5/11 - 11:30pm CDT - Video of TIV 2 and TVN Dominator

Even though we didn't see any severe weather today, we were able to hang out in Pratt, Kansas for a little while to see the Tornado Intercept Vehicle 2 (TIV 2) and Tornadovideos.net's Dominator vehicle, both from Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers TV show. It was a rare find for us because it's not common to see both the TIV and Dominator in the same place at the same time. Discovery Channel crews were actively filming the show while we were there, and some of our group may even show up in the 'behind the scenes' episode that airs at the end of each show season. Check out the video below for a look at what we saw!

5/11 - 1:30am CDT - We Saw The TIV in Pratt, Kansas!

We rolled into Pratt, Kansas, where we're staying overnight to position for tomorrow's chase, to quite a show this evening. The Tornado Intercept Vehicle 2 (TIV2) and TVN's Dominator vehicle were both in town waiting for tomorrow's chase and shooting video for the Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers TV show. We got up close and personal with the TIV as its driver Marcus Gutierrez gave us a tour of its features in a parking lot near our hotel. It's a magnificent vehicle even though it's prone to mechanical problems and glitches. Check out the Flickr player below for photos of our tour:

It still looks like we'll be in Central Kansas, our current location, or Western Oklahoma tomorrow (well, later today) for what could be a substantial tornado outbreak. The Storm Prediction Center has issued a Moderate Risk with a 10% tornado risk for this area and as long as everything sets up according to plan, it should be a good chase. I'll have more details early tomorrow morning after a quick sleep tonight!

5/9 - 5pm CDT - Waiting for Storms in South Dakota

We're awaiting storm development here in Murdo, South Dakota. East winds at the surface and dewpoints in the lower to mid 60's (yes they actually did make it up north today) are favorable for storms, along with a push of dry air from the south. Upper-level winds at 500mb are still a bit weak and from the south (you want them from the southwest), but nevertheless everything else seems to line up. These storms could develop anytime between now and overnight tonight, so this is truly a waiting game.

We ran into Reed Timmer's "Dominator" of Discovery Channel fame a few minutes ago in Murdo, SD. Check out this photo that Chad, a guest on our tour, took while we visited with Reed and his Tornadovideos.net crew:

6/7 - 11:15am - New Storm Chasing Highlights Page

I just posted a page on my website with all my best video and photos from this year's storm chase. You can access this page from the front of RyanHoke.com or follow this link: http://ryanweather.org/stormchasing2010.html. Also, my tornado video from last Monday near Campo, Colorado has been posted on the TornadoVideos.net YouTube account. Should be interesting to see how many views it receives!

An EF3-rated tornado near Millbury, Ohio killed seven people and damaged numerous homes and businesses on Saturday (read more). We were fortunate that none of the tornadoes we saw over the past few weeks damaged any homes or caused injuries, so it's very difficult to hear about a tornado that did. This underscores the importance of having access to severe weather warnings via NOAA Weather Radio or an electronic notification service, especially because tornadoes can strike at night when you're unprepared. Experiencing tornadoes out in open fields while storm chasing is one thing, but having a tornado hit your hometown is completely different. Stay safe this season!

5/12 - 11:30am CDT - Kansas Here We Come!

Yesterday looked promising, but the environment was just too capped to allow for any good storms. We chased two developing supercells south of Woodward, OK, but both perished before they could mature. The number of storm chasers on both of these cells was astounding. At one point we were across the street from Reed Timmer and his TVN "Dominator" from the Discovery Channel Storm Chasers show. Later that evening, Tim Samaras from the same TV show walked in the door of the Pizza Hut we were eating at. We'll see who we can find while we're out there today!

The target location for today is somewhere around or east of Pratt, KS. An area of low pressure spinning around near Dodge City should provide east winds this afternoon, which are crucial to tornadic development. Dewpoints near 70, CAPE values over 4000 J/kg, EHI values above 6, and bulk shear around 40 kt should be quite adequate for supercell development in Central and East Kansas. Storm motion will also be from 20-30 kt (25-35 mph), so it won't be like Monday near Oklahoma City when the supercells outran us. I'll be posting frequent updates on Twitter and Facebook today, including notification of when we'll be streaming LIVE video at http://stormchasertv.com.