*New Users. Meet and Greet Area*

[jim epperson]

Hello to all Stormtrack members!!!
First let me apologize for not posting this sooner .
I also want to send out a big Thank You!!! to all the members who post here. I have learned so much over the last few years by reading all of your post. There is a wealth of information on this site and again I can't thank you guys enough.
Ok a little about myself.
I grew up in Wichita, and like a lot of you I have been fascinated by tornado's and severe weather since I was a kid. I saw my first tornado from my backyard . I have been mesmerized by them ever since.
When I first started chasing I had nothing more than a vehicle. I didn't have any maps,wx radios,or computers. I did not even own a camera. I didn't know anything. I was your average local watch/warning chaser. (with no success)
My first successful chase came on 6-12-04 Mulvane day. I remember working in the garden and watching the storm building to my south. Lucky me I was only about 20 minutes away.
Even then I knew nothing. I was lucky to not get myself into any real trouble.
I've come a long way since then though I still do not claim to know much, but I know how to be safe out there and thanks to you guys and gals I'm still learning.
So here's to a great 2011 chase season!!!
Stay safe out there!

 

[LucasMarcomini]

Hi all
My name is Lucas, i'm 17.
I live in Southeastern Brazil in a city called Araraquara. I like to take pictures of storms or other weather related event.
Our season starts in September and ends in March, but we have severe weather all year long. Although it's not of everyones knowledge South America has the second tornado alley of the world, which includes Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil. Tornadoes and severe weather in general are topics that have not enough attention down here, and studies about the conditions that cause these events are few. The radar coverage in SA is poor, with the main areas of "the alley" being coverede by less than 10 radar sites. There's also no live alert system, so chasing or spotting down here is a very difficult task, but I'll keep up with it!

Thanks

 

[Jeremy Holmes]

Hi

New here of course. This is my 3rd year chasing and already my best. The first year I went was more for the light around the storms as Im a photographer but of course the addiction set in. Last year was cut short due to the Flooding at home (Nashville). It started good with a tornado outside Scott City KS in april then the floods hit and the year was over for me. This year ive decided im going to make every storm I can and plan on being out until the end of june. I came home after the MS outbreak but really wish I went to the carolinas instead. I drove overnight from OK to MS and didnt think I would stay awake again to make it. Looks like ill be heading out again tomorrow for the Tue storms if everything keeps looking good. As far as weather training goes I dont have much so this year I got a day of training from Tim Vasquez and that has helped a lot so far. I did notice he was on this forum so Hi Tim if you happen to read this. Anyway glad I found this place and looking forward to getting know everyone. Also I really think I need a navigator to go with me so ill be posting for that soon.
Thanks,
Jeremy

 

[E. Clark]

Hi,

Not new particularly but I haven't introduced myself. Hello everyone. I sincerely appreciate the expertise I see on this forum. My weather interest derives from 'natural' experiences from a young age.

I was 13 and living north east of Xenia, Ohio in April 1974. I witnessed #37- and I believe it was #38 that peeled off our barn roof. Although the track on the map isn't exact.

I drove through Cardington, Ohio on my way up from Delaware, Ohio on June 11, 1981. I watched it blow through the center of town through the rearview mirror.

A friend and I drove through Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky on our way from Florida to Ohio on May 18, 1995. Her van did a 360 one time but we avoided a flipover or major damage.

Multiple other smaller tornado encounters in Ohio. My mother started doing a weather check before we went out to do anything; lunch, beach or what have you.

So I (on the 1995 trip) bought a house in Florida on the central Gulf coast, an area that until then had been relatively unscathed by Hurricanes. And immediately got broadsided by Opal.

Because of all of that I am self taught but very amateur in meteorology. We have a weather station from our base in the Sierra Mountains (no tornadoes...yet) that broadcasts to Wunderground but am always up for a chase if in the midwest at the right time.

