Reality of a Chaser's World

Record Cold

2010-01-02T01:21:00.000-08:00

Well, I'll do a follow up on Blizzard Alvin in a later post... But, to quickly report; we have now officially hit record low temperatures on two consecutive nights here in Grand Forks, ND.

The Grand Forks NWS office issued a Record Report earlier this morning:

RECORD EVENT REPORT   
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS   
118 AM CST SAT JAN 2 2010  
   
..RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE SET AT GFK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT  
  
AT MARK ANDREWS GRAND FORKS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT A RECORD LOW   
TEMPERATURE OF 33 DEGREES BELOW ZERO WAS SET FOR JAN 1. THIS   
ESTABLISHES A NEW RECORD MINIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR THIS LOCATION FOR   
NEW YEAR'S DAY. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 30 DEGREES BELOW ZERO...SET   
IN 1974.  
  
THE JANUARY 2 RECORD OF 27 DEGREES BELOW ZERO HAS ALSO BEEN BROKEN.   
THIS RECORD WAS ATTAINED IN 1991. SO FAR THE LOW TEMPERATURE   
RECORDED FOR JANUARY 2 WAS 34 DEGREES BELOW ZERO. AN UPDATED RECORD   
EVENT WILL BEEN SENT OUT LATER THIS MORNING ONCE THE MINIMUM HAS   
BEEN ESTABLISHED FOR THE DAY.

Wind Chill Advisories continue through noon today (Saturday) for the possibility of Wind Chills to drop to -25 to -40° F.

2009 Christmas Blizzard...

2009-12-24T23:38:00.000-08:00

It's been forever since I wrote anything in here and I have no excuse but pure laziness and forgetfulness! Anyhow, I can try to summarize what's gone on over the past several months, but I'll leave that for a future entry.

For now, I just want to update you all on the major winter storm that's spinning up and approaching the area. We had an initial wave of low pressure that brought the first bout of moderate to heavy snow, Thursday night. This resulted in fairly significant snowfalls around the area. We received just under 4 inches here in Grand Forks. I, personally, measured 3.8 inches out near the garage by early-afternoon.

Here were some other accumulations around the FGF county warning area. These were mostly as of 6-7am on the morning of the 24th.

000
NWUS53 KFGF 241514
LSRFGF

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
914 AM CST THU DEC 24 2009

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0405 AM     SNOW             WEST FARGO              46.87N 96.90W
12/24/2009  M5.5 INCH        CASS               ND   TRAINED SPOTTER

            5.5 INCHES OF SNOW AS OF 405 AM IN WEST FARGO.

0515 AM     SNOW             ROTHSAY                 46.47N 96.29W
12/24/2009  M3.0 INCH        WILKIN             MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0540 AM     SNOW             OTTERTAIL               46.43N 95.56W
12/24/2009  M3.0 INCH        OTTER TAIL         MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0600 AM     SNOW             GRAND FORKS             47.92N 97.07W
12/24/2009  M3.4 INCH        GRAND FORKS        ND   OFFICIAL NWS OBS

0640 AM     SNOW             LANKIN                  48.31N 97.92W
12/24/2009  E3.5 INCH        WALSH              ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0645 AM     SNOW             PEMBINA                 48.97N 97.25W
12/24/2009  M2.0 INCH        PEMBINA            ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0648 AM     SNOW             LIDGERWOOD              46.07N 97.15W
12/24/2009  M2.5 INCH        RICHLAND           ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0700 AM     SNOW             MAYVILLE                47.50N 97.33W
12/24/2009  M4.4 INCH        TRAILL             ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0700 AM     SNOW             SABIN                   46.78N 96.65W
12/24/2009  M4.2 INCH        CLAY               MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0700 AM     SNOW             FARGO                   46.88N 96.82W
12/24/2009  M5.3 INCH        CASS               ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0725 AM     SNOW             FORMAN                  46.11N 97.64W
12/24/2009  M2.0 INCH        SARGENT            ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0730 AM     SNOW             STARKWEATHER            48.45N 98.88W
12/24/2009  M3.0 INCH        RAMSEY             ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0748 AM     SNOW             HAVANA                  45.95N 97.62W
12/24/2009  M3.3 INCH        SARGENT            ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0832 AM     HEAVY SNOW       2 NE FARGO              46.90N 96.79W
12/24/2009  M6.0 INCH        CASS               ND   BROADCAST MEDIA

