9-30-07
Holstein to Fort Dodge, IA.
I had a really good feeling about todays possibility for a fall tornado in Iowa. It has been awhile since the actual chase so bear with me. Started the day not knowing which way to go.. Do I drive west to the center of the approaching low, or do I head to 100 miles souheast of the center. I bet I pondered that in my head 1000 times before I left. I wanted to head south until I fueled up and went west.. Going south would have been a winner because a long track tornado hit sully, iowa that day. About 40 miles form my target..Argh.. Anyway I went west ended up chasing 2 very nice looking embedded tornadic cells. Was watching a very rapid lowering somewhere around holstein when the flanking line dumped nickel hail on my truck. Witnessed a brief funnel before I was overtaken by rain. I never saw it coming. Not much to report, but thanks to Ryan Pfaankuch for nowcasting this event.

7-16-07
Mason City to Waterloo, IA,. Baseball to Golfball size hail.
I knew this day had the chance to produce large hail so I had to go for it. Started my day at the pet store in Mason City waiting for the cap to break. I thought it was going to be the longest drive ever to get the dog a toy.. But playing the waiting game paid off.
Just as I thought about packing up and heading back I witnessed a cell just east of Mason City explode!! I was so amazed by the growth of the storm that I forgot to take pics... Damn it. I followed thae same storm all the way to waterloo. This storm was a monster and I assumed that it had the possibility to tornado. As a followed it in amazement, not taking any pictures, I could see the hail core and hear the hail raoaring. It was amazing.. This is one of the many reasons why I chase storms, the roar of hail is truly something else.
Hail reports were coming in like crazy, so I decided to take a closer look, trees were shredded from the hail. I also took a hit from a large hail stone that actually shot out of the updraft..

6-22-07
Cumming IA, to Norwalk, IA 2 Tornadoes, EF1, EF2. Boone County, IA Wall cloud.

This day turned out better than expected. I started my day thinking that I might see a lightning show or possibly a brief wall cloud. Based on the conditions I predicted a squall.
I started the day just south of Boone, IA. I happened to be on the best cell for the early part of the day. As soon as it popped, it went tornado warned. Spotters reported a wall cloud just west of my location. About 5 minutes later it came in to view, it looked to show a little rotation then went linear mode..
Not giving up on the day, I headed south to West Des Moines to the tail-end charlie. Again as soon as I got to it a bow echo formed right behind me. As I was sitting in a construction the sky was really gaining strenght and unfortunately speed. I exited at Cumming, IA, and continued East as fast as I could, while snapping pictures at the same time. I was not doing the chasing today, the tornado producing Bow echo was.. Found myself in the direct path of 2 tornadoes that intersected behind me. Unfortunately I could not see the tornadoes very well due to flooding rain.. In any case it was a great day. First, pic looking directly to the area of the Cumming tornado(rain rwrapped) the house directly behind me took a direct hit.

6-07-07 Second Chase of the season. The eastern half of Iowa was under high risk. The outlook for tornadoes was very high. I started the day knowing that the storms were going to be going 50+ mph. But all things considered I decided to go for it anyways.
I started the day in Des Moines playing the I80 corridor. Should have installed a turbo charger in my truck before chasing as it turned out to be faster than I thought. I ended up 10 miles from the only storm that produced a tornado for the day, near Newton, IA., but missed it.
Chased several cells from all the way to north of Iowa City, where I intercepted to tornado warned cells.. Finally!! But of course the cells showed little chance to actually tornado. On cell near Mt. Vernon showed a little potential but produced nothing.. What an exhausting day...

Chase Log 6-01-07
Ellsworth, IA to Eldora, IA *Tornado EF0 (2343UTC)
* My first real chase of the 2007 season. Eastern Iowa was under high risk for severe weather, but because of uncertainty, I decided to chase in north central Iowa. Fruitland, Iowa took direct hit from an EF3 tornado and suffered from extensive damage.
Supercell intercepted 3 miles west of Eldora and quickly produced a tornado, touchdown lasted less than a quarter of a mile in a bean field 2 miles west of Ellsworth. Wall cloud showed rotation for nearly 20 miles, or so. I witnessed at least 6 funnels, with a very large area of rapid rotation near Radcliffe, IA. Chased storm to 8 miles east of Eldora when It finally got dark.

NWS radar image from Springfield, MO

NWS radar image from Springfield, MO
This is Crazy! I can not believe the amount of current tornado warnings for soutwest missouri. Several homes damaged with several confirmed tornadoes ongoing throughout missouri. Confirmed fatalities and injuries. I cannot believe we are having a sever outbreak in January.

Tornadoes In the Norther Plains in January!! Wow, I expected this but did not think it would reach into Wisconsin. Dews in the mid 50's!! Tornado reports still coming in. Several tornadoes reported with homes damaged. I am already liking the trend this year. If this keeps it up it will be a very busy chase season! I love it!!

Storm Prediction Center Jan 6, 2008 1730 UTC Day 2 Convective Outlook

It looks like severe weather for tomorrow and Tuesday!! I cant believe it, dews in the 50's and we are in early January!! It looks like there could be an outbreak from Texas all the way to N. Illinois. If I were chasing this system I would probably head to extreme south eastern Iowa and adjust from there. The SPC has highest probs. for E. Oklahoma and S. Missouri. I wouldnt rule out some decent supercells in eastern Iowa and Illinois. Unfortunately I have to work so I will not be able to chase this, but I will be keeping a close eye on it as it unfolds. Tornadoes in Iowas In January! We we see...

I am extremely bored today so I am going to try to figure out this whole blog thing. I havnt seen my girlfriend in several days because she is on vacation with her parents. I miss her and really wish she was here so we could spend the day together. I really wish that it was spring so I could at least go storm chasing. It is only the beginning of january and I am seriously having withdrawls from chasing. It will at least be 3 months before I see any severe weather up here in the northern plains... So until the I will fill my obsession with storm footage and pictures..