Utterly Useless Knowledge

Don't say that I didn't warn you . Although she's now weakend to a tropical storm, Ida still likes to be windy. Such a rarity to have late-season tropical system. What can you say, though....Ida doesn't like to be told that she can't throw a party. Here's some pretty pictures and stuff from this morning. Have a good time, Gulf Coast.....she's a helluva good cook! Give her a Margarita or two and she'll tell you who started the Chicago fires, too. ((Love ya, Ma!))

Courtesy of chaser/photographer extraordin aire Ryan McGinnis , from the entertaining/flaming Vortex2 thread on the Stormtrack Message Board. You can click on a link below to really learn about the project, but the issue at hand is the massive fleet of vehicles (over 40 total) that will be out on the Plains collecting research data with the goal of increasing warning times, and ultimately saving lives. In the process, they may be taking up a LOT roadside real estate over the next month or so that would normally be taken by enthusiast storm chasers. Selfishness and entitlement abounds. Ryan has a way of effectively getting his sarcastic point across. Well done, Sir. And ditto. Frequently Asked Questions For sci.geo.stormtrack.vortex2-thread Q1: What is Vortex 2? Vortex 2 is a two year science mission to study various supercellular parameters and how they relate to tornado genesis. You can find out more here . Q2: Well I think it's useless. It's not useless -- just do a bit of...

Photo Courtesy Dick McGowan Since I didn't come to the Central Plains Severe Weather Symposium on April 4th armed with anything but a notebook and a pen, I really wasn't thinking about doing any storm chasing that particular Saturday afternoon. I was just wanting to see a presentation I had heard before from Mike Umscheid about weather photography, and then pick up a copy of the Storms of 2008 DVD , and be on my way. So it was good to run into Darin Brunin , who I hadn't seen in a few years. He and Dick McGowan were selling the charity DVD, and had their eye on the afternoon for a potential chase set-up for low-topped supercells in south central Nebraska. What the hell..... I couldn't pass up the opportunity to learn a few things about cold-core setups from a couple of chasers whom I have a lot of respect for. Here's a direct link to Dick's summary of the day , with pictures (including the one above!), since I was completely flying blind, and they were nice eno...

Right off the top: I'm setting the Over/Under on national media outlets using the phrase "Houston, we have a problem." for their Hurricane Ike coverage at 73. Anyone want that action? There's a bunch of chasers who are readying themselves today for landfall just south of the Galveston area. While it doesn't look like this one will be a huge wind maker (oh, it will be windy, I'm sure), the bigger concern is the storm surge that will be pushing right into the bay at Galveston. It's going to be a wet one down there. I'd go ahead and fill up that tank of gas today before the price jumps $.50 overnight. Latest satellite image is showing that it's picking up some steam, trying to form a real eyewall. THe core of it has been floundering in its trek across the Gulf of Mexico, but the overal size of the storm is freakishly large. I'll get some cool GRLevel3 Radar images up when it gets in closer. I'll make weather geeks out of you knobs yet! Here...

I thought I'd try my hand at creating a slideshow of some of my favorite pictures that I've shot in recent years. ((Photo Geeks: the majority of these were taken with a Canon Powershot G6. That's the best I can do until Santa brings me something better, but I'm not worried about it)) While I've got a LOT of work to do to get better at all of the steps, in getting a good shot, there's been some hidden gems that at least I like to think are "okay" shots. It's a bunch of different stuff, with some random pictures of things & friends thrown in. UPDATE: I think this slideshow will have to do in this location for now. Blogger is being difficult with putting it over on the right side, and I'm not a programmer. I've updated the slideshow with the pictures I think I wanted in it for a first time out. I'll update the show from time to time, and maybe move it up to the front page when it slips. I'm sure I should've watermarked these, ...

Hurricane Dolly has made landfall at South Padre Island, TX today. It got upgraded in the last hour or so to a Category 2 hurricane, with winds above 95 MPH. Here's a cool radar shot from GRLevel3 . Either I'm a true weather geek for thinking this is cool, or I'm still a 1st grader with ADHD that just likes pretty, swirly colors.

Many of you probably know from various conversations or eavesdroppings that when Spring time rolls around, my attention (ADHD) shifts towards any and all things severe weather. THis has been the case for about as long as I can remember, ever since I was probably 7 or 8 years old. My first indoctrination into Reality TV was watching non-stop coverage of a severe weather outbreak, glued to the TV watching Jim Flowers (then with Channel 7 in Omaha) pointing out the peculiarities of a particular red blob on his radar screen. I daydreamed incessantly about having a TV monitor installed in the wall of our dining room, hard-wired into the bowels of the Channel 7 Weather Center, showing nothing but live radar. Flash to present day: I'm still the little kid at heart when it comes to severe weather. Only these days, when time and work provides, you'll find me within a half-day's driving distance of home, trying to find some of nature's best. As the late storm chaser Eric Nguyen s...