0832 AM     SNOW             DEVILS LAKE             48.11N 98.87W
12/24/2009  M2.0 INCH        RAMSEY             ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0832 AM     SNOW             BRECKENRIDGE            46.26N 96.59W
12/24/2009  M2.6 INCH        WILKIN             MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0842 AM     SNOW             HALSTAD                 47.35N 96.82W
12/24/2009  M4.0 INCH        NORMAN             MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0857 AM     SNOW             7 NW CAVALIER           48.87N 97.73W
12/24/2009  M3.0 INCH        PEMBINA            ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0857 AM     SNOW             LONG LOST LAKE          47.19N 95.42W
12/24/2009  M3.5 INCH        CLEARWATER         MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0857 AM     SNOW             14 NE DETROIT LAKES     46.96N 95.63W
12/24/2009  M3.0 INCH        BECKER             MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

            TAMARAC WILDLIFE REFUGE

0857 AM     SNOW             LAKE ITASCA             47.25N 95.21W
12/24/2009  M2.0 INCH        CLEARWATER         MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0857 AM     SNOW             3 S DALTON              46.13N 95.92W
12/24/2009  M3.3 INCH        OTTER TAIL         MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0857 AM     SNOW             RED LAKE FALLS          47.89N 96.27W
12/24/2009  M2.7 INCH        RED LAKE           MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0857 AM     SNOW             2 S WADENA              46.41N 95.13W
12/24/2009  M4.5 INCH        WADENA             MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

I'll continue to update amounts as I see them and may provide some reports on conditions as I experience or observe them. I may not be going anywhere over the next couple of days. Friday and Saturday will see moderate to heavy snows and winds nearing 30-40 mph! Definitely, blizzard conditions!

Trained Spotter?

2009-06-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist posting this...

0610 PM TSTM WND GST 4 WNW FOXHOME 46.30N 96.39W
06/18/2009 E60.00 MPH WILKIN MN TRAINED SPOTTER

GUSTNADO OBSERVED IN THUNDERSTORM OUTFLOW WELL AHEAD OF
AN APPROACHING SHELF CLOUD.

I was going back through the LSR's at the Grand Forks National Weather Service from our chase on the 18th and found this piece of gold.

For a "Trained" Spotter, he/she clearly has no idea what they're talking about. Gustnadoes develop within a thunderstorm's outflow, yes, but also at the outflow/inflow interface. This means they develop within the shelf cloud, most often at the very leading edge. NOT well ahead of one!

Makes me wonder who was doing the training!

Chase Season!

2009-06-22T21:27:00.000-07:00

Hey folks,

I realize it's been a long, long time since I updated and/or posted anything in here. I apologize for that. I didn't really have much to update you on, really until the past few weeks.

Over that time, I've been out chasing 4 times, the fourth just tonight, to the west - out near Carrington, ND. The first ended up being a trip to primarily Ern South Dakota with Ben Collin on May 31st. We ended up seeing a few nice storms that day... The second chase, several of us from work (Justin S., Dan B., Tyler C., and I) went down to chase far SErn Nebraska and NWrn Missouri on June 7th. It was a Moderate Risk day and with Vortex 2 still out then, it was quite a circus. There were tons of people out that day - and ran into two separate chaser "convergence" parties. ;) The third, turned out to be the best one yet... Collin and I once again went towards the ND/SD border on June 18th, but ended up turning around and chasing a tornadic supercell that tracked over far SErn North Dakota and into parts of W-Central Minnesota. The storm had awesome structure and later, even though it gusted out and became linear, it had one of the best looking shelf clouds I've ever seen.

I'll try to get logs written up for better details over the next week. At least, I hope. I'm running behind and I want to get these posted.

Hang in there, I'll eventually get them on here!

Take care and happy chasing!

Spring is in the air!

2009-04-14T23:49:00.000-07:00

Spring has finally arrived in the Northern Plains! ;)

Temperatures on Tuesday reached the 60 degree-mark for the first time since November 3rd, 2008, when we hit 66° F.

