Exciting News

Yesterday, I found out when my last day in the lab will be.  May 14th...  I'm so excited about my new job!  Oddly enough, regulatory affairs is so interesting to me!  Yet another thing that makes me weird!  :)

Am I sad about leaving the lab?  Of course, I am!!!  I've worked in a laboratory for the last 11 years.  My hands are dry and ruined from chemicals, but I wouldn't give up my years in the lab for anything.  In a couple of weeks, I'll be turning in my lab coat.  I cannot believe it!  But, I am so excited!!!!  This job is the start of a new chapter of my life!  I'm excited about the possibilities!  :)

Random Rambling

Another sleepless night....  I have a problem going back to bed if something wakes me up. So here I am... I have been awake since 3 am.  And let's see what I have done:

• I surfed around Facebook.  Time wasted...
• I looked at the models for this weekend.  More details later...
• I tried to get the back door lock unjammed and I was unsuccessful.  Time wasted...
• More internet surfing.  Time wasted...

So, I am going to go for a walk now!  I'm getting ready to head out.  It's a bit cool outside, but I can't stand walking when it is hot outside.  I'm hoping that this will help me be more positive today.

As for the models for this weekend, it looks to be stormy and rainy for sure.  Will it be chase worthy?  Right now, anything is chase worthy.  It doesn't even have to be severe!  Looks like my weather will get here Saturday night (BOO) through Sunday.  Rain totals look insane based on this estimation from TwisterData.com:

April 24, 2010

This will be a day I won't forget for so many reasons.  I want to end on a positive note, so let's start with the sad news out of Yazoo City, MS.  I was watching the radar and many chasers live streams as the tornado passed through.  I saw a close call on one of the live streams I was watching.  You couldn't even see that tornado until it was right on top of them and the chaser was being nailed with debris!  It was crazy!  On the radar, you could clearly see the debris cloud.  You know that's not good.  All in all, yesterday was a deadly day with 54 reports of tornadoes.

I didn't go chasing at all yesterday.  But the storms came after me!  We had an intense night last night.  A very strong area of rotation passed just to our south around 1 am.  This storm was very intense with continous lightning and VERY strong winds.  I literally heard the ping ping of about 3 hail stones.  We went outside and couldn't find any, so maybe it was just nuts off of our hickory tree.  I like to think it was hail stones.  Below is a radar image snagged by my friend, Sean, who sent these to me since my GR Level 3 went out last night.

I am very proud of my forecasting yesterday, even though I didn't go chasing.  I sat down and really looked at the models.  I picked a target and then tried to time the storms arrival.  I did very well!  :)  So I consider that success even if I didn't make it out to chase.  I will be much more confident next time about my forecasting!  I am hoping the next system comes through on a day that I have plenty of time to take a nice road trip, and the storms won't be moving 60mph!! 

Emily was confirmed in the church yesterday, and it was a beautiful service.  I couldn't help but think about the weather because a storm raged outside while we were in church, but Emily was gorgeous and growing up so fast.  I can't believe what an amazing young lady she's becoming!  I am so very proud of her.

I also went to see Katie as she got ready for her prom.  It's so hard to believe she is 18 years old.  She makes me proud every day!  I'm such a proud aunt!  All of my nieces and nephews make me so very proud!

I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend! 

Argh...

So I get up this morning, and the system is a little bit further west than I had hoped!  I have a commitment that I cannot miss at 6pm tonight.  I'm looking at the models and trying to figure out the timing of this system.

As of right now, I have it calculated to hit the Chattanooga area between 7pm and 9pm, which is NOT what I wanted!!  That would mean I would need to be in my target of Huntsville between 4pm and 6pm.  I cannot miss my niece's confirmation no matter what!

As of right now, I'm still doing SOMETHING.  I just don't know what yet.  It may end up that I just set up a tripod on the front porch and try to get some amazing lightning shots, and I was thinking about building a hail pad since we are probably going to get some big hail today.  I'm a bit of a hail junkie!

We'll see how it goes.  I'm keeping optimistic.  If I have to chase around here, it's fine too, but I'm not chasing after dark.  No way!!

WOW!!!

I can't say anything other than WOW!!!  Tomorrow is going to be huge!  I'm going to get an adapter for my laptop in the morning, so I can have GR Level 3 in my car with me.  I'll feel much more comfortable with a big real radar than relying on my Blackberry!  Although, I'm excited about my chase, I hope that everyone pays close attention to the weather tomorrow, as it's going to be a dangerous day. 

Ask and Ye Shall Recieve

Because Saturday is going to be so busy, I asked that the severe weather be close to home.  Well, take a good look at this, the Day 3 outlook from SPC!  I live right on the edge of the 30% probability area and not very far from that blue hatched area!  Although, I probably won't be able to go as far as the blue hatched area, I'm pretty certain that I will get to do some chasing on Saturday before the sun goes down.  I'm so excited!!!  I figure after I leave my niece's confirmation, I'll check the radar and see how far I need to go.  The only thing that could mess it up would be that the storms are too far west during that time and that means an overnight event for us.  If it is a  nighttime event, I'll be spotting from my front porch.  Either way, I don't lose here!!  If you don't have one already, get a NOAA weather radio or subscribe to one of the many services that will send you a text when a warning is issued for your county! 

Bu-bye Pollen!!

This morning I woke up to take Rerun outside, and I heard the little drip drip sounds of rain!  All I can say is thank God!  I'm so ready for this pollen to be swept away, so I can BREATHE again!  :)

It looks like my severe weather is going to be Saturday evening until Sunday morning.  That doesn't work for me, unfortunately.  Saturday is chock full of things I have to do, so no chasing this weekend for me unless it's something super close to home.  Sunday would be a great chase day for me, so again, my fingers are crossed for the system to slow down just a bit.

Regardless, I will be living vicariously through my friends in the Plains for the next few days.  I'll see how much my poor ole laptop can take by having as many live streams as possible open at the same time!

SATURDAY??? SUNDAY??? :D

Trying not to get too excited, but Saturday and Sunday both look good for seeing a few storms! I don't want to jinx anything!

Unfortunately, Saturday is a super busy day for me. My niece, Katie, has her senior prom, and my niece, Emily, has confirmation at church!

So maybe the storms will hold off until Sunday! Please! :)

Also, thanks goes out to Dewdrop for adding my little blog to her page! I really appreciate it, Dewdrop. I'm not as faithful about posting like I should be, but I'm going to do better since school is basically over!

Not Your Typical Girl

The more I think about it the more I realize I am not a typical girl. I'm not much for girlie things. I get along better with boys than girls. I love weather, science, bugs....

I'm definitely a weirdo.

The First "Chase"

I hesitate to even call it a chase, but I did get out of the house early and took the long way to work.. Does that count? :)

Anyway, a linear mess was headed my way. Nothing severe. If I didn't have to go to work, I probably would have just hung out at home and waited for it to arrive.

The best part was the amazing lightning show that I didn't get to catch AT ALL on video! But it was okay. I really enjoyed filming and being out in the action.

I think about it every day... How am I going to feel WHEN (not if) I see my first tornado? Am I going to be scared and never chase again? All I know is that you just have to try. If I freak out and cry, then at least I made the attempt! I have dreamed of SEEING a tornado since I was a little kid. Even though I was terrified of all storms, I still new that I would love to go on a storm chase.

This year is supposed to be getting me ready for chase-cation next year! I hope that I get a few more opportunities to chase this spring. Right now, nothing is going on.. The near future doesn't look to promising in our area either!