Just finished up editing lightning photos from the chase night before last across West Texas and Eastern New Mexico.  Fun, but long day, despite the lack of anticipated severe weather and flooding rains.  It was nice to finally get a shot at some local lightning photography!

You can view all the photos and the chase story here. All the photos there can be clicked on for a larger size!

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

Another potent day on tap for most of Western OK and down in to parts of North Central Texas as a dryline will move to along the eastern TX Panhandle/OK state line, and a warm from is lifting north across Oklahoma.

The warm front is currently situated along the I40 corridor with what we call a triple point (where the warm front intersects the dryline) currently in the vicinity of Wheeler County, TX.

The northward extent of severe weather will be tempered by the eventual location of the warm front by mid-late afternoon, but even farther south along the dryline, isolated monster supercells capable of extreme size hail larger than baseballs, strong tornadoes and damaging winds will still be possible.  Storms following the warm front in particular should be especially dangerous!

Today has the potential to be yet another tornado outbreak for much of Oklahoma and even parts of North Central Texas.  Everyone have your weather radios on today and pay attention to local media sources.   Storms will be moving much slower today than they did during the last outbreak on Monday, which means you may have more lead time on warnings, but this unfortunately also means that giant hail and tornadoes will have more time over a given area to do more damage.

I’ll be heading out the door shortly for far western Oklahoma, and will be streaming LIVE this afternoon on the LIVE ChaseCam, with AUDIO!

Very potent severe weather day is shaping up for the Texas Panhandle and South Plains area with the possibility of tornadoes and hail to the size of softballs!

Morning surface analysis shows dewpoints in the upper 50s across the area, which is more that sufficient moisture in the higher terrain of West Texas up on the caprock to get good storms going and forecast models show this increasing into the 60s by late today.

A dryline should tighten up near the Texas/New Mexico state line by afternoon and provide a focus for storms to initiate.  Additionally, some old outflow boundaries from previous convection could also provide a focus, especially anywhere those intersect the dryline.

Wind profiles should increase favorably for supercell development as the day wears on. RUC forecast model shows more than sufficient instability for tall, strong storms of the type to produce very large hail,  and the low level EHI (Energy Helicity Index) has a nice bullseye just west of Lubbock by 22z.  Any supercells today that interact with any of these  boundaries will certainly be capable of producing tornadoes, maybe even a strong one.

From a storm chasing perspective, at least the storm motions will be relatively slow so they should be easy to keep up with.

People living in the area should have your weather radios on today, and tune in to KCBD 11 for up to the minute information if you are on the South Plains in the Lubbock viewing area.

I will be out in the field by early afternoon streaming live on the LIVE ChaseCam page!  Be safe today everyone!

I had no time to get a forecast posted yesterday as I had to get on the road. Initially targeted Wheeler County, TX for storm initiation but got tempted by the triple point up on the OK/KS border and incredible cape, and was concerned about the cloud debris inhibiting heating further south.   Short story was, I bailed from the outflow dominant storm at the KS border and caught the tail end charlie storm at Clinton, OK just in time to get the tornado in the video above crossing over I40.  When things finally settle down I will post more in-depth recaps of the better days.

Today will take me to the Permian Basin, Trans-Pecos region, one of my favorite chase areas because of the photops the terrain provides with the storms.  Warm front is hanging out down there and shear is sufficient for a couple of supercells and perhaps a tornado or two.  In fact, there is already a Severe Thunderstorm Watch out for the area north of where I am going for the elevated hailers underway currently, north of the front.

I will of course be streaming live this afternoon on the LIVE ChaseCam page.

No time to post much of an update from yesterday.  Chased the central part of Oklahoma and ended up on the Moore tornado that is all over the news, so you probably already know what happened there.  Last stop was the massive damage on I40 east of  Tinker Air Force Base.  When things settle down I have a ton of pics and video.

Today presents one of my favorite chase opportunities that involves a nice slow moving boundary, ample moisture and heating and slow storm speeds.  While there is a stout cap that could prevent storms from forming, should one form near the boundary it could be a repeat offender in the tornado department.  Since I am already near the target area and planning to be out here chasing tomorrow too, might as well give it a shot.  I’ll be live streaming later this afternoon on the Live ChaseCam page.

