Grabbing the Bull by the Horns

The slow start to this chase season is eating me alive. It wouldn't be so bad if it was actually warm out, but with the exception of the past 2 days, the past 6 weeks have been below normal around here. We had no storm days at all during March. Pathetic. January actually saw 4 tstorm days in Chicago!

So what is one to do when not chasing? I actually created my own silver lining to the slow start by aggressively doing vehicle maintenance. I made a long list of things that needed to be done in order to get the thing running in tip top shape. The major burden was a catalytic converter replacement required by the state of IL in order to pass the emissions and legally renew my registration. That was a nice 900 dollar, unecessary repair. I figured as long as I am doing that I might as well just do everything.

It has been very costly, and while not all the work was needed, it will benefit me in the long run with a reliable vehicle that will easily go 200k miles and beyond. I have one thing left to do, and it is road ready. I go back to work in just a few days, so while I have completely exhausted my budget, the money will soon start piling up again.

Another thing I have done, and some may have noticed this is I have upped my self promotion to the point of almost being one of those annoying people who whores themself out. For years I told myself I would let myself be discovered through my own hard work, and while that has indeed happened, I was lazy in actually making a strong effort to put myself out there. I just kinda did my thing and let people find me. It worked, but as I did this, people were blowing me by, and getting the things I want for myself.

I also didn't want to deal with people turning their nose at me for "whoring" myself out. There was a time I didn't want to upset my peers by coming off as some whacker noob in it for the wrong reasons. Those days are over and I am now of the mentallity that if you dont like me or what I do, you can piss off. This is my life, my dream, and Ill be damned if I let someone else and their opinions try and tell me how to run it.

So this year I have sent out emails, I have branched out and made new contacts. I finally have a real logo to identify my brand with. I finally figured out the direction I want my facebook page to go and how to engage my followers. It took me a year to reach 650 likes. In the last 2 months I have tripled that simply with a new plan. I scored myself a couple small sponshorship deals which include some free stuff and free mobile internet. This makes chasing easier on myself financially and opens up my work to a wider audience.

As they say in Twister, "The days of sniffing the dirt are over." There is nothing else I want more in life than to have chasing be my full time gig. Ill work a normal job to support a comfortable living for myself, I have no problems with that, but if I really want the freedom to chase wherever and whenever I want I need to figure out ways to make that happen.

No more sitting around and waiting for things to fall into my lap, its time to grab the bull by the horns and make it happen for myself. I've come too far, and put way too much effort to quit now. I believe I have too much skill and good things to share with people than to just sit in the shadows and let people pass me by.

..and THIS is how one keeps busy during an abnormally slow start to tornado season. Im feeling really confident right now after all I've struggle to do in the last couple months. Hopefully the pattern picks up and I get a chance to back up my claims and show my worth. Cmon mother nature...send a bull into my rink.

Waiting...

We are a week into March. Woo Hoo chase season, Spring!!! But wait...something isn't right. Thats right, Chicago just received 9.5" of snow yesterday making it the largest snowstorm since the GHD blizzard back in February 2011 as well as a top 4 March snow event in all of Chicago's 128 year weather history.

The start of March is an exciting time for most people. Spring is just around the corner, warmer weather, better times, sunnier skies and stormier days. No group of weirdos on the planet await this time of year with more anticipation than storm chasers, which I consider myself to be (a subjective definition if ever there was one, but I believe I fit the bill in my own biased eyes.)

So...where the hell is spring?!?!?!? Lets turn the trustworthy forecast models. (click to enlarge image)

Wait...What?!?!

While fluctuations like this are normal, especially in the long range, these are pretty radical. Overall the trend has been colder than normal though, with only brief spells of mild weather. Every now and then we'll get teased by a few runs that look warmer and more spring-like, only to be followed up by more runs showing colder than normal temps.

So we can't look there. Where else can we look? While I don't consider myself an expert and noone should view me as such. Over the years I have become a huge fan of the teleconnections, especially one known as the NAO (North Atalintic Oscillation.) Basically it has to do with ocean currents and how they affect the jet stream. Like all weather patterns it fluctuates.

A positive pattern promotes west coast troughing, a pattern more favorable for severe weather while a negative pattern promotes east coast troughing and generally cooler weather across the US. Not good for large scale severe weather patterns. I have been observing this for a couple years now, and found it to be pretty accurate (but like anything with weather, it isn't 100% garauntee) Taking a look I am not seeing much love here either, but a low trend towards hopefully a positive phase is better than nothing. I have also marked 2 recent noteable tornado outbreaks and both correlate with a positive phase.

