Yawn! Trying to identify the right web authoring software. Looking at cheap/free stuff first. read “WebEasy7, WordPress, …” Once I find what i want, edits will go quickly, particularly since I have some idea how i want to ‘remodel’ the site.
CHASE2008 blog area set up
Yesterday (25 April), Chicagoland had its first big spring storm event. Penny and nickel sized hail peppered a few neightboring towns, but Bolingbrook only had a good lightning show and a few brief downpours. Nothing to write home about. (Oh, drat! I just did, didn’t I?)
I can’t wait to get out the the Great Plains this year. I plan on doing 3 weeks altogether.
In the meantime, I probably should spend some time updating my much-negleced web site, post some photos from past chases, some video snippets, and update my online chase ‘toolbox.
Ciao fer now!
lisa
Catching Up
Well… Thanks for lots of long drives— we covered over 4300 miles in 7 days, snd I did the lion’s share of the driving— I’ve had little time to spend updating this blog live. Now that I’m home, I’ll re-construct what happened from GPS logs, paper receipts (which usually act as good location/timestamp records), photos, and video.
CHASE2007 – PROLOGUE
Well, another season is upon us. So far this year is looking ominously like 1997: I waited until the bottom half of May and spectacular storms (like the EF-5 tornado that flattened Greensburg, KS) happened in the top half of May. In 1997, the atmospheric pattern fell apart, so there was nothing to chase. What’s worse is that the tour operator I signed up with neither offered to travel anyhow, nor refund my $500 deposit. I even went as far as sending the attorney general of Oklahoma after him (to no avail), as did another prospective storm tourist from New York (who was also cheated).Frown
It seems a trade-off for my rewarding job in downtown Chicago is a loss of flexibility in vacation scheduling, a definite handicap for the storm enthusiast. If I had the ability to trade vacation weeks on about a week’s notice, I would probably have more opportunities to look for the big storms. C’est la vie! If I had a job with that kind of flexibility, I might not be able to afford to chase often either. Like so much in life, we are both victors and victims of our compromises.
This year my planned chase vacation was to be a 10-day expedition with Scott Weberpal and three other chasers he invited to join us. I provide the van (and technology in the van) in exchange for a price break. I have also committed to do he lion’s share of the driving, allowing Scott to relax a bit and concentrate on forecasting and watching the sky. (I’ll watch, too, as well as form my own forecast, but Scott wll be the tie-breaker when our predictions disagree. His experience certainly justufies this approach.)
I have spent nearly every waking hour of non-work time working on getting the van and its technology in top shape. Over a hundred hours later, after much blood, sweat and tears, the van is ready to chase, and so am I. Tongue out
The communications gear is nestled in a new console, the new weather instruments are ready for the road, the broadband internet connection and laptop are working admirably, and the van had new brakes and tires ready for the open road.
Saturday (26 May 2007) looks like a day with a marginal chance to produce storms in eastern Iowa, and Scott is willing to meet me along the way, if conditions look favorable for good storms by late morning or early afternoon.
26 April 2007 – CHASE2008 blog area set up
Yesterday (25 April), Chicagoland had its first big spring storm event. Penny and nickel sized hail peppered a few neighboring towns, but Bolingbrook only had a good lightning show and a few brief downpours. Nothing to write home about. (Oh, drat! I just did, didn’t I?)
I can’t wait to get out the the Great Plains this year. I plan on doing 3 weeks altogether.
In the meantime, I probably should spend some time updating my much-negleced web site, post some photos from past chases, some video snippets, and update my online chase ‘toolbox.
Ciao fer now!
lisa
CHASE VAN OVERVIEW – 2001
Chase Van Revised 11 May 2006, 10:32 CDT | |||||||||
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CHASE2005 SEASON SUMMARY
CHASE2005 SEASON SUMMARY
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DAILY JOURNAL |
(RT)
(RT)
(“Better luck next year!”)
(NOTE: This was a rare ‘solo trip’ for me, i.e., no partner)
COLOR CODE
Plan was to not chase | GRAY |
Planned Chase Day (future) | YELLOW |
Available to chase; no weather (“blue-skied”) | BLUE |
Chase Day (have partner and stormy weather) | GREEN |
No-Partner Day (Weather stormy, no partner) | RED |
Weather Stormy, but not available for chasing | PURPLE |
BUST DAY – no severe storms where we looked! |
ORANGE |
Training Day |
WHITE |
Accommodations | Restaurants | Tools | Web Links |
CHASE2005 – New Job = No Chase-cation?
TEMPEST TOURS may or may not be on my list this year. After being without a full-time job for about 18 months, the cost of this kind of chase (and difficulty getting time off at my new job) may make this impossible. Maybe I can go in July with Chuck Doswell, et al?
CHASE2004 SEASON SUMMARY
CHASE2004 SEASON SUMMARY
CHASE 2004 | DAILY JOURNAL |
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- Lead vehicle (8): LEAD: Bill Reid (Westlake Village, CA;KG6FWX),
DRIVER: Scott Weberpal (Janesville,WI);
PASSENGERS: Lisa Beal (Bolingbrook, IL;KC9BST), Heather Taluba (NJ),
Jack Bolo (Burlington, NC), Joel Emilio (S.CA), Dustin Aldridge (S.CA), Samantha McGrath (Bristol, UK)
- Part-time lead vehicle (Day 2) (2): Martin Lisius [days ??-??] (Arlington,TX;KC5TQI), Erin Brown (TX)
- Media guests (Days3-4) (2): Fuji TV (Mashu, Ken)
- Nearby chasers: Blake Naftel, Keith Brown, Kinney Adams, Chris Kridler
415
CHASE #2:
PRIVATE TOUR
3 days – 2664 miles, 4 people
See Scott Weberpal’s photos from Limon for now.
COLOR CODE
Plan was to not chase | GRAY |
Planned Chase Day (future) | YELLOW |
Available to chase; no weather (“blue-skied”) | BLUE |
Chase Day (have partner and stormy weather) | GREEN |
No-Partner Day (Weather stormy, no partner) | RED |
Weather Stormy, but not available for chasing | PURPLE |
BUST DAY – no severe storms where we looked! |
ORANGE |
Training Day |
WHITE |
Accommodations | Restaurants | Tools | Web Links |
CHASE 2004 – Data/Tools
Data/ Tools
Revised 2004-Apr-29 09:05 a.m.
TOOLS USED FOR MORNING DATA PASS (7 a.m. CDT=12Z)
SUPPLEMENTARY TOOLS USED FOR MORNING DATA PASS
College of DuPage (IL) |
U.S. 500 mb Upper Air Plot |
http://weather.cod.edu/wx/public/raob/p500mb.gif |
College of DuPage (IL) |
Southern Plains – Surface Obs Map |
http://weather.cod.edu/wx/public/sfc/sp.wxpsfc.gif |
College of DuPage (IL) |
Surface Obs w/Contours |
http://weather.cod.edu/analysis/analysis.sfccon.html |
College of DuPage (IL) |
Weather Analysis Tools |
http://weather.cod.edu/analysis/ |
College of DuPage (IL) |
Model Tools |
http://weather.cod.edu/forecast/ |
Tempest Tours |
Tornado Alley Forecast Center |
http://www.tempesttours.com/tornado_alley_forecast_center.html |
TOOLS USED FOR MIDDAY DATA PASS (1 p.m. CDT=18Z)
TOOLS USED FOR EVENING DATA PASS (7 p.m. CDT=00Z)
OLDER TOOLS/MODELS USED
Accommodations | Restaurants | Tools | Web Links |