The official high at the airport Tuesday hit 64° F and even at this late hour (2:00am) we are still sitting at 45°.

It's been great enjoying the mild temperatures and they should continue through, at least, through the next few days as this ridge slowly slides east across the plains. Slightly cooler temperatures will come this weekend, but a broad ridge will build across the plains again next week which will continue temperatures in the 50's and 60's.

Our next target is to get our dewpoints into the 50's and 60's! Some thunder would be nice, as well.

Rising waters...

2009-03-25T21:53:00.001-07:00

As if most of you haven't heard already, the Red River is continuing its rise here in the Valley with record crests expected in Fargo and points near there. Downstream, here in Grand Forks, our forecasted crest has once again been adjusted upward some.

The heavy, wet snowfall we received last evening has slowed the rise of the water over the past 12-24 hours, but as of 11:30 pm we are at 44.81 feet.

The cold temperatures this week may also impede the rise somewhat, as well, however there is still a lot of water down in Fargo that will be making its way up here.

I was down at the river Tuesday afternoon to get a good look at the river and to take a few photos. If you are interested in seeing these, I have posted them in my Photo Gallery. I was down there once again this afternoon and will have additional photos in the Gallery tomorrow night.

The city has a call out for volunteers for sandbagging parts of southern Grand Forks, so I may be doing that tomorrow evening. If you live around the area, we definitely need the help.

Be safe!

NCRFC Forecast

2009-03-15T21:22:00.000-07:00

Greetings folks,

In accordance to my status as an employee at Meridian, I do need to be a little careful at what I say and write about on the blog here regarding the flood forecasts. So, first off, I want to apologize for anyone coming here to find any kind of forecast from me. All I will provide from here on out will be only be opinions and/or criticisms. The latter, only if need be, of course! Hah!

Anyhow, I figured I would provide a link to the official forecasts from the North Central River Forecast Center for the East Grand Forks, MN forecast point on the Red River:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=fgf&gage=egfm5&view=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1&toggles=10,7,8,2,9,15,6

From this first page, you can view the current stage of the river, as well as, historical crests and impacts at various stages of the river, if you scroll down the page.

If you click on the "Chance of Exceeding Levels During Entire Period" tab at the top, it will bring up a graph of the forecast crests the NCRFC is forecasting and the probabilities for each during the period. The 50-60 percentile is basically the threshold for concern, since at this point, we're looking at a fairly respectable chance of seeing a crest at that stage.

As you may see, the 50-60 percentile falls very near a 50 foot crest. Which would make it the 2nd or 3rd highest crest on record. Obviously, this highly depends on weather conditions over the next couple of weeks. If we would happen to get additional precipitation, for instance, significant changes could occur to these numbers.

Again, for interests in the Valley, please keep this link handy - and check up on it, at least every other day or so. Especially, over the course of the next week, as warmer temperatures expected to push in will quickly melt our snow-cover.

This will continue the wet, slushy mess out there on the roads during the day and refreezing issues at night.

Record flooding?

2009-03-14T00:53:00.001-07:00

Hello folks,

It's been a little while since I wrote last, and considering I've been out celebrating a co-worker's birthday this evening and the fact I have to be up in 5-4 hours for work, I will keep this rather short.

For those of you here in the Red River Valley, you may want to seriously consider checking into flood insurance, especially if you live within the first 5 miles of the Red River. The reason?

The NWSFO out of Grand Forks released their latest forecast just yesterday for the Red River Valley, and many locations along the river may see major flooding by mid-April.

In fact, here are the probabilities that river stages could exceed the record 1997 stages:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=fgf&storyid=23149&source=0

It's pretty clear that many locations along the Red River will see near to close to record stages by early-mid April.

This could potentially lead to catastrophic flooding for the Red River valley, including the Grand Forks area. We'll have to see how much more snow (or rain, for that matter) occurs here in the local area to see exactly how bad things may get. Until then, keep updated!

I'll try to keep abreast of any significant changes to the forecasts and will pass these along.

