2013!!!!!

Well, it is that time of year again!  Time to set goals and see what we can get accomplished this year!  My primary goals are kind of boring.. haha.. to most people, anyway.

Last year, I did pretty good (more hiking, less time online, saw a tornado.. Did I mention I saw a tornado??), but not as good as years past.  Well.. here goes nothing! Let's see what we can accomplish!

1: Become debt free.  I don't believe we can completely become debt free by the end of the year, but I want to make HUGE steps in that direction!  If we can't afford to pay cash, we don't BUY it!  I am even going to strive to do that with vehicles, but we'll see!  I'm planning on making a budget this weekend, and we are going to stick to it!

2:  Sell the house and buy a new one.  We have been dreaming about this one for sometime, but I truly believe that we are finally financially able to buy our dream/forever home!  We want land and lots of it, and to live a bit further out!  Even if it means having to drive a little further to work everyday.  I cannot wait to find our forever home!  This makes me the most excited of all!

3:  Finish school.  This has to happen in 2013.  If it doesn't.. I don't think I'll ever finish.  I have to really push myself to finish!

4:  Get better at photography....  I mean really.  I want to be a good photographer.  I need to practice practice practice!  I've decided to take my camera with me most everywhere I go.

5:  MORE hiking!  I want to do Cloudland Canyon again and not feel like death!  I want to do longer and many more hikes!!!  I can't wait! I love the woods!

6:  More confidence in forecasting for my chasing.  No driving in circles this year.  Pick a target and stick to it.  If storms happen, YAY.. if not, it is all good! 

7:  Double my tornado count this year (2 instead of 1 :P), and get just a smidge closer.. haha.. :D 

8:  Take a real live culinary course! :D  I want to branch out and learn new techniques.. especially FISH!

9:  Exercise no less than 3 days per week.

10:  Keep a positive outlook and learn to accept criticism.  I have a fatal flaw.  I don't like criticism, and I don't respond well to it.  I need to learn to keep an open mind when someone is critical of my actions or work.  Learn from my mistakes....  I'm a big advocate of that, but I'm not as good at it as I should be.

I think that's a pretty good list! I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful New Year and here is to 2013!!!

End of the Year Update!!!

First of all, yesterday was a record breaking severe weather event for the southeast US.  34 reports of tornadoes, including one wedge that rolled through downtown Mobile!  For anyone who is still somehow clinging to that myth that tornadoes don't hit big cities, I think the last few years have been evidence that it can and WILL happen!!!  Luckily for us in the Chattanooga area, the air remained very stable and the warm front kept to our south.  This morning it is quite windy and cold.. We might even get a couple of flurries!

SPC storm reports for yesterday (12/25/12):

So anyway!  2012 wasn't all that spectacular.  YES I am still in school and probably will be for at least another year.. blah.  The thesis fell to the wayside in the fall semester because I was on the road so much!  It has been a really busy year.

We lost my uncle who was an amazing man.  Uncle Johnny was kind and caring.. he had a HUGE heart.  The connection between my mother and him was far greater than typical brother/sister love, because they lost their mother (my grandmother) when they were both very young.  My mom became his mother.  I will never forget the day he died. I drove my mom up to their house in Farragut, TN.  Uncle Johnny had been sick for sometime and just a few days before they had brought in Hospice.  He didn't want to go in a hospital room.  He wanted to be home.. Home with my aunt and surrounded by family and friends.  And that's just how it happened.  We drove up, and knew the time was getting close.  Everyone was in the room with him when it happened, and even though it was so incredibly sad to lose such an amazing man, I couldn't imagine a better way to go.  We love and miss you, Uncle Johnny, but we are so glad you aren't suffering anymore.

On the brighter side, I did a LOT of unexpected traveling this year.  We went to NYC for a mini-vacation after I spent a few days there working.  And we also took a few extra days in Seattle!  We even visited Vancouver, BC!  Pretty amazing.

