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!!

2012!!!!

So now we look forward to 2012!  I always like to make little goals for myself.  I don't call them resolutions, because it almost sets you up for failure..Anyway, enough blabber!

Last year I did pretty well with my goals, so let's see how we do this year!

#1: More storm chasing, which I already know will happen.  I am finally going on a chasecation with one of my chaser pals and I absolutely cannot wait! :)  Something crazy could happen between now and then, but regardless, every chance to chase a storm I'm going for it.  I traveled almost 1000 miles in 2011!  I would LOVE to double that!

#2:  GRADUATE!  Again.. this goal should definitely come to fruition as long as nothing too terribly insane happens.

#3: Read more.  I love reading for fun.  School makes me forget that I do. 

#4: FINALLY, I am going to train for that 5k.  And I'm not joking this time.  I will start training, and by fall, I will RUN not walk in a 5k!

#5:  Squeeze in a photography class to better learn my camera.  I think I'm getting a good grasp on composition, but I need better skills with those manual settings.  It will be awhile before I have time to do this, but I'm gonna try to do it in the fall of 2012.

#6:  Hike more.  I forgot how much I love being outside, and I remembered a couple of weeks ago when I was trying to save my sanity.  So, every time I can, I'm going to play outside in the woods.  I love it there. I love the silence. :D

#7: Wean myself away from the laptop after I graduate.  Yes...  I mean it...  I spend far too much time online.  This will help me better achieve #6!

#8:  See the northern lights.  I know this is going to be next to impossible, but.... I have to see them.

#9:  Make sure all my friends and family realize how much I appreciate them.  I feel like sometimes I don't do such a good job.  I really do love the people I let in.  I feel like sometimes I need to be a much better friend.

#10:  Keep smiling and living positively! :D

Thanks for reading my babble, you guys!  <3

2011-Part 2

The second half of my year was far less eventful.  :)

Just after April 27th, we headed off to San Francisco for an amazing vacation.  San Francisco is a beautiful city.  We had such an amazing time there! 

I finally got to meet south Georgia weather Jenn (Dewdrop)!  She's so much fun.  I met up with her and some of my other weather loving friends down in Peachtree City at the NWS to see the Hurricane Hunter aircraft!  It's funny.. I have talked to Jenn for about 2 years now and she was just as awesome in person as she has been through email!  I also finally met Jesse Hines and Ashley Poling (TVN friends) for the first time in person!  Jesse and I have been pretty good friends for about a year and at that time I hadn't known Ashley for too terribly long, but she's pretty awesome herself!  Here's a photo we all took together at the airport! :)

My summer ended up pretty normal, and I finished the absolutely WORST semester of grad school I had with Biostats and Project Management.  I seriously thought I was going to lose my mind!  Bahahah!  But alas.. I survived!  And the fall semester came and went with little fanfare.  I hope to graduate in the Spring, but most likely I will graduate in the Summer.  It's totally okay though!  I want to be able to do good work on my thesis.  :)

Anyway, one of the other highlights of my year was Athens Popfest in October.  It has been a really long time since I had so much fun!  Stacey and I really had an absolute blast! :D  I got to meet one of my music idols, Vanessa from Pylon, and we also met some amazing people, John from NC and Jill from NY.  We will definitely be back for the fun next year!!

Me, Stacey, and Vanessa Hay from Pylon!

So that's pretty much a wrap! :)  2011 was an amazing year for so many reasons....  I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for me, and tomorrow I'll outline my plans for 2012!

2011 In Review-Part 1!

2011 has been another amazing year.

We started the year in January with an epic snowfall that I missed because I was in Indiana on a business trip.  We got well over a foot of snow.  My work stuck us on the corporate jet (woot!) on Sunday before the storm hit to ensure we made it to our destination.  Sure enough, that evening the snow started and did not stop for some time.  When I landed on Friday, there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground.  In fact.. there was enough that I was able to go sledding down the hill in the backyard which I enjoyed! :)

In February, the wacky weather of 2011 really started up for us!  On February 28th, I drove north and west during my lunch break towards a QLCS that was heading our way.  I made it to the line and all I got to see were some cloudy skies and a bolt of lightning, so in my mind, the severe weather threat was over.  I ignored the system until a little later that afternoon and I received a message from one of my weather loving friends who asked me if I was paying attention to what was going on.  I pulled up the radar and saw the line was seriously kinked and heading our way.  This was the first system of the year that directly hit my workplace (shattered a window!) and an EF1 tornado hit in Red Bank causing damage. 