Edit: 03.15.2009 @ 11:18 PM CST

Chasing as a Rite of Passage

2009-02-21T21:58:00.000-08:00

I had to share a story the other day and thought it deserved to be featured here as well... If you have ever found yourself wondering just how important storm chasing really is to someone like myself, read on...

I've received the questions many, many times before. "You do what? Are you crazy?" These questions were among many other variations. I’ve taken them in stride and through a dialog, in many cases, most people I find, are more intrigued in the activity than are scared. Storm chasing has been a hobby of mine since 1994; a year after I had received my driver's license. By late that summer, I was already driving about and watching storms all across my hometown and within the county.

When I first started out, it was purely the thrill I was after. I had held an acute interest for severe weather for such a period of time; I wanted to learn by experience and association. Unfortunately, my parents didn't share the enthusiasm I had. As a result, they only allowed for me to remain close to home and always wanted to know where I'd be and for how long they could expect me to be gone. How do you answer your parents when they ask such a thing? I would typically answer, "Where the storms are... and for as long as they're shooting out lightning, heavy rain, hail, or whichever!" They were not always content with those answers.

As my chase career advanced, my Meteorological aptness did, as well. By the time I was a senior in High School, I had already read every single book I could get my hands on, that had anything to do with Meteorology. I participated in local Skywarn training offered from the National Weather Service to become a spotter for the county and eventually was able to network with veteran chasers all across the Internet. I absorbed as much information from them as I was able to. I asked them questions when I didn't understand something and they were always more than willing to help. Eventually, I was able to give more sufficient answers to my parents. As a result, they finally saw chasing as my passion and allowed me to explore further. With a different motive now, however, I took to spotting and chasing more seriously. I approached chasing in a safer way and the experience itself, became more than a "thrill." It became something meaningful not only physically, but emotionally.

Today, I still perceive storm chasing in the same regard. It no longer primarily serves as a reason to drive a hundred miles for a thrill. Although the adrenaline rush is unquestionably a component, chasing provides an opportunity for me to connect to nature, to enjoy her beauty, and to reminisce with the person I really am. There often is plenty of time for that! Storm chasing has become a rite of passage for me. It serves as a time to get away from the bustle of the city, all the responsibilities that come with living independently, and the complexities of life. Being out on a secluded, dusty road, waiting for a storm to develop or evolve is very relaxing and simplistic for me. It's rewarding, as well, when you get to see something as transparent as the atmosphere, transform into powerful thunderstorms.

Severe Weather Outbreak

2009-02-10T20:19:00.001-08:00

Well, folks, it appears the convective severe season has begun across the Southern Plains and Southern Mississippi Valley. Numerous reports of hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes have sprung up across the region today.

A combination of several factors are resulting in the outbreak... First, a deep trough over the west, resulting in strong west-southwest flow aloft (700 mb flow of 100+ KTS is providing for 50+ KTS of bulk shear over areas of Eastern Texas, Eastern Oklahoma and western areas of Arkansas and northwest Louisiana). Second, a potent shortwave being kicked eastward out of the southwest by the trough... Third, southerly winds at the surface. Finally, warm and juicy air advecting northward out of the Gulf. It's a darn good synoptic setup for an outbreak of this magnitude.

The setup will push eastward overnight and into tomorrow, so additional severe weather is in store for areas over the Tennessee Valley and into the Lower Ohio Valley, Wednesday. It will be an active week with this system pushing through the eastern US, while another shortwave trough will eject into the Southern Plains from the the cut-off low over the southwest.

This type of pattern would spell a chaser's dream in May or June, let alone in mid-February.

While I'm jealous of the chasers in the Southern Plains, I don't necessarily want to see damage or fatalities. Luckily, there have been no reports of fatilities or injuries, but there have been widespread damage reports. Edmund, Olkahoma seems to be hardest hit, as far as tornado damage is concerned. Reports are trickling in now, that northwestern areas of the city saw major damage from a large tornado there earlier this afternoon. I haven't confirmed this, myself, but either way, I'm hoping folks there took the proper precautions and are doing well.

I've been watching areas down there most of the afternoon and into the evening and, as you can see on the Radar Floater, a strong squall line is currently pushing eastward across Texas and Oklahoma late tonight. This will likely continue to bring damaging winds, hail, and possibly an isolated tornado or two.

