2023-05-06 – DAY 2: Springfield, Missouri To Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

07:00 – hotel Wakeup call, automated, of course

07:05 – the camera bag in roll-on bag were packed last night, so all I have to do is roll them out of the car.

07:15-07:45 – breakfast: leftover sirloin from TRH, trimmed with mushrooms and onions; packed the few odds n ends not packed last night: phone charger, Garmin watch charger, laptop.  

07:45 – prep room for departure – used towels on bathroom floor, trash gathered in wastebasket by desk; bags loaded on dolly

08:00 – Bathroom trip 

08:10 – check out after loading the van

0922 – enter OK on I-44W

 

09:59 – first toll : $5


1057 – tried to do screen recording of 4-cam shot, crossing the Arkansas River on I-244 in downtown Tulsa. Apple Location app keeps shutting down the recording. Will need to retry with CarPlay apps OFF. 

11:41 – second toll

[add syncup drive map] 

1300 – tried to check in at Holiday Inn Express. Too early

1310 – lunch at Golden Dragon (across the street). Way too much food. 

1500 – checked in. Room 303. Paul G is rm 204. 

1600 – clear seats in minivan, in case we do a Walmart run later 

1713 – $4 For a low carb Monster energy drink. Gotta love hotel prices. Located the surge protector (that I thought I left at home). 

1740 – wrote and emailed my intro to the team

1901 – Paul G and I met Phil & Kathy as they arrive at the hotel (after a 19-hour marathon travel session from the UK).  We decided it would be best if you and Kathy got a good nights sleep before they made a Walmart run. Paul G and I made ours then and there. I had a moment where I had “misplaced“ the shopping center, but we arrived at Walmart without any detours or travel difficulties. I simply had a moment of disorientation, thinking that the store was closer to the hotel than it actually ever was.

2022-05-09 – Which way to go?

Travel Route: OKC – Emporia,KS

Leg 1:  Oklahoma City, OK- Geary, OK
Leg 2: Geary, OK to I-35N
Leg 3: I-35N (near OK-KS border) to Andover, KS
Leg 4: Andover, KS – El Dorado, KS – Emporia, KS

Events of the day

7:00 AM – wake, shower, dress

8:00 AM – Large, hot breakfast: Eggs, yogurt, fruit, bagel, cream cheese

10:50 AM – Matt and I take a photo of ourselves and our chase vehicles.

First two TORNADOes of the trip

11:00 AM – Safety briefing; brief presentation

Bill Reid gives our first weather briefing
Joke: Emergency underpants (for when we get too close to a tornado) Useful: a digital caliper for measuring hail

11:45 AM – load the vans. Here’s the Van 1 (lead van) crew for the day!

Van 1, Day 1: Front: (left) Kathy, Phil (both UK) Lisa (me), Sonia (France), Carol (Utah), Dave (UK) Driver: Matt (Tennessee); hiding: Bill Reid (meteorologist, lead)

12:00 PM?  – headed west to Geary,OK.

2:00PM? – Had lunch (BLT) at the Broadway Cafe.

3:00 PM? –  Weighed our options: position ourselves for a play in Texas versus head into the northern plains, where are the next three days all have decent severe potential.  Mosied North then entered I 35.

6:00 PM? – Detoured off of I 35 to visit the damage path for the Andover tornado (29 April). The path was quite narrow but had some F2 damage.

Devastated neighborhood along Andover Rd., south of US 400
NWS map summarizing the storm damage from the 29 April 2022 Andover, KS tornado
Lots of damaged and missing windows at a YMCA building along the Andover damage path.

7:00 PM? – Reentered I 35 and continued north. Exited at El Dorado. Ate dinner at Anita’s (Mexican: shrimp cocktail and Carne Asada; great tasting food, but I ate too much and got an upset tummy).

8:15 PM? – Continued north on 835. Bill called numerous hotels and we finally ended up at the Super 8 in Emporia, Kansas.

9:30 PM – turn in for the night.

20210507 – Travel Day 1 (Bolingbrook,IL-Springfield,MO)

ROUTE: Bolingbrook, IL – Springfield, MO:

06:00 – wake-up, shower, etc.

