March 23, 2009

I had work today which put a damper on the chase. I left OKC around 6:00 and headed west to just outside El Reno. I sat there and got a few pictures of the storm clouds in the distance. It was mainly to check out my setup and equipment. Everything worked great, except for the power inverter. I need to check the ground on it and that should fix the problem. Here are a couple of pictures that I took.































It was a good test run. I really need a bigger truck to carry all the equipment. Maybe next chase season. Nothing too exciting where I was, but up North of Guthrie there was a wall cloud spotted, no tornados reported at this time in Oklahoma.

Tomorrow

Looks like a pretty good chance of some activity tomorrow. With the SPC putting a moderate risk for just north of OKC, I will bite. The moisture return and timing are my biggest questions right now. I will probably be getting off of work a little early and then heading a little north, by that time storms should be firing. It should be a good trip to test out my equipment and hopefully get a few good pictures. Updates will be posted throughout the day.

Getting Caught Up

Just started the blog today, so I will get you caught up on my experiences so far.

February 10th, 2009

I started my chase day WAY TOO LATE. I had looked early the day before and thought nothing would form in C. OK so I threw the chase day out. The day of I happened to hear some people talking about the storms down in Chickasha. I pulled out my iPhone and looked and saw storms firing along the dry line to my SW. I contemplated skipping my next class and setting up somewhere in Edmond and wait for them to come to me. I decided to go to class. That was a mistake. I dismissed myself when the sirens went off and started my chase. I saw a large hook and a great velocity couplet just a few miles north of my location on radar.

I drove to I35 and planned to jump on. However the highway patrol had other ideas. I drove over I35 and then headed north on Air Depot. I got a little bit of video with what appears to be a lowering. It is hard to tell due to the contrast. Tree cover, urban chasing and the storm speed prevented me from catching the storm.

I quickly turned around and headed back to 2nd street as the 2nd storm rolled through. Got a good look at a shelf cloud and then decided to head a little farther south to get the 3rd storm.

Headed down by the Turner Turnpike and sat watching a wall cloud with some really weak rotation. I decided to head north and get a little bit of damage video if possible. I saw a few trees and telephone poles. However, Edmond police had done a great job of blocking all entrances to the neighborhoods. I turned for home and called it a night.

All in all it wasn't a bad start to my rookie season. I need to learn more and leave when I need too. Here is a video that I put together real fast.




Since that Day

I have been working on getting the truck ready for the upcoming season. I just bought the Delorme Earthmate 2009 with LT-40. Love it so far and is a great little product. Will keep yall up-to-date as I test it out in unfamiliar territory.

Also, just bought a 400W Power Invertor, 4AWG wiring, and cable ends. I am going to install this in the next few weeks.

Working on getting a dash mount for my video camera, a laptop mount, and a mag mount scanner antenna. I will probably hold off on anything else until after the chase season. I know what some of yall are thinking "No mobile internet?" That's right, for now atleast. Maybe next year, but I can't afford it at this time.

I am looking forward to the chase season. Check back as I add more in the weeks to come.