I guess the BIGGEST news of all was the accomplishment of a life long dream. April 12-15th, my dream came true!  I finally got to chase storms in the Great Plains of the USA!  I absolutely fell in love with Kansas.  It is a gorgeous state!  So much more than just a giant flat field, which is what I thought it would be.  In those few days, we drove well over 3000 miles.  This pushed my storm chasing miles this year to around 4000!!!! 

I also FINALLY saw my very first tornado!!! :D  Unfortunately it was quite far away.. We may have seen a few more but it is hard to count things you just get a quick glimpse of during lightning flashes here and there.  Another reason why (in my opinion) chasing in the dark is useless..

So this year was relatively lackluster, but you know....  I'm always excited about things to come!  Tomorrow I will make my yearly list of goals (NOT resolutions).. :D

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and a great year!  What will 2013 bring?

Significant Severe Weather Possible on Christmas Day!

In a few days, I will do my year end wrap up and make new goals for the upcoming new year, but for now.. there is real WEATHER to talk about!

Christmas day is shaping up to be a significant severe weather event.

I am also not ruling out tornadoes and severe weather for our area, and here is why.

We will be in the warm sector. Initially, the models had us just slightly north of the warm, moist air, meaning we would mostly be experiencing heavy rain changing over to snow showers on Wednesday.  But from what I'm seeing on the NAM, we are going to be warm and moist enough that we could also experience some nasty weather.  CAPE is very low, but as we have seen with many other southeastern US severe weather events, we don't need a lot of instability if everything else is in place.  Right now, it appears most everything is in place.

The most significant weather, in my opinion, is going to start Christmas day in Southern LA and MS, then move over into central to southern AL.  But as the day progresses, a huge squall line is going to form, bringing with it the threat of damaging winds and isolated tornadoes. This squall line looks like it will remain a threat through the overnight hours.

This is the EHI for the afternoon on the 25th...

Everyone has their favorite weather maps to look at, and for tornadoes, I tend to look at EHI. I don't know why it is my favorite, but it is.. haha...  It is just a good way to see where rotating thunderstorms can occur.

Anyway.. I'm out of forecasting practice, so this storm will let me brush up a little bit hopefully.  This storm makes me nervous, because people are going to be distracted with Christmas day activities and probably not paying attention to the weather.

On the bright side, the flip side of this storm gives us a chance of snow showers Wednesday-Thursday!!

Photography Failure...

I have neglected the one hobby that I CAN do even if the weather is boring, and that hobby is photography.

I picked up the camera for Thanksgiving day photos and spent a good part of my time fumbling around with settings, when just a few months ago, I really felt like I had gotten the knack of taking photos.

So....  I am going to do be spending LOTS of time with my camera in the next few weeks.  I don't want to leave home without it, honestly.  Time to get familiar again with my old friend, because you never know when my next weather photography opportunity might be. 

Life Update!

Jeez.... Since we last spoke I have been to two oceans and the Gulf of Mexico... no... really! 

In early October, I was sent to New York City for a conference, and we decided to take the rest of the week as vacation.  I hadn't been to NYC since I was in high school, so I was pretty excited!  The highlights of my trip were getting to see Letterman, Matthew Broderick twice in the same day (he appeared on Letterman as a surprise guest and was also in Nice Work If You Can Get It), and just roaming the city.

Truly, it was one of the best vacations I have ever had in my life!  I was so glad we took a few extra days to hang out!

Then I got back for a few days and found out that I would be heading to Tampa to help monitor a clinical study.  That trip was solely work....  We landed, hit the ground running and went straight to work.  We had some fantastic food though while we were there, and I was able to see the beach! :)

THEN.......  I was home for three days, and then I headed off to another conference in Seattle, WA!  Seattle was really nice, but I wish I had more down time.  We just didn't have enough time to do any hiking and the weather was horrible while we were there.  I was told that July-August is the dry season, and that was the best time for hiking.  Sigh.....

