Still no consistent Internet. To quote polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott, “What a god-forsaken place!”
Author: Lisa Beal
03 May 2013 – Interim entry
We are on Terlingua, TX today. We spent the whole day here, just stone’s throw from the Mexican border.
We have VERY limited Internet availability here. I’m just doing a short, temporary entry until I have a better connection.
Buenos niches!
02 May 2013 – CHASE 2013 – DAY 2
02 May 2013 – CHASE 2013 – DAY 2 – Heading to the Big Bend
0700 – I’m awake! Did morning chores. Pulled myCharge, iPhone, camera batteries off their respective chargers.
0800 – packed everything but computer gear and iPhone. Transferred Nikon D7000 photos to my portable hard drive. Made shrunken copies of key photos for the day. Updated my blog entries for yesterday
1030 – meet others at the van to load up for the day.
10:35 – Do weather briefing. No expectation of storms for 2-3 days, at least. We will head to Terlingua,TX where we’ll set up our.base to explore
Big Bend National Park.
10:40 – Headed to The Beehive for lunch; arrived 20 minutes later. Excellent brisket and great stories about Albany and the restaurant from the owner, Ali (who came 33 year ago from Iran).
12:50 – stop for damage photos and video at a local oil company, Sazama Fuel & Oil. Departed Albany westbound, toward I-20.
14:36 – Continuing west on I-20, passing through Sweetland.
50 minutes later, exit at TX350 (Big Spring) for provisions.
15:51 – Continue west.
16:00 – Dust streaming across the interstate. All that is left of a lake north of us is a pitiful lakebed dotted with old tires and the dust spewing at us.
18:45 – We do a 20-minute Walmart stop in Fort Stockton then head south from I-10 on US67.
_____ – we stop the McDonalds in Alpine for dinner (a grilled chicken Caesar salad for me).
21:00 – Arrive at our motel near Big Bend National Park (in Terlingua, TX). Unload gear, set up chargers, turn in for the night. (I briefly tried to find a view of Saturn, but low clouds and trees are blocking the view until hours later.)
01 May 2013 – CHASE 2013 – DAY 1
01 May 2013 – CHASE 2013 – DAY 1 – Oklahoma and Texas
06:15 – Wake; morning chores;; pack bags
07:30 – Drop bags at Holiday Inn; return rental car
08:00 – Return to Wyngate via shuttle; eat breakfast.
08:30 – Walk to Holiday Inn; meet other chasers; do introductions and safety briefing,
10:30 – Pack vans, grab cameras and head for Wichita Falls , TX then toward Abilene.
12:50 – Rest stop then lunch 20 minutes later (just north of Wichita Falls, TX).
13:20 – Continue southwest from Wichita Falls on US277.
15:12 – stop at Munday for bathrooms, fuel, food. Continue southeast
17:15 – turn back north from Albany on US283. Storms with 55,000 foot have developed along I44 in southern OK, with the line spreading into our area. We are in a severe storm watch box.
18:00 – sky stop. We see a storm with a hard back sheared, take photos as it evolves.
18:30 – depart south on US283 as the cold outflow breeze of the storm invades.
19:35 – we duck south, bit by bit, trying to keep out of monster (2.5-inch or larger) hail. At one point we can to the hail roar of the storm. (Hail roar is the sound of large hail hitting the ground, cars, rooftops, etc. It can sound like thunder only it can last for minutes at a time.)
20:30 – We stop west of Albany,TX, where we witness a spectacular display of spider lightning. I have embarrassing camera issues here, because I miss a control setting. Our team leader helps me figure it out, but I miss the best part of the lightning. To add insult to injury, the Storm Prediction Center indicates an unfavorable weather pattern (for storm chasers) for at least three days. I feel terribly frustrated.
Still, I captured a little bit:
22:30 – We depart for our hotel after a fast food dinner at the Dairy Queen in Fort Griffin.
23:00 – We check into The Ridge Motel in Breckinridge,TX.
23:46 – turn in for the night. I’m exhausted physically and emotionally.
2013 Restaurant Reviews
Here the restaurant reviews my 2013 storm season (which I’ll update as events warrant):
Season Plan | Accommodations | Restaurants | Tools | Web Links |
NOTE: The restaurant and accommodations links will be dead until I get out in the field.
