If you happened to read about last year's tornado chase in Oklahoma -- you know, the one where I almost died if not for keen observations by our accompanying meteorologist and a stroke of luck -- you know that my thirst for adventure was not quenched by a mere 6 days of chasing in the heart of Tornado Alley. It had the opposite effect, in fact. Much like a drop of liquid to a water-deprived wanderer stranded in the middle of the desert only makes his thirst sharper, I HAD to have more experiences like that.
My fellow tourers from last year, for a number of reasons, decided to forego the tour company Extreme Tornado Tours: it costs too many Benjamins, the company was offering only ten-day tours this year and filled up anyway, and we thought with a little training, we could do just as well. (Famous last words.)
My buddy Scott, also in the Dallas area and on the tour last year, accompanied me to a handful of SkyWarn training sessions (geek alert!). Not only that, but he was so into this storm chasing thing that he decided to buy an old Expedition and have it fitted to survive three-inch hail. Rhino lining. Bullet proof glass. And of course, a slickly engineered hail rack that deploys over the windshield. It took lots of elbow grease and knowhow (so I'm told, I actually didn't participate in implementing these enhancements), but it's all ready to go.
We even went on a test run about three weeks ago, when a potent storm system barreled through the DFW region in the middle of the night. It was too late to get close to any tornadoes, and only a couple touched down that night anyway, but we did get a chance for camera practice, capturing some awesome lightning shots. Example:
I need not tell you about the terrible outbreak just last week in the southeast, when two high-risk days in a row occurred. For perspective, it's fairly unusual for the Storm Prediction Center to issue two high-risk days IN A WHOLE YEAR, but this was no ordinary outbreak. After that grim situation, we have a renewed sense to not get too close to these things. Nevertheless, we're all still eager to feel the power of Mother Nature's most intense fury from close range.
So our itinerary: a "practice chase" tomorrow in western Oklahoma-ish. A return Monday to DFW to pick up two of our fellow chasers -- one a social worker from Milwaukee and another a film editor from NoCal (did I mention we're a motley crew?) -- and a trek northward to Kansas/Nebraska, or as far as the highway will take us in 8ish hours. Wednesday is looking like the big day right now, as the Storm Prediction Center will show you:
We (or at least I) are little more than storm chasing novices at this point, on the lower end of the amateur scale. But the only way to move up that scale is to get out in the mix. Scott has had a decent amount of success in recent weeks on his chases, so we're definitely optimistic about our chances. Hey, if we're lucky, we might get another Bowdle, South Dakota-like storm. Whatdya think?
Cheers. MUCH more later...I'll catch you up after some long hours on the road.