I'm so happy to be home right now... I have only been here a few days, but it is awesome to be back here.  No more traveling for a little while..  :)

The Greatest Night That I Will Never Fully Remember

Can't turn my mind off to sleep, so I might as well blog about quite possibly one of the greatest nights of my life!!!  Of my ENTIRE life...

First of all, it probably was NOT my proudest moment, haha.... We had spent a little too much time pregaming before the main event, and didn't stop at the main event.  But it was a GREAT night, so all the pain the next morning was TOTALLY worth it!

September 18th, 2012, I saw Guided By Voices at the 40 Watt in Athens GA.  We arrived in Athens around 3pm and went to grab dinner at one of our favorite places, Ted's Most Best.  They have the most amazing pizza!!!!  And a baked goat cheese salad.. Holy smokes!! It is so good!

We went and chilled in the room a bit and then headed over to the Flicker Bar for a pre-GBV party where a GBV cover band played.  We were trying hard not to rock out too hard.  There is where we met up with Rachel and Matt, then soon walked over to the 40 Watt.  Brad and Joel were already there, and not far behind was Jamie and Melissa.  Needless to say, it was an awesome experience to be surrounded by so many awesome friends, while watching the greatest band on the face of the planet Earth.

Detective opened and Jim Greer who used to be in GBV for a minute was in the band.  They were pretty good.  When GBV hit the stage, we were well into the party, and it was so much fun.  GBV was AMAZING as always.  They played a lot of new stuff, but tons of old favorites, too.  In general, my face was fixated in a perma-grin for the rest of the night.

After the show, we made it to Max where at some point Brad realized he was missing his glasses.  I volunteered to walk back to the 40 Watt with him to help him look for them.  Right as we were about to walk back into the club, I noticed ROBERT POLLARD and KEVIN FENNEL and completely forgot about Brad!  I turned around and saw that somehow Stacey was back at the 40 Watt too!!  So I confessed my love to Robert Pollard and Kevin Fennel.. shed a few tears, and got a fabulous kiss on the head!

Some of the details are still sketchy.. I woke up with a sad tummy, a REALLY sore left arm, and a bump on my head!  But it was a fabulous night!  I wouldn't trade it for the world!

WHOA!

Poor little neglected blog!

I have ZERO weather to post about.  It is so good that I enjoy many things other than storm chasing.

My summer has been chock full of hiking and good times.  We didn't really take a real vacation this year, which, honestly, is okay!

Probably the most amazing hike I have done since Muir Woods near San Fran was Cloudland Canyon State Park. We did the strenuous hike to the upper falls.

Here is a photo of Stacey mocking the sign warning over our impending doom!

It was rough, but well worth it!!  It has been a very dry summer so the falls was nonexistent.  Regardless, fabulous trail and fabulous place!!!

The "upper falls:"

The view!!!

I do want to say to make sure you bring WATER and take it easy coming back up from the falls.  Our legs were like totally jelly and could barely support us when we got back up.  We were truly exhausted, but like I said.. WAYY worth it!

I will most definitely post more next week!  Tuesday, we'll be making the trek to Athens, GA to see Guided by Voices for the millionth time!  I'm really excited!!! 

Update and even a little WEATHER!

Well, it has been a really fun summer so far!!! 

Thursday night, a very strong gust front came through our area.  We have been taking care of my brother's animals/pool since he has been on vacation, and we were out swimming.  I noticed the really dark clouds moving in, so I went to check radar.  My phone was BLOWING up!  Friends were asking me what was going on with the wind!

So, I noticed a "little outflow boundary" that was pushing out from some storms that caused serious damage in the Smokies earlier that day.

So no.. on radar, people didn't see anything...  However, it caused some serious damage in our community.  Unfortunately, two people perished after theirpontoon boat capsized in the storm. 

On a non-weather note, we went to go see the musical Hair at the Chattanooga Theater Center last night!  It was absolutely amazing!!  I wish I could see it again, but next weekend looks like more fun in the great city of Athens, GA!

Now, off to the pool and then to see Moonrise Kingdom with BFF's!!!  Weeeeee! :D

It's Okay!