Notice in February we tanked into a negative phase, and suddenly winter arrives and take a stronghold for many in the heartland. The forecast seems to go along with the general cold trend seen on the models, another sign I am not a fan of.

All of this is hard to digest for a severe weather lover such as myself as I am not seeing many of the signs I normally would like to see come spring time. It is far too early to sound the panic alarm though. This type of pattern is not unheard of this time of year, and sometimes things get off to a slow start. 2008 was the only year in my chase career I didn't chase in March, and 2008 set a record number of tornadoes for the country. Anything can happen.

All it takes is a sudden pattern change and BAM, things light up. Unfortunately, such a pattern doesn't look to be in the cards just yet. There will be marginal setups along the way though, and even slow patterns have their fare share of severe weather producing setups, just not the kind to lure someone like me from Chicago to Kansas.

My advice to those eager to get out who can't sit still is to take advantage of what appears to be a slow start. Fine tune your projects, double check all that vehicle maintenance. Put in some overtime at work to stock up on time off for when things do decide to change. 

It will happen...

Tornado Days

Been on a stats kick lately so I decided to check out all the calendar days I have seen tornadoes and discovered something funny. I have never seen a tornado on the same calendar day in different years. Out of 365 days in a year I have seen tornadoes on 31 of them, but each date is different.

Perhaps that will be a fun little goal I can try to hit in 2013, double up on a calender day to make that my "statistically best tornado day"

Anyways, here are the tornado days:

March:
2nd (2012)
22nd (2011)

April:
9th (2011)
13th (2012)
14th (2012)
19th (2011)
22nd (2010)
27th (2011)
29th (2010)

May:
5th (2007)
10th (2010)
12th (2011)
13th (2009)
21st (2011)
22nd (2010)
23rd (2008)
24th (2011)
25th (2008)

June:
5th (2009, 2010)
6th (2007)
7th (2008)
10th (2010)
14th (2009)
15th (2009)
17th (2010)
19th (2011)
20th (2011)

July:
26th (2011)

October:
12th (2012)
18th (2007)

November:
7th (2011)

Side note - further illustrating how much 2012 sucked, it is the first year since I started visiting the plains in 2007 that I did not see a tornado in May or June. Sad...

Edit* - It turns out the entire context of this blog is false. I just remembered I saw tornadoes on June 5th, 2010 as well which makes that my "best tornado day" Whoops...

First Thunderstorm of 2013 for Chicago

Well here is my obligatory first thunderstorm of the year post. A very unusual winter we are having this year. It is January 11th and the city's official snowfall so far is an almost non existent 1.3" - which is about a foot below normal. Numerous snow records have fallen including latest first date for measurable snow, longest consecutive days without measurable snow and longest consecutive days without an inch of snow. We also tied the latest date for the first sub-freezing high temperature as well broke a couple of other odd anti winter weather records I can't remember off the top of my head. For people like me who hate winter and snow, its been a dream pattern!

The next record to be threatened is the latest first date of an Inch of snow, which is January 17th - but a system tomorrow threatens us with an inch or 2 of snow so well have to see if we can dodge yet another bullet.

Anyways, the lack of snow isn't due to lack of precip, but rather a mild pattern. We have picked up a good deal of rain in the last month which is helping to ease the drought some. Yesterday another good dumping of rain came with a brief period of thunder and lightning and I was able to log the first thunderstorm for the local area. Quite unusual to have it so early in the year, but not unheard of. In fact last year in January we had an even better event with actual individual convective cells containing numerous CG lightning.

This event was more CC lightning embedded in a large shield of rain with only a couple CG. Still though, lightning is lightning and thunder is thunder. I will take it over snow anyday! I wasn't home at the time so the only radar shot I saved was from the app on my cell phone. A CG icon can be seen near Palos Heights.

Naturally, this only makes me long for more frequent and stronger storms and gets me excited for the upcoming season. Preliminary thoughts see it being much better than 2012 for the pure fact I won't be as financially stressed as I was during 2012 and now that I am better established at work I can get more time off to chase, so those two facts alone should increase my success.

Now the weather cooperating is another story. Its too early to tell. Many are worried about the still ongoing drought but I am not as big of a doomsday sayer since much of the country has seen a good snowfall over the winter. Even parts of west Texas which were bone dry managed to get more snow than Chicago. It seems moisture is returning to the US, albeit slowly. So as always, we'll just wait and see...

