Tornado Alley - Meeting up with Tornado Hunters
Westcoast Stormchaser Blog
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4y ago
Today I fly out to Regina, Saskatchewan to meet up with Tornado Hunter Tours . Goodbye, Vancouver. Hello, Great Plains ..read more
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Lightning and Wildfire Smoke at Nicola Lake
Westcoast Stormchaser Blog
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5y ago
Spent a night up at Nicola Lake, BC. The intention was to watch the Perseid meteor shower, but Mother Nature had other plans. On the Saturday we saw a thunderstorm roll in, late in the afternoon. I was filming and managed to get a couple screen grabs of lightning. It ended up raining through most of the night, so no meteors again this year. This would have been a sweet cloud-to-ground shot if it weren't for the rolling shutter. The next morning we went for breakfast in Kamloops and the wildfire smoke was extremely thick. The air quality index was at a 10 ..read more
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Niagara Falls
Westcoast Stormchaser Blog
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5y ago
On July 8th, my father in Ontario passed away. As I was processing that, I took a little trip to Niagara Falls and met up with a storm chaser friend from the US. We did a "behind the falls" tour. It was amazing how the falls creates its own weather. The weather was calm for the most part, but up close to the falls you were hit with huge, warm and wet wind gusts. It feels like what I imagine hurricane chasing to feel like, at least in the very early stages. These were all shot with my cell phone, since my DSLR would have been toast after all that water. We stopped at the Inniskillin winery a ..read more
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Tornado Alley - Last chase day in South Dakota
Westcoast Stormchaser Blog
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5y ago
Sidney, NE Today was our last chase day. Wasn't much rotation but we saw some great structure. We chased in South Dakota, almost up near Mount Rushmore. Then we made our way down to Nebraska and saw Carhenge (pics of that later). We then had some really good Chinese food in Alliance. We're in Sidney tonight.. In what is quite possibly the nicest Motel 6 I've ever been in. I'm pleasantly surprised. We have an early start tomorrow.. And then a long travel day back to Norman ..read more
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Tornado Alley - Heading Back to OKC
Westcoast Stormchaser Blog
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5y ago
Oklahoma City, OK Today we make our way back to Oklahoma City to fly out the next day. We drop the Jeep off at the airport. I am sad to leave her behind. I got quite attached. In total, I drove 1794 miles (2887km). Tom has an overwhelming amount of gear. I got some leopard print tights at a truck stop and wore them out for dinner for our last night. Because I'm classy like that. We had Mexican. It was delicious.. and the top shelf margarita helped me get to sleep early.  Total Distance Traveled: 506km I am flying home for 2 days and then heading back out to Regina to ..read more
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Tornado Alley - Gulf Picnic
Westcoast Stormchaser Blog
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5y ago
Buffalo, TX Today we drive down to Surfside Beach in Freeport, TX. We had a nice picnic by the beach on the Gulf and then walked all the way out to this long pier. Our bottom halves all got soaked. This was the only day I really took a lot of photos. I'm taking a picture of a dude, taking a picture of a dude, who's taking a picture of another dude. The Explorer's Club guys posing with the expedition flag. This one in particular is flag #114. Photo: Tom Dolan Our day ended in Buffalo, TX. Total Distance Traveled: 423km ..read more
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Tornado Alley - McDonald's Chaser Convergence
Westcoast Stormchaser Blog
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5y ago
Wharton, TX Today's initiation will be quite late. We travel further south, down to Navasota, TX, where we have a brief nap in the parking lot of a Dairy Queen.  The Jeep is actually quite roomy.  Some cells eventually pop up, so we go south-west, towards Brenham. As the evening wears on though, they quickly congeal into a mess. We soon realize that we aren't alone. Daniel Shaw pops up on the ham radio. George tells him that I am chasing with them, so Daniel tracks my Spotter Network dot, since I am the only one who has one. We eventually all meet up and have dinner at Mcdonald ..read more
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Tornado Alley - Travel Day South
Westcoast Stormchaser Blog
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5y ago
Fairfield, TX Today we drive south to get into position for tomorrow. Just a long travel day. From the left - Donald Dolan, Tom Dolan, and George Kourounis. I really like this Jeep.  This was the first proper meal I've eaten in 36 hours. Pulled pork mac and cheese at Dickey's Barbecue in Buffalo, TX. It really hit the spot! We crashed in Fairfield, TX. Total Distance Traveled: 679km ..read more
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Tornado Alley - The Day of Many Firsts
Westcoast Stormchaser Blog
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5y ago
Shamrock, TX My flight leaving Vancouver is delayed a bit because someone on the plane needed to be kicked off. The woman was being verbally abusive to the flight attendants. We find out after that she was in the process of being deported and that she had been in the terminal for 2 days already. This surreal journey has an interesting start to it already. I almost miss my connection in Dallas because, for some weird reason, I had to clear customs in Dallas instead of in Canada. My flight to Oklahoma City leaves at 6:55am - I make it to the gate at 6:42am. I am the last person on the plane. I ..read more
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Tornado Alley - Pulling the Trigger
Westcoast Stormchaser Blog
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5y ago
After many hours of obsessing and looking at the forecast, I knew I had to be down there. I went through so many options. I thought about jumping on Cloud 9 Tours, I thought about starting my Tornado Hunters tour early, I asked a bunch of other chasers if they were going and if I could tag along. My friend, George Kourounis was already down there, chasing with Tom Dolan, who is also a member of the Explorer's Club and is working on the Tornado Visualization and Radar Analysis Project. They invited me to follow along in my own vehicle. I booked a red eye to Oklahoma city, secured a car rental ..read more
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