I'm not going to be one of those people who discourage others from becoming a storm chaser, because Lord knows that I have seen enough of those posts in my life.  I just get the impression that so many approach chasers with the idea they won't be respected unless they chase storms or make themselves to be much more experienced than they really are.

#1:  It is okay that you are new to this.  It's okay to ask questions.  Just search through forums and the great awesome resource of the internet before you ask questions.  When you do ask a question and someone is kind enough to give you a resource, please take the time to learn and actually look at the resource.

#2:  It is okay you don't know everything!  The thing is... to really learn this stuff isn't easy.  A lot of people look up to chasers and think that it is easy.  I'd say most of the well respected guys know a great deal about forecasting, storm structure, or whatever.  This didn't come to them overnight. You have to start somewhere.  Granted, with technology, it is a lot easier to chase storms than it was even 5 years ago.  That doesn't mean you should do it without learning.  There is a lot to learn about storm movement, structure, etc.... In fact, not knowing some stuff could even put you in bad spots that could quite possibly get you killed.  So get on with your learning, will you?

#3:  It's okay that you ARE NOT a storm chaser.  It's just fine to be a radar aficionado or other kind of weather weenie without having to be a chaser.  People are going to respect you more if you don't lie or exaggerate your pursuits. 

I'm not saying that I'm this great chaser or anything....  I am a person who genuinely loves science and learning.  I have chased storms, yes.  However, I am still very new to this (even after 2 solid years of chasing now), and have a lot to learn.  I make a LOT of mistakes.  I second guess my forecasts all the time, which causes me to drive in circles.  I am still terrified of nighttime severe weather (especially when I know there is a possibility of tornadoes). I still will not chase alone if the target is more than 100 miles away or if I am not familiar with the territory.  It is too hard to navigate and read radar all by yourself.  At least for me.. it is.

So embrace your inexperience for what it is!!!  Take your time and enjoy it!  No one should judge you if you really are open to learning.

Reflection

I've been doing a lot of thinking and self evaluation.. haha.. Scary, I know! :)  But regardless.. I feel much better than I did one week ago, that's for sure!

Nothing at all going on weather wise here or elsewhere!  I'm really glad I went ahead on that multiday journey in April.. otherwise, we would have been chasing this week and we would have ended up with a whole lot of nothing!

I have been doing a ton of hiking and I love it!

We hiked up from Craven's House to Point Park on Saturday, and it was a lovely journey!  This is going to become a regular thing.  I have even thought about trying camping again, but we'll see.  I still hate bugs. :)

Crappy Chase Report

Well.. so yesterday, I got the bright idea to chase a hailer with a 1.5" hail marker over in Marion County, Tennessee. The storm was nearly stationary, and then.... I approached it. It hightailed itself right out of Marion County south towards AL and I was out of position and caught in heavy rain. And getting really hungry... haha..
Miles Driven: 70
What Did I See: heavy rain, a little lightning and one SLC

Chase Season Over?

Sigh.... it very well may be.

Lack of funds may be the big issue here.  We'll just have to wait and see.  I wanted to take at least one more long distance chase trip this year.  We'll just have to wing it!  If there is an awesome setup, I think I could always find a way. :)

For Dixie Alley, we have been holding in this summertime pattern for a good while.  We've had a few pop up storms here and there, but nothing of significance.  Is it possible we have completed our severe weather season already?  I don't see anything impressive on the horizon and usually by the end of May it is most certainly over.

Again.. lots of speculation here... stay tuned for details!!!  Hopefully, I'll get one more decent chase in before we call it a done deal for Spring of 2012!

WINNER, WINNER, STEAK DINNER.. well... no steak dinner...

First of all....

The SPC did a phenomenal job with predicting this system, and getting the warnings out there. The graphical models had indicated this one would be a biggie for quite sometime.

Just as testament to how spot on the SPC was with their forecast, look at this graphic released today:



Saturday morning we woke up in Topeka KS and our initial target was Kearney, NE. We were going to make a play along the warm front that was draped across southern NE.

