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Ok, just a quick update from the field since it is another high risk chase day.  I still have a lot of stuff to put up line from the last week of chasing but I took a couple days off to spend time with Neva and take some much needed down time after tornado insanity.  I got stuck on the urban chase and was unable to get close to the storms that hit Hugo MN.  I can’t get them all but I will try.

So I’m just heading for Worthington MN and then to Sioux City Iowa and then reposition from there.  Looks like one hell of a chase day setting up.  I actually got a call from Bill Doms this morning and he left me a message saying he was heading out to chase.  When I got the message 2 hours later I saw the SPC forecast and almost had a heart attack trying to get all my gear together fast and get out the door. 

Here is what SPC has forecasted for today.

Yesterday was a HUGE let down for a lot of chasers who targeted Nebraska but lucky for me, it was just a stop on the way home to hang out with a bunch of friends just in case something happened.  I made it home about 2:00 in the morning and woke up to severe weather to the north of Minneapolis that were heading for St. Cloud and to Neva’s place.  I called her to warn her and just as the storms started to roll into St. Cloud and the hail started to fall.  Neva just got a new on the house because last year it got damaged by hail and less then a month after the new roof was put on, here we go again.

Today I’m targeting somewhere in southern Minnesota.  Not sure yet as part of the setup looks to be in SW MN and part looks good in SE MN.  Still forecasting and will be heading out in a couple minutes. 

Here are some hail photos that Neva took this morning from the back yard.  I’ll post all of my stuff from this last week as soon as I get back home and the weather settles down some.   Until then I will be posting just quick updates, images and video as it happens.

Ok, last post for the day to all my Myspace friends.

I chased again today and got on a insane tornado and got way too close.

Here is the video link

Oh I did hear from Chris Collura, he did lose a window from the debris hitting him and he was a half mile behind me.

Ok it is very late and I need sleep.

Rabbi Chris and a new chaser that we met up asked to tag along and he was cool so we said sure.

We saw several tornadoes today.  It is late so I don’t have time to go into details but here are some of the photos and the video is on The Weather Channel tonight and in the morning.  The tornado video that is on The Weather Channel is from the Grinnell Kansas area.

Looks like tomorrow will be a carbon copy of today.

It’s just like a hurricane chase… Huh you say, yes it’s just like a hurricane chase because I woke up in the target area in perfect position in Hays Kansas and Chris Collura is here with me.

We are sitting in perfect position in Hays Kansas just waiting for this mornings weather to clear out and the main chase of the day to begin later this afternoon.

The Storm Prediction Center or SPC has this area bulls eyed for some pretty serious weather this afternoon.  Were under a mod risk right now and it will be interesting to see what the updated forecast will be when the 1630z runs come out.  

Here is the Tornado Forecast and it could not look any better for a chaser or any worse for this area.  I hope we see some tornadoes over open country but I don’t want to see any towns getting wiped out.

Just got in to Hays Kansas tonight waiting for the storms.  Not much to report except for a long drive and another Road To Nowhere photo that I posted in the gallery.

Just waiting on the Day One to come out from SPC then going to get some sleep.  Tomorrow looks pretty insane for the tornado setup.

I’m out chasing, finally!!!  When I say that I’m out chasing outside of the area I normally cover for the local station and the tv networks in and around Minnesota and it feels good to be back on the road and back out in the field.

Currently I am just west of Sioux Falls SD and in route to Kansas for tomorrows tornado outbreak that is looks to be happening.  Today is a driving day and I’m doing something different which is I am driving under the speed limit and doing a little drafting.  Yes I know it will piss off some semi drivers but I know what I’m doing.  The crazy part is that I’m getting 22 mpg with my Jeep which normally I average about 15 if I’m lucky.  

The main thing is that I replaced some old vacuum lines last week and it made a huge difference.  Combine the slower travel speeds and drafting and it really makes a huge difference.  The mpg while drafting is about 25-28 mpg and add in the fact that I’m price shopping for fuel and finding deals where the gas is still $3.63, and this is going to be the chase where I see what I can get for the total mpg at the end of the trip.

Well time to wrap up and get back on the road.  Next stop somewhere in western KS tonight.

Ok, I’m still at home sick and going to get checked out on Monday to make sure this is nothing worse like walking pneumonia.  All I know is it sure feels like the last time I had it walking pneumonia and my lungs are taking a beating from the coughing. 

Alright, enough about me being sick.  Here are some shots of the storms that rolled through the Burnsville area tonight.  They look a lot worse than they really are because this is pretty much Virga dropping down and with the sun back lighting the storms it looks like something else.

Ugh, the bug that Neva had that she got from her family that I ended up getting is still kicking my ass. Virtually nothing is getting done here while I sleep and sleep and sleep some more. With sparing the nasty details, I feel like shit and I’m going back to bed.  

I’m pretty much shutting the phone off and having some undisturbed me time to rest before I go chasing in a few days. 

Yes, I had to wait until I knew Neva was coming home so I would not ruin the surprise.  She thought I was kidding when I told her I was going to bake her a cake for her birthday.  Happy Birthday Neva

Today is Neva’s big birthday and I know she does not want to make too much of a fuss about it, but I just wanted to let everyone know.  And as strange luck as it, it is also Tom’s Birthday.  Yeah, I can call him Tommy because he is still my little nephew.

So while we were trying to go out with some friends for dinner, I think it might be put on hold for a BBQ later in the month because Neva has the flu and I really want her to relax and rest.

But also as luck would have it, today is another huge milestone in the history of BNVN because we cracked a code last night in the video display process that is going to change everything. 

Everyone asks, why don’t I have this done or why is the site not ready or what is the delay on this part of the project.  Well it is simple, unless each custom built part of the project is not working and fitting just right, it’s just a waste of time to do anything because it will only have to be fixed later.  And I don’t feel like having to go back and redo a billion lines of code when I can do it right the first time!!!

Code, it’s all about the code and now what is the code?  Sorry, you will just have to wait about another 8-15 days for me to do a little more sql work and then…  well were not competing with the storm chasers anymore, were going after the networks 🙂