick is bigger than your dick type deal just chasers having a blast with each other having a few drinks and a party type atmosphere. Hell I even got to mingle with someone from that show on Discovery that no longer exists except in syndication, we smoked a cigarette and shot the shit about April 27th.

It was a fun weekend, definitely one I'm looking forward into doing again next year and beyond.

Messin' With Sasquatch: The Preempting Of Shows for Severe Weather Coverage On Local TV

Greetings from the Boro;

In case you're intrigue by the title of this blog here's a disclaimer; you're gonna see it every time I do a blog where I'm on a rant.

I was at work today listening to The Midday 180 on WGFX-FM 104.5 one of at least two sports talk radio stations in Nashville; they do a weekly segment on Wednesdays called Primary Complaint in which the hosts (Chad Withrow, Jonathan Hutton, and Paul Kuharsky) air whatever grievances they have whether it's sports related or anything else that's on their mind. They also invite listeners to call in or tweet their primary complaints practically to kill 30 minutes of the final hour of the show.

One listener called in complaining about his show being interrupted due to severe weather coverage on one of the local TV stations in Nashville (he even went as far as saying hurricane force winds is not going to harm a house), Kuharsky during this call complained about how TV stations scroll weather warnings over the box score of a game he's watching.

Here's my beef; this insensitive prick complaining about not seeing HIS show made it all about him and he feels that HIS show should not be interrupted for a tornado warning that isn't in HIS area. Reality check dude, WSMV, WKRN, WTVF, and WZTV (Nashville's TV markets) cover over 1,000,000 people living in the Nashville Metropolitan Area and some of the people in that area were under the gun with tornado warnings and the news coverage may have been their only way of receiving the warning......IT"S NOT ABOUT YOU GROW THE FUCK UP!!!!

As much of an issue I have with the caller, I have an even bigger issue with Kuharsky's comments during the phone in. Besides co-hosting The Midday 180 he also covers the AFC South for ESPN, he's a former columnist for The Tennessean, and he covered the Raiders while they were still in Los Angeles. He has a following and for him to complain about a severe weather warning scrolling across the bottom of the screen covering up the score of a game he's watching, I have a problem with that because he's saying that the warning being scrolled isn't as important as a score to fucking football game IMO. I'm a huge sports fan, but sports was the farthest from my mind days after the Good Friday Tornado and I'm positive it was even further from the victims' minds as they were too busy picking up the pieces of their destroyed homes and mourning the lost of love ones and I can GUARAN-DAMN-TEE you they wouldn't give a shit about the score of a Texans/Titans game if they were in the path of a tornado warned storm one county away from them.

Chase Log: 1/22/2012

Outlook: Moderate Risk

Target Area: Northwest Mississippi

Partners: Jesse Hines and Ashley Poling

Chasers Encountered: None

Travel Time: 16.5 hours

Miles Traveled: 800

Result: BUST


Long story short we gambled on a setup and lost; this became a night time event when some of the models the day before suggested mid to late afternoon initiation. I never look at a chase as disappointing because I'm out giving it a go, and this chase in particular was a great dry run for future chases.

This was only our second chase together (Jess, Ash, and me as this was my third chase with Jesse) and our first out of state adventure and it went almost as perfect as I could ever ask for. We had up to the minute data and we picked the right target area, but the cold front slowed down to a snail's pace over Western Arkansas and initiation did not occur until after sunset.. Again a pretty good dry run for a chase down the road.

Recap of 2011, What 2012 Has In Store

Greetings from the Boro,

A quick recap of 2011; it's was a memorable year for me as I got to chase two big outbreaks (4/27 and 5/24) and got to meet some chasers along the way that have not only helped me out along the way but allowed me to be in my comfort zone as far as interaction goes. My 2011 Chase Season was as follows:

Chases: Approximately 10 or 11
Tornadoes: 4
Tornado Days: 2
States Chased: TN, AL, MS, KY, TX, OK

Now out with the old and in to the now and what 2012 could have in store; I have a good feeling about 2012 and that I'll continue my growth as a chaser. Having new chase partners in the fold is going to help me out big time in accomplishing this task, but I'm still new as are my partners which is going allow us the opportunity to grow together as a unit (I've already talked to a chaser about them and I told her I wouldn't trade my them for anything in the world including an increase in my tornado count by 20).

