*New Users. Meet and Greet Area*

[Drew Terril]

Welcome Amy. Keep your head down over there!

 

[JMacneill]

Hello all, newbie to chasing as well as meteorology in general. I have been learning as I go, and will certainly be asking questions quite often My crew of best friends and I are planning our first chase season starting next year, we're just gathering our funds and working towards our chase vehicle, and I'm awaiting the chance to take SKYWARN classes to get certified I hail (not intended to be a pun) from Wisconsin, where blizzards are the main in bad weather. But I do plan on taking the chase to tornado alley, where I hope to learn more about Tornadoes and have the chance to help people as well. Cheers to a good season for all of you out there, keep it safe.

 

[Matt Magiera]

Hello all! I'm from Plainfield, IL and am going into my senior year of HS with plans on majoring in meteorology in college. I'm a weather enthusiast and I have had a deep rooted passion for weather ever since I can remember.(So much so that while I was a little kid, while all the other kids drew happy little pictures, I drew pictures of tornadoes and fantasy radar images, which prompted the school social worker to call my parents on multiple occasions thinking something was wrong with me!) I have attended multiple spotter classes dating back to 2011 and the fermilab seminar twice. I understand the basics, and I am always trying to learn more. When it comes to forecasting I am mostly self taught so far, but ever since I could begin to understand how to forecast I attempted to make my own. I still am nowhere near the best, but I learn as I go and from everything that I can. I hope that I can learn even more from everyone here!

I would love to chase every single day of my life if I could, as I'm sure many of you would agree, but since I am still in school, and work, I have limited time for chasing, but I always try to find time to. I go out locally (within 100 miles) whenever the threat possibly comes up, and have on a few occasions taken the trip out to Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, or Oklahoma whenever I have the time, money, and friend to allow me to. I have only ever seen one weak tornado on one of my local "chases" back in June of 2013. Ever since I have had a car I would follow the basic storms to get a feel for chasing and list out my mistakes and how to improve on them, I'm still learning, so I always try to keep a good distance from anything serious unless I have someone more experienced along with me. I am also very limited when it comes to people I can chase with, since next to no one that I have met knows enough that I would chase with them. I have friends, but they don't know enough, or know me enough, that I'd go very far with them, no one I know is just as into the weather or chasing as much as I am. I have no true chase partner to go out into the field with, which holds me down at almost every chance I get when I actually have the money and time to go out, I just have no one to go with.
I wish everyone the best of luck out there!

 

[Kori Winstead]

Gah, how did I forget to introduce? I don't know how many people know me, but I imagine at least a few people from Weather Underground post here. I was KoritheMan on that site, and I actually only recently left it. I've been into weather since 2002, and I hope to provide the good insight I provided on Weather Underground for so many years.

 

[Kori Winstead]

I have no true chase partner to go out into the field with, which holds me down at almost every chance I get when I actually have the money and time to go out, I just have no one to go with.

Matt, I dunno if you do hurricanes, but if you do, I'll be on the Gulf Coast this year in the event of a chase. I can probably hook you up if you provide the money for gas/hotels. I'm friends with someone that has his own storm chasing team.

 

[Bobbi Burrows]

Hi, all. I'm Bobbi. I live in Lawton, OK, so I'm smack dab in the middle of where monsters roam. I'm a trained SkyWARN Spotter, and I'm looking to eventually chase some of these monsters. I have a decent knowledge of basic weather, but I've got a lot more to learn, and I'm positive this is a great place to learn at. Looking forward to learning with and from everyone.

 

[John Olexa]

Hi Bobbie, welome to the group. Plenty of knowledgeable people around here! Don't be afraid to ask questions!

 

[Drew Terril]

Welcome Bobbi.

 

[Brecky Bihary]

Hi, I am a mother of 2 wonderful girls. My husband, Dutch, is a world-class face & body artist instructor, you may recognize his name from a reality body painting show. He is also my chasing buddy along with my girls when they aren't in school. I was raised in Hawaii, this is where I fell in love with the excitement of storms. I was 3 when the island got hit hard. I am a Jack-ette of many trades from a springboard diving coach to an infrared-thermographer to a mom that now face paints for a living. Hobbies include storm chasing, photography and anything that is exciting a exhilarating that doesn't hurt! I started my first chase in May of 2014, this May will be my second chase. I look forward to sharing some amazing footage with you all. I have much to learn but now that I am a member of StormTrack, I know I will get many of my questions answered. I am also looking forward to meeting many of you amazing chasers in the years to come. Oh, I am from Mount Vernon, WA. Way up in the Pacific-NW.

