Yeah, Its been a Long Road to get this far. My Passion for Severe Storms started back around 2003. I was in Middle School when I first got interested. I was more scared of storms then anything, and thought it would be pretty cool to know some of the lingo and watch storms at the house. Every once in a while when it stormed, Id pull up the Radar and watch the storms roll in. A Couple Years passed and I Moved to Colorado in 2005. I had just turned 16 and was a Freshman in High-School. My education began with having the benefit of Mr. Moravec for Earth Science and Ms. Salazar for Am-Lit. We did a Vocab Test every single Week, and had to choose 20-Words and study them to take on a test. I had printed out the NWS Glossary and studied all kinds of stuff. Before long, I was getting my education up and learned alot of the Terminology. Mr. Moravec loved the fact I was into storms, and let me do my own Study Projects. Basically, Hed give me a Pass to the library and I would print off all kinds of SPC Publications and Spotter Guides and whatnot.
I never really did want to chase storms, but After learning so much about them I began to get interested. I didnt have a car at the time, but I talked my girlfreind into riding me out one day. I think it was May, 24 2005 the first time I went out on a "chase". I didnt know anything really, Just looked at the clouds and was Happy and Satisfied enough that I got to see some in Real-Life what I saw in the Text-Books. I moved back to Mississippi in Late 2006 and Dropped out of school. Alot of things had happened, and I guess I had a crazy pipe-dream about chasing storms professionally. I just studied up on all the available material I could get my hands on and just started watching severe weather events. I used MetEd and theweatherpredicion Alot to learn about the model parameters and whatnot. Id study the worst events, and see what the charts looked like. Id study weak events and see what the charts looked like too. After I learned the basics enough to build, it all came naturally to me. I would watch storms on the radar when a storm event got going, and got pretty good at interpreting the radar screens.
In 2007 I still did not own a car or anything. I would rely on borrowing my moms car, or asking freinds or females to take me around. This always involved paying for the Gas and time to ride me around and I never really got anything good. I was a Teenager though, and I really didnt care as long as I got to see some storms. I had an old RandMc Nally atlas with all the Libraries in all the towns wrote down and their office hours. Id stop every 30 mins or so and check out what the storms were doing, and just drive in the general direction they were and hope id get something. I knew what kind of equipment I needed to truly get these storms, and I didnt have it. It was then I got a Job, and started building. You must understand, I didnt really find storms. I guess they just found me. Some people just have a natural affinity for things, Like Tiger Woods or Dale Earnhart. They find something they like doing and they run with it.
2008 was a slightly better year. I sucked real bad the first 3 years, and did a little better. I still didnt have the stuff I needed and every once in a while, Id get another Piece. I bought a Laptop second quarter of 08 and Bought my own Truck. I also got on some better storms then the first two years with days such as 1/10/08, 5/2/08, 12/9/08 and 5/8/08 where I spotted my first tornado. I bought a AC power invertor and a GPS reciever and did more chasing. In 2009 I decided I really wanted to do things Differently. I had done alot of retarded stuff in my personal life and really wasnt making much progress. I had alot of love for what I was doing, It just wasnt being done the Right way. I got a Wireless Internet through Alltell, and antenna, Some radar software and had basically all I needed for a Basic Chasing Operation. I set-out Hard the first thing in 09 without a Video Camera, just Stills for my site. Using the Live Internet and Radars, everything came pretty Easy to me. I had access to my Knowledge base and Tools I needed to find to the storms, and I had a ride to get to them.
I did 2-10-09, 2-18-09, 4-2-09, 4-10-09, 4-19-09, 5-2-09, 6-12-09, 10-09-09, and 10-30-09. For me, Its been the Best year ive had to date. Im learning more every day, and getting more experienced. Im doing Live Streaming from my dash cam, and I bought a $2000 camera to hopefully bring back some videos of these storms. When your doing something like this that you love, Money isnt really an object. You dont really care who likes your stuff or who doesnt. You just do what you do, and try your best to bring hot material to the table. Its a building Process, It doesnt happen over-night. Most Professionals have been doing this 10-20+ years before they really got somewhere. Each Chase is another Page in your Portfolio, and there are good pages, and bad pages. Im very Optimistic about 2010. It will be the first time that I have all the stuff I really need to get something rolling. Hopefully, everything will work out. Whether it does or not, I dont know but I love what I do. Im 21 Years old, and havent felt stronger about what im doing then ever before. I plan to chase storms untill the day I die, Its a Gift to have Passion. Most people I know dont have passion for anything. After $10,000+ and coming up on Year 5. It just doesnt make since to stop now.
I know, shocking!! I kept a journal of every storm chase. Today I still do, although I don't put as much detail in it. Thus, every tornado I saw in 1982 or 1983 is still vivid in my mind because of that journal. Really, I understood the basics in 1982, but I had no idea what I was doing. I did not chase alone for several years.
