• After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

2008 in review: How was it for you?

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.
 
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.
 
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