 

[Steve Klehfoth]

Just a quick introduction. My name is Steve Klehfoth and I'm currently living in Wichita, KS. I've spent most of my 51 years in the midwest (Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas), and I'm no stranger to severe weather. I started chasing recently and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of the information available. I'm also just in awe at the scale of these storms. I never realized just how massive and beautiful they can be.

I have a BS in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State (go Cyclones) and that side of me wants to not only understand what factors lead to a tornado and severe weather, but also why they are important and how they fit together. In other words I want to understand the physics behind it. I feel this is really the only way I can reliably predict and find what we are all looking for and that is tornados.

My current chases include the following events: 4/8 in SE Kansas, 5/6 10 miles from my doorstep (see avatar), and 5/9 SW Kansas. I am planning to head out this week depending on forecasts from the SPC.

If any of you run into me on the road, please say hello. I met several other chasers near Sublette, KS this past Saturday who were very helpful. I tried not to ask too many questions and just listened. I didn't want them to feel like I was a leach.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Jennifer McMahan]

Hello,

My name is Alex and currently reside in the KCK area. Moved here from the east about four years ago. I lived most of my life between the east and the Caribbean and have had my share of thunderstorms including hurricanes and blizzards. I didn’t think much of the weather then. I wasn’t weather aware until now.

Never seen a tornado in person, but have seen what they can do and after finding myself running for cover a few times because sirens are going off I then started to become more weather aware. I hear on the news the word thunderstorm or tornado I start to get panic attacks. I actually had to take Xanax. I was considering to leave KS because of this.

I then decided that I wasn’t going to live like this so I started learning about the weather, specifically tornados. In the past year I’ve learned a lot about the weather, forecasting the weather, and how thunderstorms are formed including becoming a trained skywarn spotter. Being afraid and taking Xanax is not going to help me keep myself and family safe. So here I am ready to learn more.

Hello Alex,
I also, was afraid of storms,tornadoes etc.., Growing up my mother would freak out if she heard one thunder clap and pack me in the basement for hours. As I grew up instead of being afraid I became fascinated and started educating myself about the weather and now here I am ....a Storm Chaser. I believe you have come to the right place,one must face their fears. Good Luck!

Thanks for sharing
Jennifer McMahan
SIA OHIO

 

[Jennifer McMahan]

Hi Everyone,
I am an weather geek from Cincinnati, Ohio and I am happy to meet all of you! My name is Jennifer McMahan, I am currently a student at Cincinnati State and the Assistant Director for Storm Intercept Association (Ohio teams). We are a group of volunteer storm chasers and spotters, we help local emergency personnel and report to the NWS to provide early warning to our communities early warnings and information. We have radar techs, meteorology students,spotters, chasers etc..,
I have been a weather geek for many years and started storm chasing a couple of years ago. I have chased in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana but just finished my first chase in tornado alley...what an experience that was! Happy to be here and hope 2015 is a great and safe season!

 

[Jacob Hernandez]

Hello all, I guess this is as good of a place as any to post my first comment.

My name is Jacob and I live in Oklahoma City.I have always been interested in storms, but for a large part of my youth, I was terrified of severe weather. I think that most of it stems from the fact that the May 3, 1999 Moore F5 missed my house by less than four miles.

My interest in chasing began in 2013 when, incredibly, another EF5 tornado went through Moore. I was on a bus to Louisiana that day, and I would be out of town for six weeks. I guess I had a sense of survivors guilt because I wasn't able to help my community recover for a month and a half.

As a geologist by training, I am always fascinated by the power of nature. Earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, and severe weather leave me with nothing but respect for this planet. I'm still learning how to interpret the atmosphere how to forecast, but it's nice to be able to learn from some of the best on this site. I've lived in Oklahoma my whole life and I've never seen a tornado. I want to change that.

Thank you all and I hope that I can learn from you and eventually contribute to discussions.

 

[Bobbi Burrows]

Hi Bobbie, welome to the group. Plenty of knowledgeable people around here! Don't be afraid to ask questions!

Thanks! I'll be asking a lot, because I have A LOT to learn.

 

[Tim Paitz]

I know, i joined last month but i was wondering.... how did i not find this sooner? XD