We were on our way out to NE when we got the word we just woke up slightly outside a PDS tornado watch. So we decided to hang out in KS..

PDS Watch # 165

We intercepted a supercell near Russell, KS. It was an HP mess and not much to look at. If there was a tornado in that mess, we couldn't see it.

We decided then to drop south to a nice string of pearls forming to the south. The cell we chose was one developing just outside of Greensburg, KS. We followed the cell for sometime.. Trying to keep up with it.

Unfortnately, we ended up finding the only trees in Kansas for just a minute, but when we went through the clearing.. This is what we saw:

We were further away than we would have liked to be, obviously.. haha

Here is the NWS information about this particular supercell:

www.crh.noaa.gov/ict/?n=april14th_ricetor

We dropped down to intercept another cell, we thought we MIGHT have had a tornado, but we lost daylight and couldn't tell anymore.  After that, we decided to find a place to eat our steak dinner in Wichita and then we would head home.

We saw the supercell on radar and we were certain it was going to go much further south than where we were going to be eating.  We were watching the coverage on the TV that was on at the bar, and noticed the TV met drew an arrow for the storm direction STRAIGHT for where we were eating.  Note that this was a LARGE, EXTREMELY dangerous tornado that had been confirmed.  We through some money down on the table and ran (yes, we all RAN) to the car so we could bolt west out of the way.  We were in the core of the storm at that point.  It was raining like crazy, and the wind was just insane...  I have never been in winds that strong!!!  You could hear the wind from inside the car and the car was shaking when we were stopped at a red light.  Once we were finally to safety, we found a nice vantage point and watched the light show.  There was one moment when we were sure that the lightning had illuminated the tornado, but again... we couldn't be sure, so it doesn't count. :)

I am so happy I got to chase in the Great Plains!!! I cannot WAIT to go back out there again.. it was an amazing experience

I would like to thank Wes and Brian for being awesome chase partners on this trip.  We never got annoyed with each other.  We had some good laughs! :)

I would also like to thank Jenn N from South Georgia... I remember stumbling on her blog one day and reading that SHE was a chaser from Georgia, too!!  So I started following it.. reading.. and she was a real inspiration.  Here was a real person not from the Plains who was a storm chaser.  It gave me hope and belief that I could do it.  She's an awesome gal, and I'm so glad to have her as my friend.

I'd also like to thank Jo, Spike, Ed, and Doug for being amazing friends.  TVN is like a family to me.  We are a tight knit group.  I know I talked Jo, Ed, and Spike's ears off the whole trip.  All of them have been such an awesome support system.  I have never met any of them in person, but I truly do count them as friends.

Miles Traveled: 3300
What did we see: Rolling plains and prairie, ONE super awesome incredible WEDGE tornado, amazing storm structure, and lots of dirt roads <3

Mini-chasecation PT 2

Well, yesterday was a BUST!!!!  No winner winner steak dinner!  But I saw FIVE different states in 24 hours! :)

We left the Manchester TN area about 1am CDT.  Many hours (and I mean MANY hours) of driving later we crossed over into the giant data void we can call the state of Oklahoma!  Can someone tell me what the deal is?  As soon as we crossed over into KS it was like.. BAM! And we had data again!!!  Very weird..

Anyway, our initial target was Dodge City, KS.  We stopped outside of OKC at a McDonalds with some free wi fi and reviewed the models.  The RUC showed a nice little dryline bulge around Childress, TX so we decided to head in that vicinity.  Blindly driving without data until we got into OKC, I got the updated outlook from SPC.  Clearing was happening in W KS and there was too much uncertainty in our southern target, so BACK to Dodge City we go!!!

Drive, drive, drive, drive.. I watched the rolling flat plains go by.  It is absolutely beautiful here.  I never imagined I would believe it to be as amazing as it is, but.. I was just in awe of it.  Fields so green.. we passed several canola fields, too!  No time for photos yesterday though.. we just pushed forward to our target.  Once we got to Dodge City, we realized.. this is not looking good.  We would need to make it to Goodland, KS at the very least to see anything. We were still quite a distance away and socked in cloud cover.  We decided to eat some din din and get a room to get some shuteye finally.