DVD Review: Storm Snob

Storm chaser and good friend Ben Holcomb has released his 3rd DVD this year, titled Storm Snob

Ben is one of only a couple chasers to release DVDs this season. The title derives from the notion that storm chasers who live in tornado alley refuse to chase anything outside of those boundaries while scoffing at others who choose to do so. Given the fact that every second of video on this DVD comes from Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, the title is very fitting.

2012 was a tough year for chasers, but Ben was one of the few who had a good success ratio, so the expectations when viewing were higher than others. This year Ben seemed to have a special knack for finding that needle in a haystack storm that would produce on a day where 20 other storms wouldn't. Despite his success compared to other individual chasers in 2012, there probably still wouldn't be enough content from 2012 alone, so it begins with events from fall of 2011 (which followed his already completed second DVD release.)

The DVD opens with September 17th and covers a marginal, but rewarding setup in Oklahoma. Video shows 2 different tornadoes on the ground at the same time, and some neat funnel rotation directly overhead. The video is good and stable despite parts of the tornado managing to sneak out of frame for a bit. A very nice, solid opening to the DVD.

Things ramp up big time in the next chapter which covers November 7th 2011. This was a big day for many (including myself as you will see since I am riding along with him.) Footage shows many tornadoes of all shapes and sizes from all different ranges. Beginning with the dramatic Tipton EF-4 (which is the cover image of the DVD) and ending with an impressive 3 tornadoes on the ground at the same time 4 hours later. In between there are numerous other tornadoes including one that travels right through a wind farm. This is the longest chapter of the DVD and is jam packed with tornado action. This day could be a DVD all on its own and is well worth the price of purchase.

We finally move into 2012 with the plains' first good tornadoes on March 18th. Another solid chapter showing 2 tornadoes with little "fluff." Its intro, then tornado time.

April 13th follows and shows Ben and his chase partner attempting to view a tornado that went through their hometown of Norman, Oklahoma. Footage is mostly them driving shouting the tornado is there, but it is almost impossible to make out given the position. Some damage footage follows proving a tornado was there though. Later in the day they witness an odd looking cone tornado near Saddle Mountain, OK as they intercept a beastly HP storm. Nothing knock-your-socks-off dramatic as the view was far, but any tornado shot in 2012 is a bonus.

April 14th, the big day of the year follows. Unfortunately there are no dramatic shots of the amazing Langley tornado like many would expect, but there are still several tornadoes to be had, including a non-condensed one in a nearby field. A pair of cone tornadoes near dusk and after dark follows. As a bonus you get to see a turkey get blasted to smitherines, though if you are an animal lover, this might make you queezy. Its only low quality dash cam footage so no need to throw any graphic content warnings.

A chapter covering April 30th follows and shows Ben's big unique prize catch of the year. A beautiful, strong tornado near Medford, OK. As far as I know, the only existing footage of this tornado comes from Ben and you will have to get this DVD in order to see it. Unfortunately, it is after dark so all you are allowed by nature are glimpses in between lightning flashes, but at least the frames are frozen so you can see it longer than a tenth of a second. Still, for night time video it is awesome, and Ben throws in some great still photos as well of this awesome tornado.

May 25th was a decent day for many chasers, including Ben. Another chapter with multiple tornadoes, but again unfortunately they are after dark so all you are allowed are brief glimpses from far away and some still shots.

We fast forward to fall and find ourselves in October chasing a supercell north of Lubbock, TX. The chapter starts out with some large hail footage, which adds a nice variety to a DVD where every other chapter follows a -daily intro-tornado time- format. I for one appreciate variety in a DVD and like to see something other than tornadoes once in awhile. A weak tornado spins up later, and the group was in position to get good video of it. Lightning photos follow to conclude a solid chase day turned solid DVD chapter.

The DVD wraps up with a photo montage chapter showing various structure, lightning, tornado and even random humorous shots throughout the year.

Overall thoughts:

This is about as good as it gets for a single chaser highlight DVD covering 2012. Every chapter features tornadoes, and there is almost no filler or fluff. Little bonuses like radar images are a nice addition to the shot to show how the storms evolve during the chase. Most of the video is tripoded and very stable even though a few moments are plagued by auto focus. This is a definite buy for every level of DVD enthusiast. A great addition to your collection, even if you are the hard to please, must be loaded with tornado video DVD type of person. I highly recommend it.

