Judging by the amount of emails I received, it hasn’t gone unnoticed that I took a self-imposed Sabbatical toward the end of May. Thank you for all that wrote in concern!

Yes, I haven’t even posted on my blog here in nearly 3 months, and rarely on Facebook and Twitter during that time. What happened?

The 2010 chase season got into its stride and as many know, I opened Dryline Media up to representing other storm chasers video just before the season started. Without getting into all the dirty details of why, around mid-May I decided to shut down that extension of Dryline Media. There were a myriad of reasons, but the bottom line was that it was causing me an unreal amount of stress and taking it’s toll on me physically, emotionally and mentally. I have to take care of myself first, and although it was a hard decision, I realized that continuing the way things were was severely detrimental to my health and things had to change.

This all came along with what seemed to be a peak in stress with storm chasing in general. Some of it was self imposed, because of how hard I’ve been pushing the media aspect of it further and further. Other parts were allowing myself to get caught up in all the extensive drama in the storm chase “community”, which believe me, this year was in epic proportions. Due to the Storm Chasers TV show, the constant publicity of the Vortex 2 project and the constant and real time updates by the latter as well as most all other “storm chasers” has caused the ranks of storm chasers to grow exponentially. I put “storm chasers” in quotes in this context, because many of the people on the roads of late aren’t your typical dedicated storm chasers, but rather locals who saw all this coverage and wanted to get out and be a part of it I guess.

The end result is that it’s been a cause for some very frustrating and stressful chases for me, particularly in Oklahoma, but certainly not limited to there. While I recognize that everyone has the right to go out and look at clouds if they so choose, the sheer numbers have fundamentally changed what I loved for so many years about storm chasing. The lonely rural drives, sitting out on the side of a desolate highway, just me and perhaps a couple of other dedicated storm chasers, just enjoying the weather. Now it’s large traffic jams on those rural roads and some pretty terrific driving stunts by some of them. On bigger days it’s even getting difficult to find a place to pull off to the side of the road to watch a storm.

This growth has not been lost in the social aspect of storm chasing. It seems not a day goes by any more that some “chaser” isn’t bashing some other “chaser”. The Storm Track forums are now mostly populated by local storm spotters and weather enthusiasts, rather than the dedicated chasers that were there before. Well, some of them are still there, but you see them less and less. Especially veteran chasers who rarely post there any more, as well as many academic and professional weather folks who have left that venue. The staff at Storm Track are pretty quick to pounce on the flame wars that seem to start every few days, but now it just spills right over to facebook and blogs where it continues unmitigated. I used to post on Storm Track daily and was very active, but I’ve gotten to where I only breeze through Storm Track and read threads that interest me and rarely post there any more. I just want no part of all the drama.

Another element of storm chasing that seems to be growing is that of the fraudster. Websites and Facebook pages of “storm chasers” are popping up all over the place. In some cases well designed websites, even storm chase tour companies, all with almost NO experience, but yet proclaiming all sorts of untruthful things. I’m sorry, but if you have been chasing for 10 or 15 years like you say on your website, either you are a horrible chaser, or you would have at least one or two tornado pics to throw up on your site, rather than a crappy shot of a scud cloud misidentified as a wall cloud or a funnel cloud. Seriously, there is no shame in being new at an activity. We were all new once. This coming in making false proclamations about your chasing isn’t doing you any favors. Come in with a spirit of humility and learning and in 10 years you will have a REAL track record to be proud of, not some fake stuff you threw up on a website trying to garner some instant respect.

The point is that lying is a growing element in chasing and it’s getting harder and harder to know who you can trust. Some of these “chasers” are stealing photos and videos from one another, mooching off others to chase, etc etc. A large influx in recent years of some very negative elements in storm chasing to be sure.

Chaser drama…why? What is it about storm chasing that either causes the drama or attracts those types of people that have to continually start crap with people? I’ve never in my life been involved in any activity that has as much back-stabbing and attacking, often on those who are successful in the activity. In my struggle the last few years to learn why storm chasing is becoming so stressful to me, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is that very element that I hate so much about it and it is that same element that I need to distance myself from for my own sanity and well being.

This has caused me to have to block a few people on Facebook and unsubscribe to a few Twitter and blog feeds or set them to ignore status on Storm Track and other things. In some cases it meant distancing myself from some people I considered friends. I’m sorry guys, but I no longer want any part of all the drama and crap. If it comes my way, it gets an instant wall put in front of it. If you are the type of person that must generate or propagate drama, I’m not going to be associating with you. I’d rather have positive people around me.

Storm Chasing…the actual chasing of storms, I dearly love. The adventure on the plains, the drives, the crazy things I see. Witnessing up close the awesome power of nature. I love chasing for KCBD because I love the people there and l love helping the viewers be informed. But all this negative extra-curricular junk in chasing that is severely causing me to no longer enjoy storm chasing. The only way I can continue to chase is to block that stuff out and distance myself from those doing it.

Well, that went to a darker place than I intended when I started this post. I’m sorry about that, just letting my thoughts flow.

I’ve had a break from things now, had time to think outside the box for a while, and have reached some clarity and some level of peace with what I want in the future from storm chasing. In the end, it’s ingrained into me to the point it’s part of my identity. As such it’s not just something I can walk away from and not look back. That said, there are other things in life I want to explore, so storm chasing is going to start having to allow room for that.

So now I am back to keeping things updated again (not that there is anyone still checking for updates here heh). I have a lot of work ahead of me on some video and photography stuff I’ll be posting in the months to come. We’ll also have to see what happens on the hurricane front as well, so far it’s be relatively quiet. Since this is my personal website, you might see a few of those other activities pop up from time to time around here.

