In The Vortex

Category: General Site News

General News about this website. Where it”s going, what”s changed, etc.

  • 2010 looking back at 2009

    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?

  • Rare Winter Weather Christmas Treat in West Texas! …and Tornadoes!

    12.23.09.snowmap

    UPDATE 4:39 pm CST: Storm system is taking a track further south track and the Texas South Plains is now in prime position for the heavy snow.  The NWS has issued a Winter Storm Warning, and widespread snowfall of 4-6inches with locally higher amounts possible, and whiteout conditions early tomorrow!

    A rare treat may be in store for areas of west Texas starting tonight.  A winter storm is taking shape and will move across the area, bringing accumulating snows to most of west Texas.  Right now, it doesn’t appear that widespread snow accumulations will be particularly high, perhaps only an inch or two for most of the area, but some areas on the north side of the track of the system could see 4″ or a little more.

    Right now that area appears to be areas east of I27 and north of Hwy 114.  However, some models are taking this system a little more easterly than northeasterly, and if that happens, the heavier precipitation would be a little further south.

    The snow will be behind a cold front currently plowing through the northern south plains and should be through the area by late this evening.  As the front passes, temps will drop considerable and any precip should change over to snow.  Gusty winds will also be a factor, especially on Christmas Eve as the storm system moves east of the area.  This will certainly push around any loose snow.

    There has only been snow on the ground in Lubbock, Texas 13 times in the last 97 years of records being kept.  Should snow be on the ground tomorrow, it will be a rare treat for everyone in west Texas.

    As with all winter weather, travel conditions will deteriorate and people traveling in the area through the holidays should be very careful.  This storm has blizzard potential for those traveling further northeast into OK and KS.  Winter weather advisories, watches and warnings are up from Texas to Michigan for this system.

    You can find Texas road conditions on the TXDOT website.

    In the warm sector, folks in the eastern half of Texas are dealing with severe weather with a tornado watch already up and some storms already appear to be trying to produce tornadoes!  Folks in the eastern part of Texas need to pay close attention to their local sources of information, and have those weather radios ON, especially as it gets dark.  Winter tornadoes are some of the worst killers because of the time of year and they mostly come after dark, people aren’t as aware of the potential.