This past weekend I had the opportunity to watch storm chaser Ben Holcomb’s new 2011 Storm Chasing DVD creatively titled Relocated. Ben moved to Central Oklahoma from Michigan to more conveniently and actively pursue his severe weather interests, and this DVD shows that move certainly paid off!

In full disclosure I must confess that I am friends with Ben. I’ve known Ben for a while now and have watched him grow not only as a storm chaser but as a photographer as well. His video skills have greatly improved over the last couple of years, and some of the segments in this video really show that!  That said, he knows that I would be brutally honest in a review of his DVD, good or bad.

Despite the fact that I personally had the worst storm chasing season since 1988, Ben seemed to have been on a lot of tornadoes in 2011, and I’m kicking myself for not being there.  There aren’t the killer, more well known tornadoes from 2011, but some of the lesser known events. Despite them being lesser known events, they are still no doubt stunning captures. A couple of the tornadoes he caught I was somehow unaware they even happened!

The package quality was no less than you would receive from a store bought DVD. Nothing about it screams amateur DVD.  (In fact, I’ve seen a couple of tornado knockoff videos in the past that sold on store shelves that were downright awful compared to Ben’s offering).

Most of the DVD is in full resolution HD. I watched in on a 82″ DLP screen and the quality was great on most of the clips.  There were one or two (a clip from the dashcam) that come to mind, that were sprinkled in that didn’t appear to be HD, as well as some of the trailers for other chaser videos at the beginning (more on that in a minute).

If you like tornado footage, this DVD does not disappoint, including a couple of long lived tornadoes he managed to capture.  I found myself yelling at the TV while he was shooting the tornado near Chickasha, OK. There was an embankment about 15 feet tall next to the road he was on, and as the tornado moved behind it I was begging him to grab the camera and run up the embankment, as it was obscuring the ground contact of the tornado!  Nonetheless, it was a great tripoded video segment and clearly had me engaged in the action!

He even includes a bonus at the end of video and photos from his trip to view the final space shuttle launch.  A nice treat I wasn’t expecting.  As a whole, I can find little to complain about in this DVD (I know, a rarity for me, right?)

One thing that really stuck out as a negative was a couple of the trailers for other storm chaser DVDs.  This was a nice idea and I kinda hope it catches on, to expose people to more of the DVDs produced every year.  But one thing I would do, and this is directed at the creators of those trailers, make sure your trailer is in full 1080p HD before you give it to someone to include on their DVD.  Some of them looked downright awful on a big screen, especially the text.  There are a lot of big screens out there now.  I know Ben just inserted them in the quality he received them, so not a knock on his DVD.

Bottom line, go right now and buy Ben’s 2011 Relocated DVD, you will NOT be disappointed!  If you aren’t convinced yet, here is the trailer!

I’ve been covering a lot of wildfires on the Southern Plains this year, in the absence of much severe weather to chase.  This day was certainly one of the bigger fires I covered this year so far.  I was returning from a storm chase in Oklahoma the previous day, and as is often the case after a storm system passes the area in the spring, the winds were howling across the plains. Combined with dry air, this was an explosive combination.

Arriving in Wichita Falls, Texas, there was already a large fire in progress on the north side, moving in to residential areas.  That one was already well covered by media, and I knew there was another fire in progress to the SW near Iowa Park that I assumed was getting little, if any coverage, so I headed for it.

Thanks to some local law enforcement, I was able to get right up near the fire line, and was even shown a safe place to ride it out as it passed by.  This turned out to produce great photographic opportunities of course.

Sadly, I watched and documented as people scrambled to shove as many possessions that they could in their vehicles and rush out of there in the very short time before the fire arrived.  Winds were howling over 50 mph and the fire was coming fast and furious, through mostly mesquite trees and overgrown brush.  Imagine trying to shove as much of your things as you can (or even to think of everything you want to save first) in 30 minutes and get out of there.   I then watched in horror as those same folks’ homes burned to the ground in minutes!

While these are quite scary to watch, document, and even be in close proximity to, they do present incredible photographic opportunities to document the event, both in photo and video.  I shot video for hours, was there from just after noon until well after dark, and I shot a couple hundred photographs as well.