Major ice storm in progress...

2009-01-28T00:59:00.000-08:00

Moderate to heavy snows and on-going freezing rain and sleet continue to fall over the Lower Ohio Valley early this morning. While the snowfall is significant, the amount of icing is most impressive with this large system pushing east-northeast. The latest radar from Indianapolis (to the right) clearly shows the enhanced reflectivities with the freezing rain and sleet over southern and eastern Indiana.

The higher reflectivities result from two processes... First, from the radar beam reflecting off frozen precipitation particles. Secondly, from the radar beam being reflected off melting nuclei (ice particles melting at the point where ice pellets aloft are entering the shallow warm-layer between roughly 850 and 800 mb. RUC forecast soundings late last night were fairly indicative of the shallow warm layer. The NAM and GFS were both overestimating the thickness of the layer, thusly had much more freezing rain than sleet (there's been plenty of reports of sleet throughout the Ohio Valley tonight) and had it more southeast. Luckily, I found this out before leaving my forecast behind at the end of my shift tonight.

Either way, this will be one of the nastiest ice storms in quite some time over portions of the Missouri, Tennessee, and Ohio Valley's. I didn't get around to it last night at work, but if I think about it, I'll post some of the observations we saw tonight from Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas with this system. We saw a few different stations that had well over an inch of ice and one site, in particular, that received 0.43 inches of freezing rain in one hour! Pretty incredible. I also read an LSR (local storm report) earlier tonight of a report of 2 inches of ice in Fox, Arkansas! Now that is a crap-load of ice!

The shocking thing, this storm is long from over... Precipitation likely won't pull entirely out of Indiana until this afternoon and I could easily see several more hours of freezing rain and sleet over far southern and southeastern Indiana. There have already been numerous reports of 3/4" of ice already in these areas and with several more hours of rates like this, these locations will also likely see ice accruals of more than an inch. Of which, would result in power outages and widespread damage to trees and power lines.

The web-cams will be interesting to watch later this morning as dawn breaks. Assuming they, themselves, won't be covered in two inches of ice!

And to see the extent of this system, take a look at the NWS Advisories graphic in the sidebar to the right. Unbelievable how widespread the Warnings are. From Ice Storm Warnings in Texas to Winter Storm Warnings in Northern Maine!

Temperatures in flux

2009-01-22T18:56:00.000-08:00

We've had some wild fluctuations in temperatures over the past few weeks across the Northern Plains. While we remained rather cool through a good chunk of December, January has begun rather cold.

An arctic outbreak entrenched much of the central and eastern parts of the country the last two weeks and with a slight moderating the last few days, another shot of cold air seems to be on it's way.

By this time, tomorrow night, we'll likely see temperatures in the double-digits below zero once again here in the Valley with even colder temperatures expected over northern Minnesota. The NAM shown to the left has the H50 heights near 522 over us, with even lower heights to the east and northeast.

So, we'll see another cold, January weekend.

Looking ahead, the GFS doesn't really show much in the way of any major pattern shifts, with several troughs pushing east-southeast out of Western Canada through, at least, the next couple of weeks. February could start out rather cold, as well, with the extended GFS showing this early in the morning on Feb. 3rd:

Yes, that is a 516 isoheight over the northern valley!

By the 7th, however, a decent ridge begins to build over the west and I'm hoping this will slowly translate to the east, bringing moderating temperatures and warmer temperatures. That would certainly be welcome...

Record snows...

2009-01-02T10:57:00.000-08:00

And now you all see what kind of life a storm chaser leads during the winter months. I haven't really had much to write about in the last month or so. Some chasers get pumped at winter storms. I do not. Especially, those that affect me. They only reinforce what I already know. That my car doesn't handle the ice and snow at all. ;)

Anyhow, we were affected by a couple of major winter storms here in the Northern Plains the past 30 days and as such, the NWS has officially announced that December 2008 went down in the record books as the snowiest December on record. Both in Grand Forks and Fargo:

RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS
712 PM CST THU JAN 1 2009

...RECORD MONTHLY SNOWFALL AT GRAND FORKS UNIV. (NWS) SITE FOR
DECEMBER 2008...