I will still be storm chasing when the opportunity arises, but things are going to be different where I am concerned. Let’s see where this adventure takes us now….

Just a quick note.  With all the new stuff going on with Dryline Media, my twitter account there has become dedicated solely to Dryline Media things.

So I have created a new Twitter account for my personal storm chasing stuff.  If you want to get my personal tweet updates from the field when I am out chasing, follow me here.

If you want to get the updates from Dryline Media about all of our chase team’s activities there, then follow those tweets.

Dryline Media also now has a fan page on Facebook that will update chase activities and live video feeds from out team of chasers out in the field.  Become a fan and see all sorts of cool weather stuff!

Severe weather in Arkansas Saturday!  Looks like I may finally get to chase by April 2nd or so as well!

As I mentioned in a previous post, some great things are happening with my company Dryline Media.  I hadn’t planned on making an official announcement until March 1st, but some of the chasers let the cat out of the bag, so why not go ahead and do it now?

For years chasers have asked me how they could sell their video to the media, or if I could sell it for them, etc etc.  Your wait is over!

On March 1st or very shortly thereafter, Dryline Media will launch a new media distribution program.  You create the media, we take care of the sales!  Dryline Media will be officially changing the rules of video brokering in 2010.  Based on many years of applied experience selling breaking news, Dryline Media will represent you with an ambitious campaign resulting in solid revenue on a global scale.  Dryline Media is an independent broker and will work with storm chasers or news gatherers who are not already in a contract with another broker or restrictive entity.

A few things to note:

• No long term contracts!
• Live feeds, news footage and stock footage, we can license it all!
• Very competitive commission structure with perks for our top providers!
• Year-round brokering, not just seasonal!
• Training available to help you be the best shooter you can be!

Much more info to come as we near March 1st.  If your interested in participating you can contact me and I’ll make sure you get the info to sign up when we launch, or if you are going to the Chaser Convention in Denver this weekend, catch me there! I’ll be happy to answer what questions I can at this point! A new website will be online soon at http://drylinemedia.com

We are looking forward to working with you to move your storm chasing to a new level!

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?

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.

As some of you regular readers notice (and I appreciate the emails and such checking on me), I somewhat disappeared over the 3 months from the storm chasing scene to a large degree. To just be frank, I was burned out on it and needed a break.

Aside from a couple of very awesome chases, the 2009 season was pretty dismal to say the least. Couple to that a large amount of drama in the storm chasing community, some of which was trying to suck me in, I just needed to get away from it for a while. I also had a number of projects in other life areas that were piling up on me too.

So, that’s what I did, I concentrated me efforts elsewhere and largely tried to forget about weather and storm chasing for a few months. It worked wonders for my attitude and I got a ton of things done this summer.

But I’m back now and getting excited about starting a major project with my old video that most of you should love. Not going to reveal details yet, but let’s just say it’s something many of you have been asking for from me for a while now.

Oh, and those of you waiting to find out about the video being available of the tank explosion, I haven’t forgotten about you either. The video finally aired on “Destroyed in Seconds” and now I can release it on my own. That will be a priority here shortly.

Thanks for the time off everyone! What did you do this summer?

I’ve been getting this nearly on a daily basis this year, so I decided to write an article to address that, or more to the point about asking me how to do it.  I have posted that on my main site, as it’s a bit long for a blog post:

http://daviddrummond.com/latest-weather-news/90-how-do-i-sell-video-to-the-media.html

I now have the new iMap Tracker on my site where you can follow my storm chases and watch the LIVE ChaseCam whenever I am out storm chasing.  You can find it here:  http://daviddrummond.com/live-chasecam.html

A dawn of a new era for me with my website.  WX5TVS.com has been my storm chasing website since February of 2002, 7 years ago.  I have been trying to get DavidDrummond.com for quite some time now, and after much effort finally got it a couple weeks ago or so.  It was a perfect time to switch to the new website design as well! I hope you guys like it!  In the end, it’s a heck of a lot easier for the average person to remember.  The old domain being my ham callsign only meant anything to hams and some chasers, so it was hard to remember for most folks.

I will retain wx5tvs.com/.net/.org since that is my ham callsign and I don’t want it to end up with porn on it so I have parked it on DavidDrummond.com for now.

Please update your favorites and any incoming links you might have to the new domain.  With the new layout, some URLs have changed, but all of the content was brought over, so you should be able to find it through the menues.  If not get in touch with me, I’ll point the way!

For those of you that have my personal email address, it will now foward to my new one, and when I reply to you, you will have it.  Everyone else can still contact me through the forms on the website.  I don’t want to put it on here to help cut out the spam.

Future plans for the site including, most importantly, getting all the past chase logs back up WITH VIDEO! as well as a few more tweaks here and there.

The new iMap tracker for the LIVE ChaseCam should be ready very soon and that will appear on the site as well.

After them main chase season I am hoping to get a few choice prints available for purchase, as well as (gasp!) my very first storm chasing DVD!

If you are a chaser and are linking to my site, please update your links, and if I am not linking back to you, let me know and I will get you in there!  So much to keep up with!

I’m open to suggestions as to what else you guys might want to see.    Please leave comments below!

As you can see (or might need to click over if your getting this via RSS) I’ve updated the look of the blog.  I still have a little tweaking to do, but mostly done with it.  This is also somewhat of a sneak peak as to what the new main website look will be (only it will be even better!).

What do you think?  You like that look? Hate it?  Comment and let me know!