Check it out and order it here: http://www.benholcomb.com/store/dvds/stormsnob

Thats All She Wrote v2012

With only a few days left to go, I eagerly await to put the nails in 2012s coffin. Anyone who has ever chased something other than their own tail knows why. It is highly unlikely another chase will present itself, so its now safe to compile the stats. So lets take a look at the quick and dirty numbers.

Total chases: 15
Total tornadoes: 10
Tornado days: 4

New milestones accomplished:

- First Kentucky tornadoes (2) on March 2nd which were also the:
- Earliest tornadoes seen in a season

...and thats where the accomplishments stop, the first chase of the season. 2012 was an awful year, not only for me, but for most chasers. Numbers don't lie either, and last I checked, this may end up being the year with the second lowest tornado count on record so in part I don't feel so bad. Another reason I don't feel so bad is the fact I started a new job in the beginning of April and it would have been hard for me to squeeze out of work to chase. I wanted to build up a good reputation with the company, and missing a bunch of good tornado days would have made that extremely agonizing. So in a way, the selfish part of me is very thankful for that.

Still though, what made the year so frustrating was the days I did chase either A) busted or B) bad decision making or bad luck cost us the day. There were really only 2 big tornado producing days I chased. March 2nd and April 14th. Both days I saw tornadoes, but both days I also blew scoring the best catches of the days.

On March 2nd I didn't communicate with everyone what time I wanted to leave, and we got a half hour late start. My lead foot made up for lost time, but a traffic accident around Indianapolis forced us onto a critical time costing detour. My plan that day would have worked perfect, but we were an unfortunate 15 minutes too late. We did the best we could after though and got the Kentucky tornadoes, and ended up not crawling home busted...except in terms of worthy video.

April 14th saved the season for many. Take away this day and you would have a larger number of chasers currently taking Xanax over the winter. I saw 5 tornadoes...but 3 were pathetic weak bird farts. The last 2 were very nice tornadoes, but at dusk/after dark. No good video from them either. On this day I teamed up with Ben and we had a conflict of interest in terms of a target. He liked Oklahoma (of course) and I liked Salina,KS. Both our targets saw nice tornadoes, yet for some reason we ended up in the middle with mediocrity. Going back on that day I'm still not sure how that exactly happened...and would rather not think about it. After much analysis I think I finally figured out why our storms didn't produce, and will use this new knowledge to hopefully not make that mistake in the future.

I guess another milestone I could technically add is my first chase to North Dakota, but with that being just one of many busted days. I hardly look back on it and think pleasant thoughts which brings me to the next point.

The bust count was highest I have had in any year (9 out of 15!!) with days holding big potential such as April 27th and May 5th going to waste. Illinois even got into the blue sky bust action on September 5th, and until then I have never experienced a blue sky bust on home turf. That one stung...

Certainly over the years I have been somewhat spoiled by the amazing things I've seen, and this might play a role into the way I perceive things. Take my 2012 results and stick them in say, 2006 and I would probably still be floating in the air from excitement. I think part of that is because I KNOW that despite 2012 being an overall downer of a year, there were still amazing things that happened. I just can't chase everything...yet. My lifes goal and dream is to be able to do this. It is taking longer than I had hoped though, and that is perhaps adding to the frustration, I knew it would be difficult, but it appears I was over confident from the get-go.

Lack of funds were also a big factor. I may have bit on more marginal days that ended up producing if I had the funds. I always hated putting all my stock into higher risk and weekend days but those were the cards I was forced to play this year. I worked my ass off all week, and hauled more ass out to the plains on any weekend there was a setup, no matter how meager. I just had to try.

2013 is looking better in the financial department already with the coming of a HUGE raise once work resumes in April. I am definitely excited about those possibilities. Even if I still can't get time off to chase everything, the fact I wont be stressing over affording it will be nice, and if I end up not chasing much I can upgrade equipment and pay off debts to put myself in ever better shape for the future.

I go back and forth with the idea of moving. I hate Illinois and especially Chicago (for political reasons I wont get into on this blog) but this is my home, and I've grown to love the fickle and challenging climatology. I don't subscribe to the growing trend of moving to Norman so I can become the next super chaser, but on the other side there is an obvious advantage to living in the alley, so I can't completely write it off. We'll just wait and see how the cards continue to fall I guess.