We had some okay Mexican food in Dodge City and started the hunt for rooms.  We passed through Greensburg.  It's being rebuilt, and it looks great!  But you can still see the scars...

For today, I'm picking a target of Enid, OK.  I'm not super excited about today's setup, but there are some largely curved hodographs in that area, and some stuff could start happening before dark!

UNLIKE SATURDAY, which after further review, looks to me to be a scary situation after DARK, but slim to nothing happening before the sun goes down.

Just for the record, here is Saturday's probabilities:

More to come tonight! :)

Miles traveled: well over 1000 :D
What did we see: The beautiful rolling plains of the central US, Dodge City, KS (The WILD WILD WEST, and yes, I made the joke.. Let's get the hell outta Dodge), Greensburg, KS, and the giant data hole known as OKLAHOMA

The Journey Pt 1

In approximately 30 hours, I begin the trip of my dreams. 

In 30 hours, I go west.

Those of you who aren't weather aficionados or storm chasers may not be aware that there are several days of severe weather possible in the Plains.  Well, my chase partner, myself, and another chaser are heading out around midnight tomorrow night to a target not yet selected, but probably somewhere in W Oklahoma or SC Kansas.

Stay tuned to this blog for further details. :D  Hopefully, I will post from my hotel room after we declare WINNER WINNER STEAK DINNER, but we'll see how that goes!  Regardless, soon I will be places I have never seen before!!!

Look out, GREAT PLAINS of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! :D  Here I come! :)

April 5--Chasing Thundershowers and Heavy Rain

Well, on April 5th I did a small local chase of some thunderstorms that came through the area.  The chase, honestly, was quite frustrating.  I couldn't make up my mind whether to go after the storms that had already formed or hang south and wait for development.  In the end, I went after those storms that had already formed.  The storms I saw were less than exciting.. haha :D But it helped.... :D

The best shot of the day came from the top of Lookout Mountain:

It wasn't a bad day, and I have a feeling, the best is yet to come.  ;)  Stay tuned for details!

On Friday night, I went to see one of my all time favorite bands on the planet, of Montreal!  Let me tell you... they put on an AMAZING show!  I have been a fan of theirs for quite sometime!  I've seen them play several times.  This show was well performed and just over all entertaining!!!  It made for an incredible weekend! :D

Stay tuned for a big announcement in the next couple of days... I don't want to jinx it, but let's just say.. IT COULD VERY WELL BE HAPPENING!!!!!! :D

Miles driven: 90
What did I see:  Some amazing structure and a lot of construction!

Update!!!

Whoooo.. I didn't realize it had been so long since I have updated my blog!!!  How disgraceful!  Poor blog..

Well, to start off, there really has been only one grand chase-a-tunity since my last post, and I was working that day so I watched from the sidelines.  March 2nd was a pretty significant severe weather outbreak, even in our area.  An EF3 tornado hit the Harrison TN area around 12:30pm that day, and I got a view of a funnel cloud from the front porch!!!

Stupid powerlines and stuff in the way, but the scene was pretty amazing out there!

Other than that, the season has been relatively boring.  Not too much weatherwise going on... However, we had my dad's 80th birthday party which was absolutely amazing!  It turned out so well!!!

Now then.. it is possible that I am taking the day off for storm chasing on Tuesday, but we will see how that pans out. Right now, I'm thinking we'll save the day off for another time.

And now to go and do the one thing I have kept up with as far as new years resolutions go....  HIKING!  Rerun and I are going to go and hit the trails!!! 

Have a great day everyone! :D

Busted Chase=Photographic Opportunity

Wednesday looked like the best chance for our area to see severe weather.  So as soon as it was 4pm, I picked up and headed out to see what I could see.

