Trampboarding and My lack of posting

Earlier today my good buddy Michael and I were bored so we decided to break out an old skateboard with the trucks taken off and then duct tape some old shoes to it and then bounce on our trampoline out back. It is was a pretty fun idea and I decided to get some shots of Michael in action.






As for why I haven't been posting on my blog or anywhere lately is because I have decided to get away from storm chasing for awhile. It was getting to be too much almost to the point of taking over my life and I couldn't stand it anymore so I have decided to just forget chasing for anything more than for my enjoyment and to just chase when I can and when it is good and not force anything. I mean who cares if other people get better stuff then me or if I miss a tornado I mean it happens I might as well just have fun and get the most out of each chase weather it be big hail, structure, a tornado, or even just some lightning pics to salvage a chase day. So for now I am just going to enjoy life and live life till the next storm rolls around.

Forecast: Oct 4-5, 2009 Central Plains

It has been awhile since I have written a forecast on here but after starting to look at the models again I am liking what I am seeing this Sun and Mon mainly in KS/OK. Now lets not get too excited as it can change like what happened with this last setup but I have a feeling this one will be the one.

Sun, Oct 4: This looks like the better chase day mainly due to the chase terrain its in. At this time the 12z NAM is placing the best CAPE and shear combo over NW OK/far SW KS. CAPE will approach 2000 j/kg as excellent directional shear moves over the region creating large hodographs, this is in addition to the upper 60F dews and lower 80 temps. The surface winds should be out of the ESE along a warm front with a sharp dryline positioned along the TX/OK border. If this plays out then supercells are a sure bet with tornadoes a very good possibility.

Mon, Oct 5: This day looks alright but the SW 850s concern me a bit however moisture will be deep, shear will be more than sufficient and CAPE will exceed 2000 j/kg. As of right now SE KS/E OK look to be under the gun with the highest threat being in SE Kansas where the best CAPE/shear combo is. Helicity will be insane this day with over 300 m2/s2 at 0-1km!! 0-1km EHIs are 4 near the KS/OK border as well. Like the other setup if it verifies this could be day 2 in a prolonged severe weather outbreak across KS/OK.

Stay tuned as the days approach!

June 17 Lightning Stills and Severe Wx Possible

I was going through some dashcam footage from this past season and came across some insane lightning footage I had from the supercell near Horton, KS on June 17. Below are a few stills from the video.





Also the models have been consistent in showing a few decent chase days on Thurs, Oct 1 over C KS as well as Sunday Oct 4 over OK both days look good so we will see.

Colorado Trip Part 2

A few more from the Colorado trip.








I also decided to add a picture of the dense fog that occurred this morning.

Colorado Trip Part 1

With no weather to talk about I thought I'd post some pictures from a trip my dad and I just got back from at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Enjoy.

Typical August Thunderstorms

It has been a really stormy week around the Plains including here in E Kansas. I have been really busy with school so chasing and getting pics have been tough going but last night I was able to get some decent photo ops as a squall line blasted the area.

This was the first storm of the day around 5:00 near Heritage Park Lake, seen in the picture. This was incredibly lucky as I just was holding the camera and snapped a picture when I saw a strike, I was able to get 3 other strikes including one close on but they were out of focus!


Then around 11:00 we had a nasty squall line move in along the cold front and the shelf cloud was illuminated by the city lights creating an eerie scene. There wasn't much in terms of lightning except for a lone CG or two. However there were several powerflashes as it moved in.

Once the storm passed I tried for some anvil crawlers on the backside and only got one actually lightning strike. Most of it was just in cloud flashes.

This was really cool as the city lights even though I was looking away from Kansas City illuminated the mammatus on the back edge creating on the most eerie things I have ever seen. Bare in mind the long exposure lit it up a bit more than what it really looked like but it was clearly visible without a long exposure.

Best Bass Rig I've Ever Used!!!

I have been doing a lot of fishing lately especially bass fishing and I have tried nearly every lure in the book from spinners to jigs to live minnows and they all have worked but my grandpa told me about this new rig he uses for catching smallmouths up north and man does it work for largemouths too. It is called a wacky rig and is also one of the easiest setups I've used with soft plastics. It just takes a fairly large hook say 2/0-4/0 and a straight worm or senk-o worm at 5" long as a minimum. No weight at all. You then just cast it out and let it sink so you can't see it before you jerk it while you reel back in. Make the jerks varied from one jerk then sit to 4-5 quick jerks and let it sink again and you can mix it up. It works especially well in heavily pressure waters which it is why I think it is so effective. I tried it at my neighbors heavily pressure (mainly by me) farm ponds and I caught about 15 bass in 30-40 casts and I went back out earlier this morning and I had another 10 bass including a few 3-4lbers in about 25-30 casts. I usually just talk weather on here but this is such a great and easy way to fish for bass and I know alot of us chasers love to fish almost as much as we like to chase.