We're heading into the dead of winter (or should I say anti-winter) here in Chicago, and there are many projects ongoing. Ill be blogging more frequently from now on as well as I have much to say.

DVD Review: A Journey Through the Plains.

A Journey Through the Plains is the second DVD release from Ohiostormchasers.com which covers the 2012 chase season. I have not seen the first DVD so I can't compare the two for the sake of evolution.

The DVD's first chapters cover some less significant local events in Ohio. Nothing terribly dramatic but it shows a couple good spring time thunderstorms with a few wind gusts and some hail. A little too much "driving in the rain" footage makes me wonder where the good parts of the storm are, but they do happen. Educational pieces cut in to explain what is actually going on and what they are getting excited about. This is found throughout the DVD and is great for education purposes. A very nice "bonus" that is not advertised.

Things begin to pick up pace once the groups actual journey to the plains begins. The first of these 3 chapters covers a severe hail event in Texas where the group encounters severe hail accumulating on the ground like snow, they then stop to help a motorist who slid into a ditch and observe some structure on the backside. Some scenes are a little drawn out, but overall highlight the event in a nice way.

The next chapter is probably the highlight of the DVD as the group has a very close encounter with a large tornado near Cooperton, Oklahoma. Many different shots of the event are provided, though the dark nature of the encounter makes it hard to see allot of the details. An out-house type structure is blown away and destroyed nearby, showing just how close of an encounter it was. The film quality takes away from the experience a bit, and I for one am not a fan of lots of screaming and yelling. If you are a fan of dramatic chapters with the close encounter, this is the one for you.

Moving on to the next chapter, which covers April 14th. This was the single day that made the season for many chasers as multiple tornadoes struck Oklahoma and Kansas during the years biggest outbreak. The group managed to get on some of the early storms that dropped a number of rope and trunk tornadoes. My favorite shot shows a vorticy in a field moving directly over a house, but doing no damage. If you are a fan of clear, classic looking tornado footage this is the chapter that best accomplishes that. While none of the footage is in your face jaw dropping, they are still good shots of classic plains tornadoes, and overall represent the goal of every storm chaser when they set out to chase. Music and narration overlays a good deal of footage which is both good and bad in its own ways. I prefer a natural sound, but I know from my own filming that sometimes wind noise and obnoxious dialogue is too unbearable at times, and music is a good way to solve that issue. This is probably my favorite chapter despite my own bitter feelings towards this day.

The final chapter covers a historic derecho that affected the Ohio valley on June 29th. I always enjoy footage of local damaging events as they put into perspective of the damage that a non tornadic thunderstorm can do.  Highlighted moments include multiple trees crashing down as the worst wind hits and then the damage afterwards.

Overall Thoughts:

The editing was a strong point in this DVD which showed good pre planning and thought as opposed to just chopping footage together and slapping it on a DVD. I was definitely impressed with it. The educational graphics and radar images are a great bonus that will help the viewer better understand what is going on. Some of the chapters run a bit longer than they need to be, especially early on during events that weren't too significant or dramatic. In a year like 2012 though it is hard to fill disc space, so its allowed. Having tornadoes in the DVD is always a plus, though none of that footage is knock-your-socks-off dramatic (not always a bad thing, but a weak point when considering the fact that much of today's audiences seem harder to please.)

I would certainly recommend this as a trade, as well as a good buy especially since the 2012 DVD market will have slim pickings due to many chasers simply not getting much. If you enjoy new DVDs, having a large collection, seeing everything that happened in every year then definitely scoop this up. If you are the type who only prefers dramatic, clear, stabilized tornado shots from beginning to end, this is probably not the DVD for you.

Check it out and order it here: http://www.ohiostormchasers.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=61

The Next DVD

I have sort of fallen off the weather scope this year. Most of us know 2012 sucked overall as a chase season. Take away April 14th and almost all of us, myself included would be going even more insane with post season SDS. Working 12 hours during the week and then trying to have a life away from the computer on weekends gives me little time to work on what video I did get. I mostly stay active through my facebook "like" page, posting weather updates there when I get a moment.

http://www.facebook.com/TornadoChasing

However, that doesn't mean the weather gears in my head have stopped turning. I am talking about this years DVD. Why am I making a DVD if the year sucked so bad? Well luckily the amazing chase of November 7th 2011, which couldn't be squeezed onto my first DVD will be able to provide a good 30 minutes or more of tornado video, so that will save it from lacking good tornado video. The other reason is I have a really good idea for the next DVD, and this is the perfect time to do it. I don't want to give too much away but as far as I know I haven't seen another DVD done the way I am thinking of doing mine.

