John Mullen
To start things off, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is John Mullen and I’m the Team Leader of North Carolina Storm Chasers – Team 2. I’m 19 years old and I’ve had a deep rooted interest and passion with meteorology and more specifically, severe weather, since I was a very small child. I remember being 3 and 4 years old, being put to bed by my Mother, only to wonder back into the living room to watch The Weather Channel until I drifted off to sleep on the floor. I started “Armchair Chasing” 5 years ago, when I took control of NCSC Team 2 from Brian Vocannon. I would sit for hours every night on the IRC channel #stormchase, talking to Neal Rasmussen, Natalie Kilpatrick and many more, just letting the night pass me by talking up a storm… no pun intended. Occasionally, Angela, my Mother, would drive me around to take pictures of thunderstorms within 20 or so miles of our home in Benson, NC. This only drove my passions harder and probed at my curiosity for how and why the weather did what it did. My interest in photography began to take root around this time. I was photographing nearly everything in sight, in hopes of one day having work that was presentable to the public.
Then, after spending my entire life enveloped in meteorology, I had a chance to prove myself worthy of the title, “Storm Chaser”. Although, I was not chasing the storms myself, I was forecasting and nowcasting severe weather events for chasers in the Mid-West. The date was June 22rd, 2003.
On the days before the 22nd, I had spent many hours looking over computer models and making predictions as to what would happen in the coming days. When I finally unvailed my information and gave my opinion to everyone on #stormchase, being a “child” of only 14 years, no one bothered to listen. I told everyone that was chasing that day to head into South Central Nebraska, as I believed that would be the prime area for convection and a suitable chase. No one bothered to listen. If my memory serves me correctly, everyone stayed in Central Kansas that day and not one person saw more than clear blue skys and two massive supercells billowing to the north. It wasn’t until the next morning that I logged into #stormchase and I was finally told that everyone on the channel had my respect. From this point on, I continued giving valuable information to some chasers in the field as often as I could, to prove myself worthy of the title, “Storm Chaser”. And the chase was on.
I completed my first successful storm chase in September of 2006. I met a fellow chaser from Ardmore, Oklahoma, Doug Drace, who taught me a lot of what I know and use in the field today. He taught me the ins and outs of chasing, all the do’s and don’ts and pratically everything I needed to know to chase. I was already very knowledegable in the study of meteorology, enough that I could intercept and photograph supercell thunderstorms, and still make it home in one piece. Doug and I began talking nearly every day, with plans of me moving out to Oklahoma to chase with him for the newly formed KXII-Channel 12 storm team (which was Steve Lanore, and Doug and I’s idea) in the coming season. I backed out for reasons I won’t disclose, but I have to say, the year of 2006 changed my life completely. I was forecasting and nowcasting for Doug on many occassions, several times putting him in the pefect spot to “bag another tube” as he put it. Six tornado intercepts and one year later, Doug and I ceased talking.
Since then, I have become an avid photographer. I shoot CCS, WERA, ASRA, and AMA motorcycle races on the east coast. I’m in the works of starting my own photography buisness (landscapes, motorsports, portraits, and last but not least, severe weather) and have recently started my first year of school. I plan on having my Bachelors of Science in Meteorology in 4 years, and I may continue schooling beyond that. What I decide to do with it all… I haven't decided yet.
I chase every chance I get throughout the year, and here a few of my most recent photos (9/9/08 and some from about one month ago) to give ya'll a taste of what chasing in North Carolina is all about. Of course, any feedback or criticism is appreciated. I'm sure there will a few more small storms moving through this month, but either way I will have many more from the 2009 Storm Season when she finally gets here.
I hope this wasn't too drawn out, but I wanted you guys a little history on the man behind the camera. Thanks for listenin' haha
Here ya'll go though. What'cha think so far?
Then, after spending my entire life enveloped in meteorology, I had a chance to prove myself worthy of the title, “Storm Chaser”. Although, I was not chasing the storms myself, I was forecasting and nowcasting severe weather events for chasers in the Mid-West. The date was June 22rd, 2003.
On the days before the 22nd, I had spent many hours looking over computer models and making predictions as to what would happen in the coming days. When I finally unvailed my information and gave my opinion to everyone on #stormchase, being a “child” of only 14 years, no one bothered to listen. I told everyone that was chasing that day to head into South Central Nebraska, as I believed that would be the prime area for convection and a suitable chase. No one bothered to listen. If my memory serves me correctly, everyone stayed in Central Kansas that day and not one person saw more than clear blue skys and two massive supercells billowing to the north. It wasn’t until the next morning that I logged into #stormchase and I was finally told that everyone on the channel had my respect. From this point on, I continued giving valuable information to some chasers in the field as often as I could, to prove myself worthy of the title, “Storm Chaser”. And the chase was on.
I completed my first successful storm chase in September of 2006. I met a fellow chaser from Ardmore, Oklahoma, Doug Drace, who taught me a lot of what I know and use in the field today. He taught me the ins and outs of chasing, all the do’s and don’ts and pratically everything I needed to know to chase. I was already very knowledegable in the study of meteorology, enough that I could intercept and photograph supercell thunderstorms, and still make it home in one piece. Doug and I began talking nearly every day, with plans of me moving out to Oklahoma to chase with him for the newly formed KXII-Channel 12 storm team (which was Steve Lanore, and Doug and I’s idea) in the coming season. I backed out for reasons I won’t disclose, but I have to say, the year of 2006 changed my life completely. I was forecasting and nowcasting for Doug on many occassions, several times putting him in the pefect spot to “bag another tube” as he put it. Six tornado intercepts and one year later, Doug and I ceased talking.
Since then, I have become an avid photographer. I shoot CCS, WERA, ASRA, and AMA motorcycle races on the east coast. I’m in the works of starting my own photography buisness (landscapes, motorsports, portraits, and last but not least, severe weather) and have recently started my first year of school. I plan on having my Bachelors of Science in Meteorology in 4 years, and I may continue schooling beyond that. What I decide to do with it all… I haven't decided yet.
I chase every chance I get throughout the year, and here a few of my most recent photos (9/9/08 and some from about one month ago) to give ya'll a taste of what chasing in North Carolina is all about. Of course, any feedback or criticism is appreciated. I'm sure there will a few more small storms moving through this month, but either way I will have many more from the 2009 Storm Season when she finally gets here.
I hope this wasn't too drawn out, but I wanted you guys a little history on the man behind the camera. Thanks for listenin' haha
Here ya'll go though. What'cha think so far?
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