The photograph above was of a local volunteer Fire Department truck that had mechanical troubles while fighting the fire, and had to be abandoned for their safety.  You’ll actually see this truck working in some of the clips in the video below.

Here is a video of some of the best of the event.  It’s a little long for a news type video, but I cut out as much as I thought possible and still tell the story.  First you’ll see the fire coming in, then coming through the area I was at, and then some aftermath.  Some of the area was just barren. It was like being on another planet!  Finally, in the end we get to see some of the day’s heroes at work.

I’m planning to eventually get a fire gallery going on the main website, but right now I have a gallery from this day you can find here:

http://daviddrummond.com/wildfires/2011-wichita-county-tx-wildfire.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU6MV9oHfDM

From the event I was covering for you in my blog and twitter on Wednesday, at least 8 tornadoes have been confirmed after damage surveys from Wednesday’s mini tornado outbreak in Northeast Texas.

The NWS has issued the preliminary survey results with 8 tornadoes, one as strong as EF3 that was on the ground over 15 miles!

Read the full recap on my website here.

Awesome viewer photo sent in to ABC33/44 of  a tornado in Huntsville, Alabama today.  Unknown photographer but an awesome shot!

Specific damage reports unknown at this time.  I’ll update as available.

Viewer photo from KSLA of Waskom, Texas tornado on I20:

BREAKING NEWS!

Severe weather is in full force in NE Texas today with two tornadoes already confirmed along I20.  One near Canton, TX where I20 is reported blocked with a report of at least one home flattened! Debris is reported on I20.

A second storm further to the east has produced a tornado at mile marker 829 on I20 in Texas  just west of the Louisiana state line.

Live updates on Twitter as I get them:

http://twitter.com/drylinemedia

UPDATES:

6:14 pm CST I20 closed by DPS in the Canton, TX area.

6:14 pm CST I20 and Hwy 80 blocked by debris in the Waskom, Texas area

6:38 pm CST Damage/possible tornado now reported in SE Henderson, County TX

6:44 pm CST Damage/possible tornado south of Sulfur Springs, TX on Hwy 19

6:52 pm CST Related to report in SE Henderson County, TX Emergency management reporting tornado hit a house on CR2855

7:04 pm CST Canton, TX  Businesses reported damaged: Days Inn, Circle K, McDonalds

7:33 pm CST Waskom, TX Eyewitness description of house damage sounds like EF3 damage.  Many pine trees snapped in half widespread, accidents on I20 and lots of debris on I20 and Hwy 80.  Possible injuries in the area

7:45 pm CST Harrison County, TX (Waskom)  Sheriff has called in Shreveport police to help with rescue efforts. Shreveport is sending 3 search dogs and 6 handlers to assist in search and rescue.

7:50 pm CST KTBS is reporting authorities state no injuries reported in Waskom at this time.

7:50 pm CST KTBS viewer photo of damage in Waskom

7:57 pm CST Belated reports from Sulfur Springs, TX

• Tractor trailers turned over on I30
• FM1870 chimney blown over, power lines down, trampoline in power lines
• powerlines and trees down on SE side per Emergency Management
• north side of town: roof caved in, truck overturned, debris in road
• power pole and tree damage at 154 and 19

8:23 pm CST New viewer photo surfaces of Waskom Tornado from KTBS

• Photo removed. Seems a viewer sent in a storm chase photo take by Roger Edwards and Rich Thompson from 1999.

8:29 pm CDT Ore City, Texas (belated) Roof blown off bank and grocery store.

9:05 pm CDT  Some of the photos surfacing of the damage in Waskom, TX are suggestive of EF3 tornado damage in my opinion.  We won’t know for sure until the NWS can get out tomorrow and survey the area.

9:25pm CDT Van Zandt County, Texas Sheriff is reporting they have widespread damage to homes reported in rural areas  of the county they are having difficulty getting to because of trees blocking the roads.

UPDATES FINAL AS OF NOW 10 pm CDT.  Will do a recap in the next 48 hours.

2010 is of course well upon us now, and as usual with a new year, many of us look back at the events of the previous year, and forward to the year to come, and I am no different in that regard.  While I refuse to make New Year’s Resolutions, I do like to make a few goals, and see how I did on past year’s goals.