07:00-11:00 – work from home, online, that is. (Don’t lots of folks do that now?)

11:00 – Lunch at Charlie’s (Bolingbrook Clow International Airport).
(They have scheduled flights to Canada, so ‘International” is quite real.)

12:12 – Depart Bolingbrook Airport, traveling southwest on I-55S.

14:09 – A brief pit stop in Atlanta, IL. Still good on fuel!

14:22 – Resume southwesterly course on I-55S

15:25 – Oh no. traffic jam!

17:28 – Refuel at St. Clair, MO, just west of Six Flags enough to avoid paying a premium price for gasoline.

2100 – Arrive at Red Roof Inn, Springfield. Check in then eat dinner at Jimm’s Steakhouse and Pub. Had the monstrously generous prime rib dip (like a classic French dip, but using prime rib). Too much food!

2315 – bed time.

 

 

20190511 – T-2: Oklahoma Bound

This morning I woke up in Springfield, Missouri. Did not need an alarm clock, as one of my Motel neighbors (who I will simply call #MethMom) was shouting over the second floor balcony to her friends that this motel was “no f***ing kind a place for my f***ing kids!”  If memory serves, this is how certain moms in Missouri (and other states in the Midsouth) indicate that there is no pool for the kids. No matter. I am awake now.

After a quick round of dental hygiene (to remove that taste that I can only describe as “Walt and Jesse starting a meth lab in my mouth”) and a quick cuppa tea I was ready to face the day.

After a quick round of dental hygiene (to remove that taste that I can only describe as “Walt and Jesse starting a meth lab in my mouth“) and a quick cuppa tea I was ready to face the day.

I spent a little bit of time in reviewing yesterday’s photos and getting the updates for yesterday‘S blog page started

Today’s weather is gray and drippy day, a fairly common sight after the good storms have passed through the area a few days earlier. A quick look at the SPC outlook seems to indicate that the next few days are going to be for a little bit quiet, weatherwise. So will be playing tourist and various natural wonders instead of chasing. That’s the way it goes.

I checked Facebook and responded Do a post asking about “what equipment do you use when you chase” as follows:

COMMS:
* Kenwood TMD-710GA 2m/440 ham radio
* Radio Shack PRO2067 500-channel scanner
* Radio Shack TRC-519 CB Radio

INTERNET/GRlevelX(Radar)
* HP Pavilion 13×2 laptop/tablet
* Arnova 10-inch Android tablet

NAVIGATION:
* AVMAP GeoSat6 GPS
* Garmin 18X GPS puck

I also carry a good assortment of cameras/camcorders.

* Nikon D7000 DSLR (plus a lens collection)
* Two GoPro Hero2 cameras (w/3-D frame, various mounts, including the popular suction mount)
* Sony AX-53 4K camcorder (plus zoom and telephoto lenses)

Next stop: Sid’s Diner in El Reno. We arrived about an hour before closing time. I had the King Burger Deluxe, Paul the BLT, and so on. We had a moment of dismay when the British Contingent  realized no beer was available there. We survived, however.

Final tourist stop for the day: the Twistex Crew Memorial. We let Simon try his hand at rural Oklahoma driving  He negotiated gravel roads, muddy ruts, and got us to the memorial in time for some great photos, including shots of a beautiful classic western sunset.

After a quick WalMart stop, we returned to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

(Photos to be added later)

 

2016 Season Summary

08Here is the overall plan for my 2016 storm season (which I’ll update as events warrant):

