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YoWindow.comForecast by yr.no
Posted in Severe Weather
This chase was the first time my wife has gone on a real chase. Sure we’ve played around with local t-storms after dinner together but never before has she committed to hitting to road and driving until the storms end. Until now!
On this chase I also brought along my neighbors. They moved here a few years ago and seemed to be freaked by any weather so I was stoaked they wanted to come along. They did bring their own vehicle just incase in was too much.
Mike Vetter met up with us in Lake Andes, our target, and hopped in the hot seat.
I could tell by the look in his eye what he wanted to do, go south into Nebraska. I cringed a bit because I had told my wife we would just hug the SD/NE boarder because she had to work at 4:30 am the next morning.
I never chase in the state I tell her I’m chasing. It’s always the next state or 2 away.My excuse is always “But they touch” meaning the states. I think deep down inside she knew we weren’t staying in SD. As we approached the Welcome to Nebraska sign I kept my mouth shut, but she noticed it, and before she could say anything I shouted “see I told you they touch”. But so far she was enjoying herself so we continued our play.
Our group arrived in Atkinson, NE about 30 minutes before the storm and saw the Twistex team repositioning for another intercept. 
We topped off the tanks and started heading east for an intercept. Right to the south we could see the storm approaching. And boy was it mean. We jockeyed around for a bit to avoid the monster hail core. That was a good plan because that thing was putting down monster grapefruit sized hail and was a great looking storm.
We decided to make a very aggressive play down a dirt road and got treated to a kickass gustnado that crossed about 100 yrds in front of us! It spun up real quick and was wound pretty tight.
The word of the night was gustado after gustnado,.
We caught this monster near O’ Neill, NE
(my wife filming this dirty thing)
This storm had sick rotation and as it was going linear the stronger cells would break away causing these gustnado swarms. They seemed to be everywhere.
My wife and my neighbors seemed to be excited about our next trip.
Posted in storm chaser, Storm Chasing, Tornado, weather
Brent Koops, myself, Forrest Lambert, and Francine Lambert chased out in central WI following storms from Albert Lea, MN and intercepted cells coming out of eastern IA in Lacrosse, WI.
These storms developed ahead a cold front and produced large, hail, damaging winds and tornadoes.
These cells stayed tornado warned for a few hours and we were all over it. Only one problem. Wisconsin is loaded with trees and it made it very difficult to see anything related to the storm. It was difficult to see any storm features much less tornadoes.
(pretty much the view the entire time)
We chased this storm from Lacrosse, WI up through Sparta, where a tornado struck the south side of town. The small tornado first touchdown just southwest of the city, crossed highway 27 near an auto dealership where it tossed a car. The tornado continued east northeast and crossed south water street on the south side of the city. The path continued along and just south of Walrath street before it lifted on the southeast side of town.
Damage was mainly to trees, windows and power lines. There was some minor damage to roof tops and sheds as well. One of the worst hit homes also had a car moved along with windows busted out.
From Sparta we continued on to Tomah where a tornado struck about 4 miles northwest of Tomah near County Road M. The tornado crossed crossed Interstate 94 north of Tomah. 
It proceeded east northeast through mainly wooded areas and we could see the damage path right through the trees.I was a bit tortured here because of the pine smell from the freshly destroyed trees.
Brent made mention of it right away. The last time we smelled this was 4/11/2011 near Early, IA dancing dangerously close to a tornado at night.
From Tomah we continued on to the town of Nekoosa where a campground took a direct hit destroying 166 campsites. Fortunately, no one was killed or suffered any life threatening injuries.
At this point we called the chase and checked in with local law enforcement to offer assistance but was advised all local and county resources were being shifted to the area and we could call the dispatcher and if they needed our help they would call us. I declined feeling at that point our assistance was not needed and we began our return trip to Sioux Falls.
This trip stung a bit because we were on tornadoes but could not get a good view due to the trees but I consider it a good chase and the intercept was successful and we did get on tornadoes. But in fairness to the rules there was no steak dinner. However we did enjoy what I eat for half ass tornado chases.
(for when you only half score)
The chase ended on a high note. We got out and chased. Intercept strategy was dead on. In the end we logged 920 miles round trip and spent about 14hrs in the car. Many chasers would consider this a bust but I view it as an opportunity to learn from mistakes. In this case a changed strategy for dealing with trees.