30.1 INCHES OF SNOWFALL OCCURRED IN DECEMBER 2008 AND THIS IS THE
HIGHEST EVER MONTHLY SNOWFALL FOR DECEMBER.  THE ALL TIME MONTHLY
SNOWFALL FOR ANY MONTH IS 31.5 INCHES SET IN JANUARY 1989.

...RECORD MONTHLY SNOWFALL AT FARGO/MOORHEAD FOR DECEMBER 2008 AND
FOR ALL-TIME...

OFFICIALLY 33.5 INCHES OF SNOW FELL IN FARGO/MOORHEAD FOR DECEMBER
2008.  THIS WAS THE HIGHEST TOTAL FOR DECEMBER 2008 AND FOR ANY
MONTH.  THE PREVIOUS RECORD FOR HIGHEST MONTHLY SNOWFALL FOR ANY
MONTH WAS 31.5 INCHES IN JANUARY 1989.

Northwest flow early in the month brought several Alberta Clippers to the state, while a pattern shift brought a more westerly flow near mid-month. This brought Ali, the first full-blown blizzard in many years, to Eastern North Dakota. And since, we're back into the northwesterly flow and thusly have experienced clipper after clipper pretty much every other day for the last week and a half. No significant snowfalls really, but each has dropped between 2 to 4 inches. So, yes, we have well over a foot of snowpack out there and that doesn't do anything to help our temperatures.

Yet, today... More impending doom:

We have bright sunshine out there right now, but these clouds heading our way will be bringing more snowfall, potentially 6+ inches, to the area. The NWS Advisories map to the right will show you the winter weather advisories that are in affect across the area.

A great way to start the 2009 year... more snow! :(

Happy New Years, everyone. Hope you all had a great holiday season.

Ice coats Hoosier-land

2008-12-19T10:26:00.000-08:00

The major winter storm that was forecast to sock the Midwest and Ohio Valley certainly lived up to it's billing last evening and through early this morning. Not only did areas of Southern Iowa receive all sorts of ice and sleet accumulations, but northern areas of Illinois and Indiana did as well.

In fact, the following image from Decatur, Indiana clearly shows a quarter-inch or better accrual. And given the image is from Southeast Elementary, it's pretty clear there was no school today for the kiddies back in the Hoosier state. At least, not in Decatur. Unfortunately, my home town of Bluffton doesn't seem to offer any webcams whatsoever, so I have to accept the Decatur AWS cam as my local look into my hometown.

It can't be so much different of a look in Bluffton given there is only about 15 miles separating the two towns.

Either way, I'm sure glad the ice and sleet is occurring there and not here. We will have Winter Storm Watches up for the Valley for this next system. Yes, the active pattern continues to wreak havoc across the Northern Plains. The inverted trough and upper-level wave will bring the threat for moderate to heavy snows across much of the area possibly as soon as tonight, with activity likely continuing through tomorrow evening. What this means is that another 5-9 inches will be possible here by then and that strong winds will once again bring Blizzard-like conditions to the area.

Granted, there are some chasers out there that are suffering through SDS so badly this time of year, they're more than willing to go out there and chase these systems. I'm definitely not one of these types... I may have let you all know that already. If I have, I apologize. I think it's worth saying again!

I have the weekend off again, and as with Blizzard Ali, I'll be staying inside where it's warm to watch. If I feel brave enough, I may get out in the elements at some point tomorrow to possibly get some photos. We'll see how motivated I am to do just that. ;)

In the meantime, stay safe everyone. No matter where you are, I'm sure you have some sort of winter weather to be concerned about.

Blizzard Status...

2008-12-13T18:00:00.000-08:00

The Threat Assessments Chart is quit colorful still tonight. Blizzard Warnings continue across much of the Northern Rockies and Plains through tomorrow morning in some areas, through tomorrow night around these parts.

While the snow hasn't starting falling very heavily here in Grand Forks, the winds have continued to increase throughout the afternoon and are quite gusty out there. The existing snow-cover we had isn't budging much. Apparently, it had crusted over just enough not to cause any problems.