Radar imagery of the QLCS of February 28, 2011:

March was a pretty quiet month weather and otherwise.  I went to the GMP conference in Athens, GA which is always fun.  For my birthday, my dream finally came true and I got my Nikon D3100 DSLR camera! :)  I am still learning my camera, but I totally love it!  As far as the weather goes, I had a couple of mini chases that didn't really result in too much more than this double rainbow I found in my backyard after driving all over looking for storm action.  :)

The quietness of March turned into the most amazing weather month I've ever witnessed.  On April 4, 2011, the day before I got my wisdom teeth removed (ugh.. haha), an epic system rolled through that caused over 700 wind damage reports! 

After that, there was the April 15th tornado outbreak that rolled through Mississippi and Alabama.  The severe weather rolled right on through to produce another tornado outbreak on April 16th in North Carolina that produced a tornado that went straight through downtown Raleigh. 

Then, the end of April approached.  Starting on April 25th, an epic system started wreaking havoc on the US.  I started looking at the models and realized I had a REAL chance of seeing a tornado relatively close to home in the next couple of days!  I contacted one of my good friends that I had met on StormTrack, Wes Carter.  I asked him if he wanted to chase on April 27th locally, but he had a prior obligation.  We looked at the models and, sure enough, storms were going to be at a reachable distance on the 26th. So I took the day off work and had one of the best days of my life.  We headed initially towards northern Mississippi, but as the day progressed we realized we'd have to cross the Mississippi to see anything before dark.  We headed over towards some developing storms and soon the storm we'd been tracking became tornado warned!  Seeing that supercell with my eyes does not even compare to the photos I took with my camera.  I wish I could explain into words what that one day did for me.  That day.. sealed the deal.. I was 100% in love with storm chasing. I saw my first wall cloud and my first green skies.  We punched the core of the storm. :D It was my first long distance chase, and I will never forget it and I cannot thank Wes enough for allowing me to tag along with him!  It was a great time! :)

Radar image from our storm!

My best photo from the day:

When I got home around 2am on the morning of the 27th, I had a pretty good idea of the potential of the day.  Even though I have been a long time weather nerd, I never could imagine that something of the magnitude of April 27th could happen here.  The morning started with a tornado that hit very close to my work place.  The sun came out and they sent us home (thankfully) due to the power outages.  I was still pretty tired from my trip, and I thought chasing might not be a good idea. Furthermore, I was seriously worried about my friends and family.  In retrospect, I really should have at least done some spotting, but, once everything got started, I was somewhat shell shocked.  I know that might sound stupid, but I don't know how else to describe it.

My home was not hit by the Ringgold tornado.  My brother's home, however, was not as lucky.  Ringgold is beautiful again and no longer the pile of ruins it was after 8:10pm on that day.  So many lives were lost, included 70+ in the Chattanooga area with 8 of those being in Ringgold.

Still, I have nightmares.  I have always had nightmares about tornadoes, but this is different.  I am one of those people who turned their fear into an obsession, but April 27th changed me forever.  I'm not trying to be melodramatic.  I'm just trying to explain the impact of that day.  I have videos and photos we took that day.  I still have not watched the videos.  I know for a storm chaser/weather lover type person that might sound odd.  I just do not really care to relive that day just yet.  It's hard for me to watch videos of the Alabama tornadoes knowing that so many people were dying at that moment.  These were some of the most beautiful tornadoes I have ever seen, but yet.. I cannot watch without tearing up.  To my Alabama friends, Annie O and Jenn from Cullman...  I cried and prayed for your safety that day.  I will never forget that moment in TVN Chat when the Tuscaloosa tornado was bearing down on Annie.  Ugh.. It's hard to even write about, really...

Shell shocked.. that's the best way to describe it. 

I was afraid that I would go back to being the scared person I was before I learned to love weather.  But they say.. if you fall off a horse, you have to hop right back on.  So I told myself that I would not stop pursuing my dream.  

Part 2 tomorrow....  :)