I am actually pretty excited thinking about it, because it is different. Now doing something different always comes with risks. People will either receive it well, or not at all, but nothing ventured is nothing gained. I am not sure when I will be able to get the DVD done and right now I don't think it will be before the year is over. As mentioned above, work eats up all my time, but since is my work is seasonal I will be able to ramp up production big time when I am finished for the year.

I don't know when that will be, it basically depends on when it snows. Last year they finished on December 2nd, the year before they were done on November 20th. So that is up in the air. Even when life gets in my way, I am always thinking about how to advance my chasing career. I am currently in a tough spot in life, but I will find a way to persevere. I also need to get back into the groove of promoting myself more either through pictures, former chase logs or youtube videos.

There has been a recent spike in Noob DVD orders, which also helps keep me motivated. Its nice to know people actually want to see what I have been able to accomplish. I still welcome trades as well, and I think this next DVD is mostly going to be for trade and sold at a low price of like 10 bucks or something.

More details as they come! Still waiting and hoping for a fall chase to save the year. Cmon 11-7-11 v2.0!!!! 

Rough Year

Ugh.

Since my storm chasing "career" began accelerating back in 2007, each year got better. I saw better storms, got better video, made better media sales, website hits etc etc. I kept telling myself this trend couldn't last forever and that I was getting spoiled and like the old saying goes "what goes up must come down" I knew I was eventually due for a year that would just not go my way.

This is that year.

I can't complain too much I suppose, I do have 8 tornadoes under my belt, but from those 8 tornadoes I don't even think I have a minute of truly good tornado video. The daytime tornadoes I caught were all brief, weak spinups or in horrible terrain so the view was mostly obscured by trees. The best looking tornadoes I saw were all at dusk or after dark and barely came out at all. So this year has been absolutely awful in that regards.

Almost every setup I chased ended up under performing from a forecast standpoint. Blue sky busts and structure-less crap storms I can see here in Chicago. I would at least be happy with awesome structure to take pictures or video of. Something, anything...but nope, not much in that department either.

The 2 big outbreak days [March 2nd and April 14th] I saw tornadoes on, but had overall blunders that kept me from the best action. On March 2nd I failed to inform everyone when we were leaving so we hit the road an hour late, and storms went up 2 hours early, we could have still made it for our planned intercept, but a car accident on I-65 forced us onto a time costly detour. April 14th we somehow ended up in a small zone of Kansas where storms just refused to wedge out. Never before on any chase have I see such rapid rotation not produce a prolific tornado. Scud was literally spinning just above the ground. I wish I was smart enough to understand why those storms couldn't get it done, while the ones to the north and the south did.

The big problem with this year goes back to February when my financial situation just got completely destroyed. I was forced to get back into a full time working routine, and when I say full time I mean full time plus overtime. 20+ hours per pay period to be exact. I have to be picky again about choosing setups to chase, and apparently I can't choose the right ones for the life of me. It seems the best tornadoes this year are all the results of mesoscale accidents. It also doesn't help May was characterized by a summer-like pattern where you have a string of 5% days with thermo nuclear caps, 1 in 20 will produce awesome tornadoes, and just which setup will do it is anyones guess. You either have to already be out there chasing everything or live close enough to make the haul. Unfortunately I fall into neither of those.

It has been a terrible midwest year. Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Minnesota. Forget about it...2012 is the year traditional tornado alley earns its title. Local setups? Non existent.

Stream views are low [not much to watch] and I haven't submitted one clip for media sale. Yeah that is not what chasing is about, but for me its a part of it, and a part that is doing terrible as well this year. Of course my setup is working flawlessly this year, and I have not had any issues, unlike last year when people were actually trying to watch. Go figure.

The fact I am working 12+ hour days leaves me little time to update my website and social media pages to gain followers. Why does this matter? Well, when I do have something to offer its nice to have more people to offer it to.

Why don't I just pack up and move to Norman as so many have suggested? Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't seriously considering it, but its just not possible right now. I still carry the burden of my pre-chasing  past and have some debts to rid myself of before I could take on the burden of new rent and finding employment. Few chasers know my actual life story. I don't key them in because most just simply don't understand and most of them simply don't care. The wheels are in motion for moving to be a possibility though, because if its one thing this season has taught me, its that I cannot work full time in Chicago and have the chasing career I want. I will never settle for this. I don't care if my priorities are out of line. I know what I want, and if its not what "normal" people want...oh well.