2013 Accommodations Review
Here are the hotel and motel reviews for my 2013 storm season (which I’ll update as events warrant):
CHASE 2013 |
2013 ACCOMMODATIONS REVIEWS
|
Season Plan | Accommodations | Restaurants | Tools | Web Links |
NOTE: The restaurant and accommodations links will be dead until I get out in the field.
2013 CHASE SEASON
30 April 2013 – CHASE 2013 – Arrival
30 April 2013 – CHASE 2013 – Arrival
TODAY”S activities:
05:00 wake up
05:10 morning chores
05:20 Take trash to the curb
05:30 Airport limo arrived. My favorite driver, David, is driving. We talk about friends, relationship maintenance, and life on the trip to O’Hare.
0615 Arrive O’Hare. Due to my tripod case looking like a gun chase I check that along with backup photo gear. ($60 to check two bags! Highway robbery!!) I also end up gate-checking my carry-on bag (with my primary camera gear). I try to hide my displeasure and eventually settle in for the flight. Regional jets are more intimate than their massive cousins, but I always suffer separation anxiety when I travel separately from my most expensive toys.
__ Wheels up and on our way. Our compact yet comfy Canadair CRJ700 angles southwest toward the heart of Tornado Alley. As I sip my diet tonic water — scored a full can! — I chat with the flight attendant and compare note on her Canadair vs. the ski-equipped KC-130 aircraft of my Antarctic era. It seems that both planes began their lives as cargo aircraft are were later retrofitted with seats for passengers. (Learn something new every day!)
_____ arrive at OKC. To my chagrin, I discover my rental car location is not at the airport, but a $20 cab ride away. What’s more: the airport rental agent had put through the charge already, so I had to have him back it out.
_____ drove downtown. Ate lunch at Thai Kitchen (a recommendation from my Thai can driver). Great meal and great price. I guess the detour to the rental car served a second purpose. Lesson: Learn to make the most of detours; sometimes the scenic route turns out better.
_____ Consulted Google Maps to find a photo store. All the signs (Yelps, reviews, etc.) point to Baker Camera in Yukon, a short hop west of OKC. Upon arriving I make two wonderful discoveries: 1) Yukon is Garth Brooks’ hometown (“teenage!”) and 2) Hank Baker, the owner of this oasis of prosumer Nikon and Canon gear, is also an accomplished storm photographer.
_____ Swing by the Sam’s Club off McArthur Blvd. to pick up protein bars. Imodium (just in case), dried mangoes, and a jar of marinated asparagus.
____ Back to the Wyngate for a brief unwind.
_____ Go to the Texas Roadhouse. Celebrate Willie Nelson’s 80th birthday with a Skinny Margarita. A 12-oz. ribeye, and a cup of chili.
_____ return to the hotel. Charge up phone, photo and video batteries and myCharge (iPhone charge bank). Check the forecasts and models. Looks like we’ll dive south into Texas for our first chase day.
22:00 Turn in for the night
TRAVEL HUMOR:
I usually read along with the flight attendant while she (or he) goes through the safety card. Besides the fact every plane is a little different, I’ve always considered it polite to pay attention to a person when they speak. Usually, the safety briefing is pretty repetitious, but today I found something new:
It never occurred to me that a person with a pacemaker would be required to turn it off during the flight! Everybody got a good laugh when I pointed this out. Now my joke collection has a pacemaker joke. “Who’d w thunk it?”