 

[Jake Orosi]

Hello, StormTrack, I'm the latest noob. As I see most posts in this thread follow something of a program, I'll go along:

Since I was little I always thought thunderstorms were cool, in the same way that most people always like pizza - that is, it's good whenever some action came along but I wasn't exactly OCD over them. And no real wonder: in northern Ohio where I did most of my growing up, there's rarely a good horizon and most (though not all, I've since learned) storms seem to be embedded in large cloud decks which obscure a lot of their structure and features until the cell is already overtaking you.

That all changed one day when I was eleven or twelve-ish; visiting some family in the San Antonio area. I remember holding down the back seat as we traveled some road or other south out of the city, and looking to the east at a tremendous thunderhead. At that time, it occurred to me that it was the biggest thing I'd ever seen. Everything about this storm seemed big; and Texas's friendly lack of a treeline meant I could see the thing from the anvil on the very top to the alternating grey/white streaks of precipitation smudging down from the bottom. It was so...stately, this thing; awe inspiring like nothing I'd ever seen. And then, as if that wasn't enough, there was this huge, exceptionally bright lightning bolt that appeared, snaking out of the rear side of the anvil, down and back in through the tower, finally re-emerging and striking the Earth just behind the precip. And that was pretty much the final word on whether I would end up keenly interested in storms, and weather in general. And so I've been since then, although life circumstances would keep me from pursuing weather as a career (not enough money at the moment to go to school for it), when I hear rumors of convection in the forecast I get all excited and my eyes are stuck to the sky like...well, just insert some fitting metaphor.

Unfortunately I must report that I'm not yet any kind of chaser. I'm a storm waiter. There will be no chasing this year, so if any storms want dramatic photographs or video taken of them, they'll have to swing up my way. No, this year is dedicated to hitting the books. Much of it will be review, but that's okay because I like the subject. On the other hand, I've been inspired by people here who evidently have learned to take raw data and create their own forecasts, and I've decided to teach myself how to do that, among other things.

Looking forward to talking weather.

 

[CarlNix]

Hello everyone, I've been following the threads here and thought I would finally introduce myself.

I grew up in a small town in North Alabama watching the storms roll by. Unfortunately because of all the trees it's hard to get a good look at most. So I just enjoyed the show and made sure I didn't get to close. shortly after graduating I join the US Air Force and moved to Fort Walton Beach, FL. There I got to try my hand at chasing. Most of the time they just turned out to be HP storms and I went home a few dollars lighter but enjoyable none the less. FL was a hard place to chase due to the trees and the fact that a lot of the tornado producing storms were at night. While there I got to experience first hand the power of a hurricane. I road out Hurricane Ivan on the lower floors of a building on base. I watched it come ashore from the loading dock and man what sight to see. I had never before seen the tops of trees become parallel with the ground. That was my first real experience with the power of mother nature and it was amazing.

So I have now moved on and living in the interior of Alaska. I have about a year and a half left before I can hopefully get back to the lower 48. The weather here is about extremes. It gets down to -50 in the winter and gets as hot as 90 in the summer. Severe weather is rare but happens on occasion, things have to be perfect, but there is quit a bit of flooding during spring breakups. But it is an amazing place to live because there is almost no limit to what you can do and where you can go. I'm ready to get back to the lower 48 though because the cost of living up here is very high. I've been doing a lot of reading to increase my forecasting skills and I'm ready to get back to chasing.

I look forward to chatting with you all and happy hunting.

And Roll Tide!!!

Carl Nix
SSgt, USAF
KJ4NLC

 

[Karenlynch]

Hello everybody,

I'd like to introduce myself. I'm a photographer located in Edwardsville, Illinois. I've always been interested and fascinated in weather. I've watched it for years. I finally decided to take the plunge and try to merge my photography with my love of weather. I'm very new at this though. I keep reading and rereading all of the forums to try to learn more. Any advice, etc. would be highly appreciated.