Initially, I was going to creep over into AL around Ft. Payne, but I got distracted by a few cells that popped to the north of Chattanooga.  It looked like a nice little line was going to form and so I considered going over to around South Pittsburg to await initiation.

I pulled into about 5 different parking lots and kept checking radar.  The storms just couldn't keep it together.  The cap was strong over the Chattanooga area.  It was too late to try to get to the party in AL, but nothing really happened there, either, so I didn't miss anything. :)

I decided to head up to one of my favorite places in Chattanooga to take some photos and maybe see some of the storms that were fading off in the distance.  So all was not lost!

Point Park is absolutely gorgeous and one of the battlefields in the Civil War. 

Miles traveled: Approx. 30 (mostly driving in circles trying to figure out what to do!)
What did I see: No storms, but a gorgeous view! :D

Severe Weather on Thursday!!!

Disclaimer:  I'm a bit rusty on the forecasting so forgive me and correct me for any mistakes or anything I've missed!

The SPC has given credence to what the NAM was eluding to yesterday.  Thursday has the potential for a significant severe weather event in Dixie Alley (W TN, MS, AL, GA).

This morning the SPC gave a 30% hatched probability!

Right now, it looks like the area will remained capped for a good part of the day.

Skew-T for around Memphis TN @ 18z on Thursday:

But around 21z, the cap should erode and the atmosphere should be ripe for severe weather development.


CAPE at 00z:

Unfortunately, a lot of this will be happening overnight in areas that have been hard hit before. 

Stay tuned.. I'll post more as we get closer to the event!

Another AMAZING Show in Athens GA!

Friday night, Stacey and I made another pilgrimage down to the beautiful city of Athens, GA for another memorable show.

We spent so much time stuck in traffic..  haha.. But as always, we listened to awesome music and danced (well... I danced) and acted a fool most of the way down there, so the time passed quickly. 

On our way to get dinner, we bumped into Matt, Rachel, and made a new friend, Chris, right before the show.  We walked over to Ted's Most Best where we had seen Los Meesfits at the PopFest in October.  The food was amazing, and I had a Terrapin Rye Ale, which was..... FABULOUS!  Hooray for local breweries!

Friday night reminded me of why music means so much to me.  I had an unbelievable experience with Stacey and some great friends, Matt, Rachel, Brad, Joel, and Chris.  Jeff Mangum played the most amazing set.  When he started off with Oh Comely, I really thought I wouldn't be able to stop crying the entire show.  That was pretty much the case.  I can only think of a few songs where I WASN'T moved to tears.  It was absolutely one of the most amazing music experiences I have ever had in my life!!!  Laura, Andrew, and Scott even joined Jeff on the stage for a few of the songs.  It was absolutely amazing.  The whole crowd sung along with Jeff, and there was so much love in that room! It was just..... gahh.. chillbumps.  It is one of those shows I totally wish I could relive over and over again!

Afterwards, all of us headed over to the Flicker Bar for some drinks and laughs.  Yesterday morning was a rough one, but hey.. it was COMPLETELY worth it!!!!! 

Tonight one more night of music where we will go see They Might Be Giants at Track 29!  What an amazing weekend!!!!

RIP Andy G

So, I never met Andy Gabrielson. 

That being said.. I know who he is.  I have watched and drooled over his videos.  He chased anything and everything.  He had an obvious passion for this thing that so many of us love... the weather.

I just think again this puts things into perspective.  Every day you have on this planet is a gift, and you never know when you might get taken away or when the ones you love will be taken from you.  It is so important to let those you love know how you feel about them.

Don't let fear get in the way of your dreams or goals.  This is the only chance we have on planet earth, so do with your time what you can.

RIP Andy... My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

Just Some Random Thoughts :)

I'm not even sure where to begin!  :)

First of all, I have no clue when I'm going to graduate.  I feel really... overwhelmed right now.  I kind of feel like I'm going nowhere fast on this whole thesis thing.  My proposal is still only marginally approved, and as I type this I continue to sit and stare at a blank screen.  So what do I do?  I'm turning to creative writing this morning to unblock this writer's block. 