Tornadoes I’ve seen – Childhood-2013
Count | Date | My location | Rating | Summary | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
001 | 1967-04-21 2050Z | Belvidere,IL | F4 | 24 killed (most at Belvidere High School) | First tornado I recall vividly |
002 | 1967-06-11 1820Z | S of Rockford,IL | F1 | Did $4M damage | |
003 | 1975-06-28 | Fargo, ND | F2 | Mile-wide stovepipe tornado over farmland | Tornado NE of Moorhead,MN; viewed from highrise dorm(!) – preceded by monster mammatus field Roger Jensen’s photo of this tornado is in the Grazulis ‘Green Book’ (NOTE: recordmeteo.com shows two tornadoes (F3,F4) at this date/location, Grazulis notes F2 only) |
004 | 1976-08-19 1955Z | Fargo, ND | F1 | Brief, weak tornado to the north | viewed from highrise dorm(!) |
005 | 1976-08-19 2000Z | Fargo, ND | F1 | Brief, weak tornado to the southwest | viewed from highrise dorm(!) |
006 | 1976-08-19 2015Z | Fargo, ND | F2 | Brief, weak tornado to the southwest | viewed from highrise dorm(!) – did $12M damage w/F1s above |
007 | 2001-05-28 | near Perryton, TX | F0? | Chasing w/Stephen Levine | |
008 | 2001-05-30 | Archer City, TX | ? | Chasing w/Stephen Levine | |
009 | 2002-05-04 | Eola, TX | F0 | Brief, weak tornado | First tornado as a ‘tornado tourist’ |
010 | 2002-05-05 | Happy, TX | F2 | 2 killed; many buildings destroyed | My first ‘really good’ tornado video |
011 | 2002-05-07 | Cullison, KS | F2? | _summary_ | First time chase *by* a tornado. YOW! |
012 | 2003-05-08 | Yates Center, KS | F2? | Wedge tornado W. of town | “It’s beautiful!! I Want to marry it!!” |
013 | 2003-05-08 | E of Yates Center, KS | F1? | Narrow rope tornado | Drove along damage path afterwards |
014 | 2003-05-09 | Oklahoma City, OK | F3? | Night tornado slams into OKC | Never seen so many power flashes! |
015 | 2003-05-10 2156Z | Clarence, MO | F0? | Rain-wrapped stovepipe N of US36 | Saw a total of 5 tornadoes in 10 days with Tempest Tours in 2003 |
016 | 2003-05-10 2156Z | Clarence, MO | F0? | Segmented tornado N of US36 | |
017 | 2003-05-10 ~2230Z | Monroe City, MO | F0? | Elephant trunk tornado N of US36 | |
018 | 2004-05-10 | Limon, CO | F0? | Chasing w/Scott Weberpal | |
019 | 2004-05-10 | Limon, CO | F0? | Chasing w/Scott Weberpal | |
020 | 2004-05-10 | Limon, CO | F0? | Chasing w/Scott Weberpal | |
021 | 2004-05-10 | Limon, CO | F0? | Chasing w/Scott Weberpal | |
022 | 2004-05-10 | Limon, CO | F0? | Chasing w/Scott Weberpal | |
023 | 2004-05-10 | Limon, CO | F0? | Chasing w/Scott Weberpal | |
024 | 2004-05-12 | Attica, KS | F3? | Chasing w/Scott Weberpal | |
025 | 2006-05-05 | Patricia, TX | ? | Rain-wrapped tornado. Poor visibility for us | Paul Sirvatka & friends caught the cyclonic twin |
028 | 2006-05-05 | Patricia, TX | F0? | Anticyclonic tornado! | (see below) |
027 | 2009-06-09 2359Z | near Dyke, IA | F0 | 2-minute tornado just N of US20 | First ‘catch’ on a rare solo chase. No time to set up video! |
026 | 2011-05-22 | Southwest City, MO | F2? | Large wedge tornado; homes destroyed | Part of the Joplin, MO tornado family |
029 | 2011-05-23 | O’Keene, KS | F0 | Brief, weak touchdown | _remarks_ |
030 | 2011-05-25 | Ellsinore, MO | F1? | Tornado sped NNE across US60 | A rare chase in southeast Missouri pays off for our team. |
031 | 2012-04-27 | near Council Grove, KS | F0 | Weak, brief tornado | Kelly DeLay grabbed great shots of #29 and #30. See the Webby Award-winning Clouds365 Project website for photos of these |
032 | 2012-04-30 | S Wellington, TX | F0 | Weak, brief tornado | Memorable because one of our vans was axle-deep in sand and mud only minutes beforehand. Almost missed this one (or worse)! |
18 April 2013 – Call to action
Two phones ringing and several alarms (computers and weather radio) are sounding.
Naperville EMA has activated the weather unit, but I’m shaking from head to toe, due to sleep deprivation. Lots of flooding going on in the area! I expect to see dozens of these today:
I needed to get to work before water bars my way!
On the way home, I checked out the flooding about a mile from home