Today is one of those days when it’s hard to be excited about chasing. Storm Prediction Center has issued a high risk for a large portion of Oklahoma and southern Kansas, and more than one long track, violent tornado is a distinct possibility. Hail could be larger than baseballs.

While I’m certainly excited by what Mother Nature may have to offer for viewing, I’m equally apprehensive about the fact that someone is likely to lose life and property today. If you live in these areas, be certain to have your weather radios and to be paying attention to live news sources, because once storms fire, things are going to be happening quickly and storms will be moving fast. Have your plan now, because warning times are going to be short and you may not have much time to react.

I’m heading out to Oklahoma today to chase this set up, of course. But I expect it will be difficult to due to fast storm motion and what is sure to be a very large amount of storm chasers on the road.

Shortly after noon, I will be live streaming video for the remainder of the day on the LIVE ChaseCam page.

Storm Prediction Center has issued a HIGH RISK for Arkansas for this evening, with a high threat for tornadoes. The above graphic indicates the highest tornado threat currently.

PEOPLE IN AND NEAR ARKANSAS NEED TO HAVE YOUR WEATHER RADIOS ON, AND TUNED IN TO LIVE NEWS SOURCES NOW!

Numerous tornadic storms are across Arkansas right now. They are fast moving, most likely concealed in rain and darkness.  DO NOT HESITATE TO TAKE SHELTER if you are put under a TORNADO WARNING.

One particular tornadic storm is threatening Little Rock right now, and has reportedly already caused damage and injuries in the East End area south of Little Rock.

I’ll update this post as I have more info.

04/30/10 8:46PM CDT  UNCONFIRMED: Fatalities reported in Conway and Van Buren Counties.

04/30/10 8:56 PM CDT I40 closed near county line of Lonoke/Polaski County line on east side of Little Rock due to debris on hwy.

04/30/10 9:01 PM CDT  Arkansas Emergency Management confirming 3 fatalities in Scotland in Van Buren County.  Also 25 serious injuries and countless minor injuries.  They report this is the most serious damage they are aware of at this time.

04/30/10 9:16 PM CDT  East End, AR near Little Rock is confirmed hit hard by tornado.  Fire Dept. was hit. Likely the only FD there, as it’s a small community. Fire truck was damaged and trapped in the station. Firefighters took shelter in the bathroom and survived.  Major gas leak in the area.

04/30/10 9:27 PM CDT Polaski County Sheriff’s Office reports major damage in the SE part of the county near 530.  Reporting houses destroyed but not injuries or fatalaties at this time.

04/30/10 9:43 PM CDT Image of Fire Department in  East End, AR

04/30/10 10:29 PM CDT  National Guard has been dispatched to East End, AR.  More tornadic storms headed directly at that area now!

04/30/10 10:54 PM CDT Saline County  multiple homes were damaged, some people were trapped, 8 injured, 1 critical. Trees are hindering access to damage.

04/30/10 11:09 PM CDT Forestry Crews are being dispatched to the hardest hit areas because of so much tree damage causing difficulty for emergency crews getting to the area.

04/30/10 11:25 PM CDT  EM from Conway County, AR reporting damage in that county is confined to the north and west part of the county.  A door to door search is being done in the Center Ridge area.

04/30/10 11:30 PM CDT National Guard deploying 50 troops to Scotland and 50 to East End, AR to help with search and rescue and security.

05/01/10 12:48 AM CDT  All tornado warnings for Arkansas have finally expired.  This concludes the ongoing updates for this blog post.

Severe Weather potential in the Texas Panhandle heats up today with a nice boundary hanging out in the area oriented NW to SE across the area.  Ample moisture is in place and adequate wind shear through elevation in the atmosphere are plenty adequate for supercell development.  Rotation will be enhanced on any storms near this boundary, I expect there will be a tornado or two on any storm that can take advantage of that.  I’ll be heading out here shortly, and streaming live video today on the LIVE ChaseCam.

Anyone 75 miles either side of a line from Tulia to Crowell, TX should pay close attention to developing weather today, as the boundary should be in that general area.  Very large hail is also a significant threat today.