Posted in Severe Weather, storm chaser, Storm Chasing, Tornado, weather
An exciting development in my world of chasing. Our team has been hard at work chasing already this season KS, IA, SD, OK, and CO. As we expect the pattern to shift north into our area it seemed a perfect time to share this news:
During severe weather events, EXWX Chase Team will deploy multiple chase vehicles equipped with high definition cameras, live streaming equipment, and radar/data receiving computers. With a direct communication line with the weather team at KELO, EXWX can provide early warnings to alert the public of severe weather and tornado threats and prevent injuries.
Read the full text here http://extremeweathermedia.com/news
Check out KELOLAND TV http://keloland.com
We have worked with the Keloland weather team for the past 2 years and are really excited about this partnership as we go into our third year together.
Look for more cool things to come!
Posted in Severe Weather
Tagged "storm chasing", Extreme Weather, exwx, kelo, keloland, sd, Sioux Falls
While everyone was busting in KS I was treated to a wicked storm environment in SE. South Dakota. I and the the rest of the ExWx team are part of the KELO News chase team now so the local members (Joe Miller, Brent Koops, Greg Rardin, Mike Vetter) stuck close to home in the slight risk area while Mark Ellis, Jenn Miller, Cory Watkins, and Joe Quinn covered the KS Mod Risk area.
Brent and I agonized over the morning models and wish-casting an isolated cell somewhere west Denison, IA early evening. Sent a couple of messages out for opinions but no one seemed all that interested. KS was the topic in most minds this day. I was really starting to regret no making the run to KS, but work commitments kept me close to home. So there we sat, Koops and I looking at every run of the RUC hoping for a glimmer of hope for something to chase and once we saw all that liner crap our hopes quickly faded, but what the hell, we both stayed glued to the radar looking for that cell to pop, just to verify our forecast because we didn’t go to Denison after we saw the line of storms marching north.
Around 6:20 there it was just showing up on radar ahead of the line of storms, but it was a bit farther north near Haywarden, IA.
Out the door I went, Joe Miller and Greg were on it, and Koops sat out as he was further east and thought he would’t catch it. The storm was quickly tornado warned and the first tornado report went out around 6:30 (NWS eventually ruled it a gustnado).
The cell was actually moving NW heading right for me. I got off at the Canton exit in SD and watched as the line approached. Straight line winds were about 45-50 MPH and I sat as the shelf started to pass overhead. Just to my northeast I could see a bunch of dirt being picked up so I followed.
There was a series of gustnadoes / tornadoes along the outflow boundary out in front of that line of storms that came in through just NW. of Canton. As the OFB interacted with new cells that were popping up it created just enough spin to cause the frequent spinup tornadoes on the front edge of the storms.
Gustnadoes / Tornadoes
Gustnadoes / Tornadoes
There was plenty of black dirt for the spinup tornadoes to pick up, making them visible.
Turned out to be a great day. Makes up for the bust to Sunday before.
Posted in Severe Weather, storm chaser, Storm Chasing, Tornado, weather
I want to preface decisions I made this night will continue to play in my mind for a very long time. This blog is not about tornado counts or bragging rights, it’s about 1 chase and 1 decision that sets off a change of events Brent Koops, Cory Watkins and I will will never forget and has changed the three of us forever.
We starting planning this chase on Tuesday and Cory made arraignments to fly from OK, to SD and arrive Friday evening. He made it as far as MSP and had to spend the night at the airport for a flight out in the morning. Picked him up at the airport about 9:45am and the journey began. We first stopped at the pizza ranch in Rock Valley, IA and met up with the rest of the group Brent, Joe Miller, Joe’s wife Jill and Greg Rardin for lunch and make our final plan for the chase. Joe selected Onawa, IA as the perfect staging area for our chase to begin.
We arrived at a gas station just off the interstate where we met up with Ben Holcomb and Scott Bennett and shot the breeze waiting for storms to fire up. 
Other chasers arrived and everyone was getting jazzed about what was to unfold. Models looked fantastic, SPC had a moderate risk for the area.
I’ve had the flu since our KS chase a week prior and should not have even been there but we all knew it would be big. However I for one was not expecting that what would later unfold would affect me on so many levels. I should have known though after a large bee (the only bee) landed in my shirt and stung me in the back, mother nature was not going to be very kind to me.
Towers popped up and we all took off a through the next hour we all jockeyed around for positioning and as the storm took off and went tornadic the group pretty much put their own strategies in play and we all broke apart. 
I will fast forward past the positioning details and get right to the tornadoes we encountered. We were just between Ida Grove and were heading toward Arthur when everyone’s worse nightmare happed. We were struck by a tornado! This is the moment we went from chasers to chased. A moment earlier we were watching a funnel/tornado form just off to our left. It was like watching through the strobe light. 1 second it would appear touching and then next not so much. While watching this we continued on not paying attention to another merging cell. There was a pick up a couple of hundred yards or so in front of us when suddenly he stops on a culvert bridge right in front of us and debris suddenly flowed across the road like a blinding sheet as we were pushed to the right, we could barely see the truck. 