In things related to storm chasing, the year would have been poor for me, with a mostly unactive season in the local area, and even long distance chases proved to be difficult for many storm chasers to capture that elusive tornado.  I say would have been poor for me except for the one exceptional intercept in Floyd County, Texas on April 29th, when we intercepted at close range, not one but TWO tornadoes.  That event made my whole chase year!  If you haven’t seen it, here it is:

By the time June rolled around I had mostly written off storm chasing except for anything I needed to cover for KCBD.  I was burnt out and needed a break from weather.  So one day, on a day I wasn’t expecting to chase, a relatively decent supercell popped up just to my south and I got on it for the station.  Turned out to be a prolific hail producer and slow mover dropping copious amounts of hail for longer than an hour in the same location.  I thought that was pretty cool, but little did I know what was to come.

Later that night as the storm was dying and I had called off the chase, the storm gave one last punch of lighting which struck a tank battery and ignited a fire on the south side of Lamesa, TX.  The subsequent explosion that I capture on tape of course has now been seen all over the world and kept me busy for quite a while dealing with media stuff surrounding it.  It also of course was the end of my chase vehicle, and I ended up with a new one.  If you haven’t seen that incredible video yet, here it is :

**ADULT LANGUAGE ON VIDEO**

For the rest of the year, I took a big break from the storm chasing/weather stuff, and did a ton of work around my property that had been on my to-do list, including building 100′ of fence, a new storage shed, tearing down an old garage, and building an addition to the house!  At the beginning of 2009 I said I would be happy to get one of those things done.  It was a major accomplishment to get them all done!

I also like to take stock of my financial situation this time of year.  As some of you know, I have been working towards a debt free life.  I’m not quite where I could have been, only because I did do all that work, but it was productive nonetheless and improved life around here, so it’s ok with me.  Last year at this time I had planned to be completely debt free by now.  While I am much closer than I was, I didn’t make it, a big part is adding the new vehicle to replace the one damaged in the explosion.  However looking forward, I see no reason I shouldn’t be debt free by the end of 2010.  I can’t tell you how great it feels to get some of that paid off!

I also start looking ahead toward storm chasing season.  To-do lists have been written and many things need to be done by March 1st, my “official” start date to storm chasing season.  Hard to believe only a month and a half away.  Looks like I’ll also be working with KCBD again this year.  This will be the 6th year chasing for them.  Wow has time flown!

I’m also determined to get all the past chase accounts on the website.  This has been my yearly failed project for the last few years and I am determined to get that done! I am kicking myself for not keeping up with it, because as time passes, memory and details fade.  Any of you younger chasers reading this, this is some of the best advise I can give you: write logs for all your storm chases, promptly after the event!  One day you will be happy you did.

The other major storm chasing related project is to get my entire video library over the years archived digitally.  I recently purchased two 1TB hard drives for this purpose.  This will be major and tedious work, but I need to get it done.  A by product of that is that I am going to be posting all the good stuff on my YouTube channel for you to watch!  Maybe even a DVD or two in the future!

But first, I absolutely must get the Explosion DVD produced.  This has been put off too long and many people are waiting on it, so that is now top priority!

Of course mother nature knows this and seems to be working up a huge trof in the western US which may bring some severe weather to Texas by the end of this week.  More on that later…

How is your New Year starting out?

Within the first 4 hours of 2010, I was already working and out shooting a full blow house fire.  Fortunately the people were gone when the fire broke out.  A neighbor stated that he noticed the fire, and made entry into the house after breaking out some windows to make sure no one was inside.  He found the gas kitchen stove on and turned it off, but the fire was already too big and house filed with smoke. He was having to crawl around.

I know it get’s cold folks, but PLEASE don’t leave those stoves and space heaters on while unattended!

These firefighters are all volunteer except for 2 or 3, and came out in the 24F weather on New Year’s Day morning when everyone else was wrapping up their parties to try and save these people’s life and property.  Yes, they do this for FREE for their community and neighbors! Chances are you have some volunteer firefighters near you unless you live in a big city. Be sure and support them any way you can!

I wonder if this is a sign of things to come for my videography this year?