2008 in review: How was it for you?

[Simon Timm]

Tornado-wise, it was soft of a bland year for me here in Wisconsin. There was a rare January tornado that hit Wheatland Wisconsin. It was rated a high end E-f3.

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There was also a large multivortex tornado this June that injured 15 people. I missed both events!

There was also the catastrophic flooding in the Midwest this year. With Wisconsin and Iowa receiving the worst rainfall.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

2008 was quite a year, and pretty interesting from the standpoint of the storms we got vs. the results we obtained as chasers. There is no doubt it was the year of the HP monster. I've never seen so much rain in all my life.

Best storms/tors for me: Tipton/Glen Elder, Kearney, Ness City, Soldier, Ulysses, Picher (even though I couldn't get to the tor on that one)

Most frustrating moments: the high risk 'screaming wind of death' day in south central Kansas (still had fun anyway), getting stuck in high water in Lawrence with tor-warnings all around, traffic in Ness City (wut)

Most intense moments: getting caught in Kearney's extreme RFD (wow) ... getting caught in the extreme RFD north of Ness City and watching huge trees snap in half around the car (wow wow) ... Ulysses - I just can't even describe what we went through here - definitely scary, but still I want to do it again ... feeling the sound waves/heat coming off a lightning bolt about 30 yards in front of me near Circleville/Soldier ... sitting in Holton with Stertz as the lights went out while the tornado approached in the middle of the night. Was like something out of a movie.

Saddest moments: hearing about the boy scout camp north of Omaha ... no words to describe; Picher, Oklahoma ... what can you say about a little town that had so little hope left that wound up losing everything - that whole day was just sad, as we lost a good storm spotter near Neosho too, feeling helpless as yet another supercell/tornado screamed toward Greensburg.

Funniest/happiest moments: getting stuck with Currens - ended up being a blast; watching Channel 4's Humvee window shatter as they dropped us off at the motel (still have no idea what that was all about); getting rescued by the Discovery Channel team; hanging out with a bazillion chasers in Hays. Thanks to my various excellent partners this year (Currens, Stertz, Antle). Good times.

Now that I think about it, 2008 was just really something. It gave me a lot of memories that I'll take with me for a very long time.