The car began to shake violently and the reflectors on the side of the bridge were twisting back and forth looking like blinkers flashing on and off. The car lifted slightly in the rear and was pushed further to the right. Just at that moment the rear window imploded and sent glass and debris flying into the car. All of this happened extremely fast and immediately after the window blew I stomped on the gas and got out of it. We drove like a bat out of hell for about 2 miles and stopped to see what had just happened and to make sure we were all ok. It was amazing not a cut or bruise on any of us. But this is what we saw from the back window. 
We continued to track this storm that appeared to be dropping tornado after tornado. As we continued on this storm we could see a wedge forming. To top it all off data was non existent but we could clearly see the wedge and headed toward Newell. This was bad decision number 2. At night perspective changes and distance and timing are all out of whack. We missed our east west and found ourselves staring down this wedge. That’s a slight stretch, but we were close enough to notice the air was filled with the smell of pine. You could smell the trees being ripped up. Cory called 911 and reported our location and the damaging tornado. This is when the chase stopped. We knew what this tornado was doing and we rushed to Newell and expected the worse was coming. We sat just looking south out of town and the power went out. The tornado was tearing up farm homes. We punched up through the hail core to get back around and on the damage path and helping people as we found them. We lost a few minutes in the hail but were able to get back on things.
We found an older couple where the tornado chewed through a tree grove on their property. Large trees moved more than 10ft but luckily the home was spared. 
A little further down the road was another home that was badly damaged. Other chasers had arrived moments earlier and pulled the man from this badly damaged home. I was amazed that the grass a completely flat pointing towards the home. I looked as though a steam roller flattened it.
We continued check homes on the way to Virina where we encountered more damage. We checked in with the fire dept. on the scene and we were told of a command post location and to check in there. It wasn’t there. That’s for another blog because many doubt my actions this night, but it’s on video.
At the end of this chase we are thankful to have survived and the 3 of us have bonded like brothers. I cannot even begin to describe the emotions I went through on this chase as we went from chaser to victim.
Here are a few shot of the car
This is not something I ever want to do again. God had his finger on the car and he chose to spare us.
Posted in storm chaser, Storm Chasing, Tornado, weather
Tagged Iowa, Severe Weather, torndao, weather
I know some of you are waiting on details of my being hit on Sat. And impressions of me being disrespectful. I promise I will get something up in the next day or 2, but I have had the flu almost 2 full weeks now and it is really taking it’s toll on me physically.
Posted in Severe Weather
The first chase of 2011 went off without a hitch. Picked up Joe Miller and Greg Rardin, in Rock Valley, IA at 8:30 a.m. and headed out to our initial target of Emporia, KS. with a planned stop in Ottawa, KS to meet up with Brent Koops.
The trip was just humming along great, we were all chatting it up on the ride and planning a strategy on how we would chase once storms fired up. We arrived in in Topeka, KS and I was in heaven with 93 degree temps (low 40’s in SD) and kept pushing through towards Lyndon, KS and Brent called to tell us he was just about 2 miles from Lyndon so we all decided to just meet there and hang out a bit. 
We decided to continue on to Emporia and grab some dinner and top off the tank and wait. But being the impatient man that I am I made the call to move back toward Lyndon and hold up somewhere between there. Joe Miller was talking with Ben Holcomb on spotterchat and he was just a few exits ahead of us sitting at a crapping gas station so we met up with Ben and Mike Boik and waited some more. I was seriously looking like a CAP bust and just before all hope was lost BOOM, there it was.
The shear was intense and was cutting the tops off of the towers but this think kept building so we all took off after it. In hindsight we should have 5-10mins earlier but the chase was on. This storm was turning into a beast.
As we pushed closer to the storm just off to my left we could see the a small gustnado form. For those of you who don’t know, a gustnado is a specific type of short-lived, low-level cyclonic cloud that can form in a severe thunderstorm.
We didn’t see the gustnado that caused damage but the video and images I have seen lead me to believe that it indeed was a gustnado.
After this, the storm was just moving to fast to catch back up with it so at dusk we gave up a pointed north.
I am satisfied with the chase. Logged 869 miles on the first chase of the season and getting ready for more this season.
I was out getting video of road conditions in Sioux Falls, when I came upon a rolled over SUV in the center median of I229 between 10th and 26th st.