My house got hit by an F1 tornado in the middle of the night this past February. Unfortunately, I didn't see the tornado or even know it was coming. Shortly after that, I attended a skywarn spotter class sponsored by the NWS. I loved every minute of it! However, I live in the middle of woods so in order to spot anything, I need to leave my house and travel. I've been trying to do that and this past Tuesday, got some great pictures.

Thank you for any help you can give me

Karen

 

[Wes Carter]

Welcome Jake, Carl, and Karen. I think you will enjoy Stormtrack with everything it has to offer, warts and all. I think I've talked to Jake and Sgt. Nix in chat before. Karen, sorry to hear about your house. But I think you will find many of us have stories from our pasts that eventually led to our obsession with severe weather and tornadoes. Good luck and have fun!

 

[JImboden]

Hi everyone,

I've lurked around here for a while before deciding to sign up. I'm an amateur videographer that has been fascinated by weather since my first close call with a tornado. I look forward to taking a spotters class this fall and to trying to get some weather footage this spring. I've got some lightning photographs from the past 2 years but I've never wanted to risk my video gear. I look forward to learning more about weather and forecasting.

Jason

 

[Shannon Wilson]

Hello from MN and Thank You for Letting Me Join

Hi Everyone, my name is Shannon Wilson and I live in Rochester MN and have been interested in weather all of my life. My daughter(22)and I have taken the spotter training locally, but have never been out on a chase per sae.

I previously worked as an insurance claims adjuster in SE MN, pre 9/11, and now write P&C insurance in MN/WI and spend much of my time educating my potential and current insured on being fully prepared in the event of severe weather.

Someday I hope to go out with those more experience than myself, but continue to become more educated in reading weather maps, forecasting, viewing radar, etc. What spare time I spend with my kids and corgi's(dogs)......

Thanks again, and I hope to be able to learn more.

Shannon Wilson
Rochester MN

 

[MatthewCarman]

Welcome Jim and Shannon. It's nice to see new faces here.

Minnesota and Wisconsin are beutifull states. If you ever get the chance Shannon be sure to check out House on the Rock in Wisconsin. That place is amazing.

 

[Lisa Boychuk]

I was convinced to join by one of the members on the board, and so far I am enjoying what I am seeing! I am hoping to meet other chasers from Canada on here, especially one from out on the prairies. If not I will be an avid follower of people on here. I love seeing the uniqueness of different storms from all over the place .

 

[Atreyu Neyhart]

Hey everyone I've been here a bit, but I thought I'd introduce my self. My name is Atreyu Neyhart, I live in Manhattan Kansas and have been into weather for a while now. I am a trained spotter, I am also building my weather knowledge and I'm very geeky about it to almost an annoying level. I play football, and many sports, I like the outdoors and love working out very often. I have my closest encounter with a tornado was the one that hit here on June,11,2008, with it only being 1.5 miles away. The tornado had a final rating of EF-4.

Thankful for this board as it has brought many good reads over the years before I even joined! Hope to see yall around.

-Atreyu

 

[Larry Posey]

Hello! I am new too and have learned a lot by reading. Tim told me to join so I could learn more. I have lurked for a year. Lots of info here. Was lucky (blessed) enough to see the Tuscaloosa tornado my first time out. Looking forward to hanging out here. I hope to see some of you out there.

 

[kmreid]

Hello all! I am new to the forum and I can honestly say that I have a lot to learn.

I basically suffered from Lilapsophobia growing up and every time the sirens would sound as a child I would panic uncontrollably. I have turned my fear into a desire to educate myself on severe weather and have since then desired to face my past fears head on. I have developed a passion for learning all that I can about storms. I am a certified Skywarn spotter and I am slowly trying to ease into chasing. I have so many questions to ask but don't know where to begin. I have heard of "amateurs" developing bad habits/etiquette while chasing and I want to learn from others so I can become a helpful addition to the storm watching community. I will need plenty of guidance while I learn the ropes! I do not want to be considered a nuisance but please understand that I am new to this forum and it will take some time for me to learn the lay of the land so to speak. I am a fast learner and can say that I am devoted to doing what I possibly can to help warn others.