If there is a light, its that I learned life does go on missing all the good stuff and I can have other reasons to smile and laugh, but it does suck. I belong out there, in the action. I have also watched some of the chasers I have the most respect for [Bill Doms, Shane Adams and Mike Hollingshead] all go through these rough patches as well, and they always bounce back and I have more respect for them for never giving up and pushing through it. This also helps keep me motivated to know its not just me [sorry guys, don't mean to benefit from your misery lol!]

I have also had a blast out there chasing with everyone as always. If anything, having such a great time on the road and coming home with sub-par results has reminded me why I love this so much. The hours on the road, the places visited, the weird conversations and antics inside the truck all remind me why storm chasing is simply the best thing to do...ever.

May 2012 will be the first May since 2006 I have not seen a tornado in. June has always been my best month, and hopefully this June will offer redemption in a big way, or it is going to be a looooooooooooooooooong summer/fall/winter. The pattern ahead looks boring through, and with the traditional end of chasing season usually falling around June 20th. Panic mode is setting in. I may have to hit up more northern plains setups in the summer until I get that season making tornado shot.

Back to the Full Time.

Work schedule that is...

There is nothing I want more in my life than to be able to chase freely and whenever I want to while being able to afford a comfortable living for myself. Doesn't seem like much to ask out of life but apparently it is. I have always admired people that chased their dreams as opposed to just simply conforming, and try to live by example, but it is tough. I have myself to blame for some of it.

Very few chasers know my actual life story and the burdens of my past. These burdens still haunt me in the present in the form of great debt. A debt which has made it harder to get the life I want as I struggle to rid myself of it all. That is the main reason for this decision.

I came close to achieving it back in 2009, more than half of it was wiped out and things were going swell. But then life had other plans, my van exploded and I was forced to purchase a new vehicle, then I lost my job a few months later [great timing HUH?!] Since then I took the time off to experience the chase freedom I've always wanted. I had some money saved up, and there was unemployment. Yes, I collected it for awhile and chased. Think less of me for it? Fuck you. I deserved it.

That time was short though, but in that time I realized what I truly want out of life. I was making big bucks back in the day, but was miserable at my job. Being able to chase freely is the most amazing thing in life, but struggling to pay off debt isn't. It's clear now what I have to do.

It is damn near impossible to make a decent income from chasing. Especially in my position. No money to start, living far away from the alley. I don't have a rich family supporting my passion. I've had to purchase my way in with mostly bottom of line, shitty equipment that breaks down allot. My competition is spoiled rich kids with fat allowances that can load up on the latest and greatest technology and simply smoke my ass. I have no trust funds or large sums of money coming my way to secure my life. Fair enough.

So, what does one do? You need money to chase. If you dont have people paying your way through life, you must work for money. If you work, you can't chase. When I say you can't chase, I mean "I can't chase as much as I want to." Some people work because they want big paychecks to buy a big house a big boat, have 7 cars and a bunch of ridiculous stuff to which they can use to validate their own perspective on what it means to be successful.

Not me, I will work to support what I love doing. Even if it means living in a small trailer or apartment on a 25K a year income. If I can chase, my life is complete. So that is where I stand today. I've taken a job with  Deck Staining company working full time. The pay isn't as great as I was hoping initially, but it will be enough to get me back on track, to hopefully wipe out my truck payments along with credit debt.

In a year they tell me I can be my own boss, with my own schedule and can chase whenever I want along with a good income to boot and that is the reason they hired me. They want me in that position, not doing the labor/field work I am going to be doing this year, but its something I have to do while I learn the business.

Plus, I may be gloom and dooming my situation more than I need to. The guy who hired me is understanding of what I want to do, and told me if there is a system I can't miss and want to chase they will work with me. It seems like a good fit. They understand my passion, and seem to be a company based on "you get my back, I got yours" and I like that. I've turned down better paying jobs when they've told me "yea, you get 1 to 2 weeks off a year thats it, chasing won't work and you have to make a choice"

Well I've made my choice...I will never give up the dream. I will make it work, and while my 2012 season may have taken a hit. I refuse to let my life and my dream suffer the same fate. I don't care what work I have to do to make this happen. It will happen. Work is just that...work. Not life.