When I first arrived I saw a man on his cell phone and it looked as though maybe he was the driver so I just stopped and adjusted the camera to view the vehicle and quickly noticed there we people inside of that SUV. I slammed the car in park and ran over to the vehicle to see how bad things were. I gained access inside the vehicle through the busted passenger window and could see a woman franticly trying to keep the child that was also inside the vehicle from hanging in the car seat straps. I check over the woman quickly to make sure it was oke for her to be moving and there were no injuries and also asked about the child. The woman told me the child had been asleep at the time of the accident so I looked over the child and made the decision to go ahead and get them out.
I am a certified rescue technician and have preformed many extrications so I just did exactly what I knew how to do and got them out. These 2 were very lucky that neither one were hurt. The poor kid just had a look of shock on her face.
No hero stuff here, just so happened I knew what to do here and they were not injured.
Here is that video
Posted in Severe Weather
Yes that’s right, I drank the Kool-Aid or should I say water, Zero Water.
I realize this is my chasing blog but I thought I would share my experiences with this product. *My disclaimer is that I am doing work for this company but this review is my personal experience as a customer.
I will start off by saying my becoming a Zero Water customer was not that I am doing work for this company or a felt obligation to use this product but do to the overwhelming praise from other Zero Water customers. The more and more I talked to these customers, the more I felt I was missing out on something big.
I am by no means a water fanatic. As a matter of fact I never drank much of it at all, ever. But I do have an RO system in my house that clogged all of the time and has been turned off for over 3 yrs now. I’ve tried the bottle water thing but that has me at about 30 dollars a month, not to mention the shear amount of empty bottles that produces. I also have a water cooler in my kitchen that just sits there because the last time we had it filled my kids swore the water tasted stale. So there it sits.
So presented with the same dilemma as other families on the quest for quality drinking water I had to see what the Zero Water craze was all about. I mean I hear great things from just about everyone. But the one thing I hear that stuck with me was from cancer patients who say Zero Water is the only thing they can drink that doesn’t taste like metal. Having a mother in-law battle breast cancer this was something I heard from her many times is everything tasted like metal while she was undergoing treatments.
I heard enough and I had to try it. So I ran to my local target and purchased the pitcher (at retail I might add). I brought it home and tested my tap water with the included TDS Meter (Total Dissolved Solids) and discovered my home TDS reading was 351ppm. WTH were we drinking? What crap is in my water? No wonder people are afraid to drink tap water. Beside the fact that it just tastes nasty.
So ok I filled the pitcher and within a few mins I had enough water to pass around to the family that was reading 000 ppm. Now mind you, my family will go out of their way to prove I was suckered into the latest gadget, but I was pretty confident about this one.
We started with my son and he tried the Zero Water first and say “So what, it tastes like water”, but then I gave him a glass of TAP water which he couldn’t finish and he was hooked. Next was my daughter who right away agreed the water was certainly better. Next was my mom who is a huge bottled water person. She dismissed it right away as just as good as her bottled water. (I actually expected this response from her and just chalked it up to an old lady stuck in her ways. So then came my wife, whom I may add was already pissed that I bought this pitcher in the first place. She also quickly dismissed this as just water and she could taste no difference.
Could it be? Was I duped? Did I really fall for some great marketing? I was really beginning to think so, but I and my kids were drinking water I knew was clean and free of contaminates so I was satisfied in that, but disappointed I couldn’t sell the skeptics. Bummer!
Ahhh but not so fast! I discovered after coming home from work, that my mom has been secretly coming by and stealing my Zero Water and filling her water bottles. And this evening my wife had also conceded that it was indeed better water. Well being a husband I was thrilled that I actually won. Not that it was an argument but I’m sure any husband around the world would agree a W is W whether it be about water or football.
So we also ordered the bottle system that will fit on our water cooler that has been sitting unused for months and my entire family is hooked on Zero Water.
Over the last couple of weeks I have discovered my things about drinking water and how much the quality varies from state to state or even faucet to faucet. I have also learned through my own testing, that bottled water is crap and many samples didn’t test much better than the average TAP water in many households in the US. The more expensive bottled water tested the worst. So now every time I see some jack wad paying 3 bucks for a bottle of water I will smile know it’s most likely worse that TAP or toilet water.
The Zero Water Pitcher sells for around $35.00 dollars and the Bottle System for water coolers sell for $79.99. I personally feel either product is worth every penny. The only other water that tested 000 was distilled water but that has a flat taste that Zero water does not. And there is no comparison to the Brita or the Pure pitchers as neither one of them will get you to 000 ppm of TDS and you would at what a disappointing job they really do.
Check it out http://zerowater.com