CHASE 2016 DAILY JOURNAL

SEMINARS/CLASSROOM TRAINING:
DATE DAY START END MILES REMARKS
22Jan Fri Bolingbrook,IL Norman,OK ChaserCon 2016
23Jan Sat Norman,OK ChaserCon 2016
24Jan Sun Norman,OK ChaserCon 2016
12Mar Sat Bolingbrook,IL Wheaton,IL 26 DuPage OHSEM Advanced Spotter Training (seminar)
http://www.dupagesevereweather.com
24Mar Thu Oak Brook,IL Naperville,IL
Bolingbrook,IL
26 NEMA Radar Class #1: Rochelle, IL F4
http://www.napervilleema.org
07Apr Thu Oak Brook,IL Naperville,IL
Bolingbrook,IL
26 NEMA Radar Class #2: TX outbreak
http://www.napervilleema.org
21Apr Thu Oak Brook,IL Naperville,IL
Bolingbrook,IL
26 NEMA Radar Class #3: Mesovortices
http://www.napervilleema.org
GREAT PLAINS CHASES:
CHASE2016-01:
DATE DAY START END MILES REMARKS
12May Thu Bolingbrook,IL ??? Prologue
13May Fri Oak Brook,IL Kearney, MO 469 mi
(60694-61163)
DAY 01: To the “Show Me (Cheap Gasoline)
14May Sat Kearney,MO Oklahoma City, OK
(via Medford,OK; Wakita,OK;
El Reno, OK)
527 mi
(61163-61690)
DAY 02: The Unexpected
15May Sun Oklahoma City, OK Oklahoma City, OK 7 mi
(61690-61697)
DAY 03: Around OKC
16May Mon Oklahoma City, OK Plainview, TX 593 DAY 04
17May Tue Plainview,TX Ozona,TX 350 DAY 05
18May Wed Ozona,TX Van Horn,TX ??? DAY 06
19May Thu Van Horn,TX Raton,NM ??? DAY 07
20May Fri Raton,NM Limon,CO ??? DAY 08
21May Sat Limon,CO Kimball,NE ??? DAY 09
22May Sun Kimball,NE Dodge City, KS ??? DAY 10: Murky tornado
23May Mon ??? ??? ??? DAY 11
24May Tue ??? ??? ??? DAY 12
25May Wed ??? ??? ??? DAY 13
26May Thur ??? ??? ??? DAY 14
27May Fri ??? ??? ??? DAY 15
28May Sat ??? ??? ??? DAY 16
29May Sun ??? ??? ??? DAY 17
30May Mon ??? ??? ??? DAY 18
31May Tue Bolingbrook,IL Epilogue
 
COLOR CODE
Plan was to not chase GRAY
Planned Chase Day (future) WHEAT
Available to chase; no weather (“blue-skied”) BLUE
Chase Day (available and expect stormy weather) GREEN
Weather Stormy, but not available for chasing PINK
BUST DAY – no severe storms where we looked! ORANGE
Training Day WHITE

Accommodations
Restaurants
Tools
Web Links

2013 Restaurant Reviews

Here the restaurant reviews my 2013 storm season (which I’ll update as events warrant):

CHASE 2013

2013 RESTAURANT REVIEWS

DATE DAY LOCATION RESTAURANT COST DESCRIPTION / REMARKS
30 April Tuesday Oklahoma City OK  Thai Kitchen $12.30 incl. tip ****
A hole-in-the-wall place with terrific Pad Thai and other tasty Thai dishes. (I’ll be back!)
30 April Tuesday Oklahoma City OK Texas Meridian Rd. at I-40 $28.87 +tip ***
A really good 12-ox ribeye with all the fixin’s. The Skinny Margarita was excellent.  I was disappointed they did not do anything special for Willie Nelson’s 80th birthday, as they name a part of the restaurant for him. (Happy Birthday anyhow, Willie!)
01 May Tuesday Oklahoma City OK Wyngate Hotel included with room ***
Full breakfast: the famed Carbon waffle machine, scrambled eggs, bacon, fresh fruit. A great start to a busy day.
01 May Tuesday Wichita Falls TX Subway ,
2314 Airport Dr.
$5.41 **
The perfect BLT footlong! The staff had trouble identifying which cheese I was asking for.  Not sure if they had trouble hearing me or there was a language barrier.
01 May Wednesday _ _ $__.__ SUPPER
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IL/IA CHASES/SPOTTING:
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Season Plan Accommodations Restaurants Tools Web Links

NOTE: The restaurant and accommodations links will be dead until I get out in the field.