Secondly, I have so much awesome coming up in the next few weeks.  I'll be glad to have some busy weekends actually.  The best Valentine's weekend ever will be coming up February 10th and February 12th.  February 10th, I get to see Jeff Mangum in concert.  I'm sure this doesn't mean a whole lot to many of you, but Neutral Milk Hotel was one of those bands.  When I heard In the Aeroplane Over The Sea for the first time, it was like someone opened my eyes.  I remember when Stacey told me they were playing at the Blue Angel wayyyy back in 1996 when I was working at the record store.  I was so excited!  Little did we know that would be the only opportunity we would ever get to see NMH, because not long after Jeff Mangum dropped off the face of the earth, basically.  That is still one of the greatest shows I have ever seen.  The Gerbils, Elf Power, and Neutral Milk Hotel....  They had sound problems at the Blue Angel and I remember one of the songs was sang without any sound equipment at all.  It was nearly a religious experience in that moment.

One of my favorite songs from them:

Then on February 12th, I get to see yet ANOTHER band that has helped make and mold me!  They Might Be Giants!!!!!!  I still cannot believe I have never seen them live!  Yesterday was their 30th Anniversary of being a band! So excited!!!

Anyway.. exciting times ahead!  :)  And now.. more reading for me and then some photography fun this afternoon. I think I'm going to head down to Coolidge Park!

Chase Log for January 22, 2012

When we woke up yesterday morning, it became very obvious that the storms would not initiate in Arkansas, Mississippi or W. Tennessee until after dark.  After a lot of back and forth trying to figure out whether we should take a chance or not, Wes and I decided to make a play on the warm front that was hanging out in South Alabama.

We ended up socked in fog pretty much all day.  So it was a big ole bustaroo!! We made it as far south as Tuscaloosa before we turned around and came back. 

Unfortunately, overnight that area we were in near Birmingham got slammed by a powerful tornado.  I managed to get a radar capture of one of the tornadic supercells that passed just south of the city.

 Another sad severe weather event.  2 people were killed and hundreds were injured.  Personally, I think it's remarkable that only two people were killed considering this tornado rolled through in the middle of the night.  My thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected.

Miles traveled: 300
What did I see:  Some sad tornado damage from April 27th, tons of fog

CHASE ON!

So tomorrow will be the first official chase of 2012!!

As you can see from the Day 2 outlook below, there is quite a bit of ground covered in the SLIGHT risk issued by the SPC.

In my opinion, the best spot for isolated supercells is going to be North AL/MS. From what I'm seeing, initiation could start really early, like noon or so.  So we'll have to head out pretty early in the morning to get there!  I'm game!!!

Dewpoints will be in the 60's tomorrow.. IN JANUARY!  This is just insane. 

With all my talk about tomorrow's chase, I almost forgot to mention there is a decent line of storms heading my way right now.  A tornado watch was just issued for our area until 1pm.

Here's a look at what's coming for me!  Not too much excitement at the moment, but I could definitely get some good wind and hail out of this!!

First Chase of 2012??

Okay.. so it wasn't REALLY a chase, per se.  It was more of a giant pile of pooish storms came heading my way.  Regardless.. I had an amazing time!

I started hearing that the severe weather was entering the Nashville metro area about 2:30pm EST.  I started trying to figure out if it was going to make it this far south, but sure enough..The storms were looking healthy, but not severe when I left.  I hung out a few minutes in the weather before deciding to make my trek home.

I TOTALLY forgot I had PYKL3 radar on my phone and suddenly realized I just left a severe warned cell.  But I left the store and saw that the line was heading my way.  I just needed to go a hair north and wait for the show!  Sure enough, I drove north.. pulled into a gas station and saw an amazing wall of black headed my way.  Then it was incredibly rainy and windy.. and my face... looked.. like this.  :D

Anyway.. it was enough to get the blood flowing!!  I love this stuff!!