Exactly what are my goals for 2012? One goal is to film a photogenic tornado from start to finish (got to see an epic rope out but have yet to film a touchdown), my chase partners have yet to see a tornado so that's an absolute given (trust me when I say seeing a tornado in person is a far cry from seeing one on TV for those who've never seen one), an opportunity to visit and chase in different areas (I'll get to add CO to the list of states visited next month when I'll be attending the National Storm Chaser Convention aka Chaser Con), and meet more chaser out and about (again a goal that gets accomplished next month in Denver).

Being a one day at a time type individual I have no fucking clue what 2012 will bring, one thing is for damn sure I'm going to enjoy the ride no matter how bumpy it gets ;-).

RANT TIME!!!!!!

Greetings from the Boro,

First off I'm under the weather (bout of bronchitis) and there's been some shit I've been reading for the past week I felt the need to throw my two cents in on plus it gives me the opportunity to blow off some much needed steam because I'm REAL pissed off right now.

First up the Indiana State Fair tragedy; sadly one more person died from the stage collapse Saturday night making the total deaths at 6. Now what has me angry about that event was it could have been prevented had fair officials did their job upon notification of the severe thunderstorm warning and evacuated the fairgrounds until the storm had passed (even if it meant postponing the Sugarland concert). The governor's only explanation as to what happened was it was a "freak act of god"..........BULL FUCKING SHIT!!!!!!!!!! A tornado forming out of nowhere and hitting the fairground and lifting back up before NWS meteorologists catch it in time can be defined as a freak act of god the gust front that caused the tragedy could be seen on radar and fair officials had 26 minutes lead time more than enough time to evacuate yet the only PA announcement given in regards to the severe weather was where to go IF the concert got stopped followed by we will try to get Sugarland on the stage in a few minutes. Now I've heard the saying people are responsible for themselves the past week, but lets be honest here people aren't just going to up and leave an event they paid money for (even if severe weather is in the forecast) if they feel there isn't the need and the PA announcer informing them the show will go on gave them the idea everything was okay. Better safe than sorry in the future.

Next up the scandal that has unfolded at the University of Miami; this makes me sick especially if the allegations are true. I'd give anything ANY FUCKING THING to have my college education paid for, have my books paid for, a roof over my head, and provided with an allowance so I'm able to eat while getting my degree, and these peckerwoods at The U are fucking it up because of greed, lust, envy, and any other deadly sin you can think of. Of course it's not just the players at fault here the academic booster who orchestrated these alleged violations (stemming from paying players, providing prostitutes, paying for rims for cars among a few of the alleged violations) is in prison for orchestrating a ponzi scheme for christ sakes and there were talks that some coaches knew what was going on as well. NCAA, if these allegations are true or if even 20% of these allegations occurring while Miami was on probation grow some fucking balls and lay down the hammer. Talk is cheap Mark Emmert, failing to follow by your words of using the Death Penalty as a deterrent to programs that don't want to follow the rules makes you a hippo-crate and it will ignite a shitstorm throughout the NCAA and will give SMU every right to sue your ass because what SMU did to get the Death Penalty in the late 80s fails to compare to the charges against Miami.

Last but not least Facebook; okay the more and more I log on to FB the more and more I feel they should allow patients in mental hospitals across the country do FB because they're status updates seemed to be the most intelligent. I do my best not to air my dirty laundry on social network sites yet there are asshats out there who use FB as their own little diary (okay seriously if you don't give a shit about what's going on in my life what makes you think I care about your own problems). All FB has become is a breathing ground for drama and I'm sick and tired of it; plus you have security issues that leaves your profile vulnerable to hackers and viruses not to mention annoying tagging games that jam up my email with notifications "so and so has commented on a post you were tagged in" and now it seems like it's now a breathing ground for self appointed grammar cops to bully those into putting the language skills they learned in school in to use (okay words get misspelled get the fuck over it). I don't even look at the home page anymore I go straight to my profile and I will occasionally check out the profiles of my closest friends because I know they have their heads on their shoulders straight.

Okay rant over; wow I feel like a new man a more mellow man, plus the afrin helped big time.