I've been in all day keeping warm and working on the Webcam Network some. I've added several new cameras to southwestern Montana, a couple in Missoula and several others in and around Jackson, WY. I didn't get as many added as I wanted to today, but I kept getting distracted by the weather and the IU/KY basketball game on CBS this afternoon.

It's nice, as well, to see the WeatherCam Network get some love today. I really want the Meteorologists of the world to be able to use this thing as a real tool. For the time and effort I put into networking all these cameras (as accurately as I can!), I really want people to appreciate it.

I can see the armchair chaser really wanting these, as well. I know I always do, when I can't be where the storms are!

Blizzard Watch

2008-12-12T11:09:00.000-08:00

The first full-blown blizzard I've experienced in quite some time may come barreling through the Northern Plains this weekend. The models have been fairly consistent with pushing an intense surface low up from the southwest and progressing an upper-wave eastward from the Pacific Northwest. As these phase together Saturday over the region, we'll likely see heavy snows and strong winds.

The NWS has issued Blizzard Watches from Montana to South Dakota to Minnesota already.

I'm not particularly one of them winter-storm chasers (yes, they do exist), and even if I were, I wouldn't have to go anywhere. We will likely experience the worst of it here in Grand Forks, late Saturday and into early Sunday.

It's the perfect weekend to be off shift. No, you'll find me hibernating in the apartment, working on the Webcam Network all weekend.

Chasing snowflakes...

2008-12-05T14:13:00.001-08:00

Our friendly little Clipper "slash" 700mb wave is bringing some decent snows over the valley this afternoon... We might have close to an inch out there already.

For the latest radar image, you may want to visit my radar floater.

Chasing days of Yore

2008-12-05T12:20:00.000-08:00

You know, as a young lad and growing up through my teens I use to tape every little weather program that appeared on television. And every little event that happened in Indiana, especially across Northern Indiana, I'd tape the local news, as well as snippets from the Weather Channel.

The last two days, I've been going back through my old tapes and watching these things. Some of these events I can clearly remember, others I can't. From significant snowfalls to tornado outbreaks, I only wonder if I had been able to chase back then what things would have been like.

One of the programs I had taped was called "Cyclone" and was from "Discovery Sunday," a program that the Discovery Channel use to show way back in the early 90's. On it, they profiled Jim Leonard as a storm chaser, as well, as Project VORTEX from the '94 and '95 seasons.

Once again, I only wonder what it would have been like to have been chasing back then. In the early 90's people chased strictly for the love of the atmosphere, to see that next great Supercell. They knew how to forecast and they chased with their intuition, rather than with computers and WxWorks systems. The great thing about it, they still were great at it.

There were no storm chasing tour groups crowding intersections... There were no hooligans out there chasing that had no formal training... And there certainly were no chasers out there risking their lives just to make a buck!

Sometimes I wish I could have led an earlier life.

Welcome!

2008-11-28T21:14:00.000-08:00

And the storm chasing blogging community was never the same... Hah!

Nah, more simply the "WeatherBlog" of mine will be a thing of the past here shortly. Amidst resizing some photos this evening (I need some new wallpapers for my workstation in the office!) I've been seriously re-thinking my priorities on the web.

The photoBlog, I love the idea and enjoy having a medium I can share some of my best photographic work. Yet, I already have exceptional Gallery Software to work with on my web-site in Coppermine.

In effect, the photoBlog may be eliminated very soon.

The Update Blog I started for my Nationwide WeatherCam Network is now gone. I have a log I maintain already for that. And I never advertised for the blog to begin with.

The personal blog will never die, don't you worry about that... That remains my haven to spout out about my life, in general. This, "Chaser's World," will eventually replace what was once "Gravity Waves..." My attempt at bringing to you all everything weather that is occurring in or out of my life.

Chaser's World will provide a new in-depth analysis of what it's really like to be a Storm Chaser. What kind of life I, personally, live as a Storm Chaser, and the drama that comes along with it.

I'll share chase logs, even occasional forecast discussions on what my peers and I are peering at for potential events.

So, sit back and turn off "Twister Sisters" on that woman's channel on TV and that ridiculous series on the Discovery Channel. There's no wild and crazy antics on here! It's all reality!