5/5 - 11:55pm CDT - Interesting Setup Tomorrow

A cold front moving through the Plains tomorrow will provide the focus for severe storm development during our first chase day. This front has really slowed down on the computer models over the past day or so and this is good because it will allow the warm sector environment to to east of it to become richer with potential due to solar heating. Something the NAM model has been consistently picking up on is the development of a small, sharp shortwave moving through Oklahoma during the afternoon. This shortwave generates a secondary low on that model that creates some pretty good directional shear over Central Oklahoma. Couple that with some incredible instability due to the high moisture in the area and you've got an interesting little severe weather setup to chase. This setup has shifted around from North Texas to East Kansas over the past few model runs, but it seems to be stabilizing over Central Oklahoma for now. The tornado risk tomorrow originally looked very slim due to the lack of good wind speed aloft, but now it is becoming hard to ignore the good directional shear and the great instability. So while it still isn't a high tornado risk, I would venture to say that one or two may touch down if indeed this area of good directional shear sets up.

I'll have an update tomorrow morning on how the setup has evolved and where we'll be targeting. Follow my up-to-the-minute updates on Twitter and Facebook.

5/5 - 6am EDT - Off to Oklahoma City!

This morning I'm getting on my flight to Oklahoma City from Louisville! Once I arrive later this morning I'll be going to our hotel to begin preparing for tonight's orientation meeting with our first group of tour guests for the year. We'll talk about safety, how storm chasing works, and where we'll likely be headed tomorrow for our first chase day. After that we'll go out to dinner and get a good night's sleep for tomorrow's chase.

I'll post about tomorrow's chase setup later this evening. It's going to be a busy day!


Keep up with me for the latest chase updates on Twitter and Facebook this week!
 

5/4 - 11pm EDT - The Chase Begins Tomorrow!

Tomorrow's the day! Early in the morning I'll be departing Louisville for Oklahoma City where I'll meet up with Storm Chasing Adventure Tours for the first tour of the season. My duties this year include briefing our tour guests, assisting our leader Todd with technology and forecasting, and managing the web and social media presence of the company while out there. Each day from tomorrow on to May 26th I'll be generating blog posts filled with forecast discussions, chase recaps, photos, video, and much more. The links to our LIVE streaming video feed, my social media accounts, and more are to the right of this blog post. It's needless to say that I'm eagerly waiting to get on the road!

With three weeks of motels, hotels, and long drives each day, what does a storm chaser pack? The short answer is, well, lightly. While on the road I need to be able to shoot video and photos, access weather data, keep our tour guests apprised of what's going on weather-wise, and update everyone back home on what we're doing via this blog and social media. This sounds like it would require a ton of equipment, but it really doesn't anymore. Even over the past five years that I've been storm chasing I've watched technology march along to the point where I can carry just a few pieces of crucial equipment to get this done. Below is a picture of what I'm packing in my bag equipment-wise right now, minus my laptop and iPad:

The orange Tide detergent and sunscreen bottles stick out like a sore thumb in that photo, but a storm chaser has to have clean clothes and unburned skin right? A few things of note are my HD camcorder (very right in bag), my still camera (bottom center black case), storm chasing books for tour guests to read on the long drives, and all the wires that make my ability to share weather data with tour guests and the world possible.

A lot of folks ask me how I can stand being on the road for so long and why I do this. My passion for weather, a love of travel, and a child-like excitement for learning and teaching others keep me going during these weeks. There's not a day that goes by during the off-season that I don't think about storm chasing and how much fun it is. Much like my work in television, being able to tell our storm chasing tour guests about the weather in the mornings requires a great deal of skill. I've been doing this since I was 17, so in a way I grew up a little bit in Tornado Alley and what I learned during these years has really thrust my knowledge forward to the point where I can now share it with others in a meaningful way. It's going to be an adventurous few weeks as we start the storm chasing season!

Be sure to check back here on the blog for the next three weeks and follow me on Twitter and Facebook for up-to-the-minute progress on our chase.

4/30 - 8:15pm - WeatherBrains Tonight!

This evening April 30th starting at 8:30pm CDT (0130 GMT) I'll be a guest panelist on the worldwide webcast of WeatherBrains! Be sure to tune in using by clicking this link which will take you to the live stream of the show. I'll be sure to post the recorded version of the podcast when it becomes available. Should be a fun time! On the podcast are lots of true "weather brains" like James Spann of ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, AL, Bill Murray, Brian Peters, J.B. Elliot, Kevin Selle, and a featured guest each week.

Update: Listen to the recorded podcast on my website.

5 days until my annual storm chasing trek with Storm Chasing Adventure Tours!

4/28 - 4:45pm - Hot Weather, Fun Show at WBBJ!

Today marks my last show at WBBJ until August when I come back from my college summer break. And boy what a fitting show it was. Of course the weather is going to be hot and muggy through next week with pretty consistent small daily storm chances (each day except Wednesday). A pesky frontal boundary sticking around the region for a few days before eventually lifting northward will be the culprit for these pop-up showers and storms. You can check out the video from this morning's weathercast below. The big show today was an interview by Myles Savage, the lead singer from the Platters, this morning on our show. He gave a fun and spirited performance that none of us in the studio will ever forget! The video of his interview is below my weathercast. Enjoy!

Just ONE WEEK until my first three weeks of storm chasing begins in the Plains!

4/25 - 12:45pm - A Hot Week in Starkville

The rest of the week in Starkville is going to be hot by most standards. Today through the end of the workweek will see highs in the mid 80's. Sunshine should be plentiful, but Thursday and Friday could have a few clouds thanks to a cold front that will be parking itself right over Tennessee. Warm southerly flow from the Gulf will also moisten up the air in preparation for our next (small) rain chance on Saturday. The video below is my last Mississippi State University Campus Connect weather update for the semester since classes ended today. Look for these to return next fall!

4/21 - 9:45pm - Cooler, but Sunny Weather Ahead!

It took a little longer than expected, but the clouds did clear this afternoon in West Tennessee after rain overnight. Sadly, temperatures didn't make it into the 60's in Jackson as expected thanks to the longer duration of cloud cover during the day, so it was a chilly one out there. Slowly warming temperatures and mostly sunny skies will prevail though most of next week and the next rain chance for the region will be on Thursday. Pretty simple forecast! Thanks to all the folks who came out to the West Tennessee Earth Day Celebration at Pringles Park in Jackson this afternoon. Even though it was a little cooler than most would have wanted, the turnout was great! I was there today presenting my "cloud in a bottle" demonstration, which is a little experiment that involves exactly what the title describes it as. Glad to have met so many great people! Check out more on your West Tennessee forecast in the video below.