About nine and a half months ago, when Andrew Pritchard released his 2007 highlights DVD, I all but called him a rising star in our hobby. In a text message conversation with him several days before my copy of his 2008 highlights arrived, he asked me to again post my opinion of his production. With a laugh, I told him that he'd have to
really impress me in order to receive the same kind of review as last year.
And I'll be damned if he didn't do it, and then some.
Pritchard had a career year in 2008 once his chase vacation officially began and absolutely solidified his status as a "rising star" in the hobby. He, along with chase partner and fellow Illinoisian Mark Sefried, documented four tornadoes on May 22, including a brief, but huge, dusty tornado associated with the Collyer, Kan. meso (which I maintain is my favorite image and video of all-time; see the rotational strength of this
beast of a wall cloud, and you'll know why), and three more the next day, not including his blood-boiling footage of >90mph RFD winds associated with the Ness City, Kan. storm, snapping and uprooting nearby mature pine trees.
But none of it compares to what, in retrospect, was Pritchard's coming-out party. I've always stressed the fact that what impresses me most about Andrew's chasing talents is his knack for being in the right place at the right time for those events that no one else sees coming. On June 7, Andrew showcased his ability to do just that one more time, documenting four tornadoes (including three HUGE wedges) as they entered the Southern Suburbs of Chicago, while the masses of other chasers flocked to Iowa for a moderate risk. His footage appeared on The Weather Channel among other media outlets, and he conducted several live interviews by phone, doing all he could to get word out to the public about the destructive tornadoes on a day when there was supposedly little risk of significant severe weather in the area. During the chase, Andrew effectively drives, navigates (with some help from his girlfriend, Tia, who hit the ball out of the park on her first at bat), documents, narrates, calls in reports to LOT, and conducts a live phone interview with a Chicago area radio station -- all while gigantic tornadoes are in progress -- and we see it all through the lens of his video camera.
Perhaps the most magical thing about his 2008, though, is the fact that, unless he was in my presence (June 2, June 5, June 12),
he just didn't bust. While playing with May 21 elevated hailers on the Frontrange the day before the Apocalypse of May 22, he snapped photos and shot video of one of the most gorgeous storms of the year near Yuma. On a day where all flow looked unidirectional (May 30) in both Mo. and Ill., he captured beautiful supercells in Western and Central Illinois, and although a split second of bad luck kept him from intercepting yet another tornado near Franklin, Ill., he still obtained photos of which I remain envious (along with his idea to play Ill. when it seemed to me that Mo. might be a better play). And on June 3, a day when I chose to sit out and rest after a trip back from Kan. and an imminent trip to Neb. waiting the next day, Pritchard and my other Ill. friends witnessed a high-contrast cone and another "joke of a tornado" from a minisupercell near Manchester, Ill.
I've been known to sit out events that didn't look great to me, even to the point of being accused of "dissing every setup I see," but perhaps it really was Andrew's year and not mine.
At several points throughout the video, as is usually the case with a Pritchard production, I break out in full-fledged laughter from a quick, blunt one-liner from Pritchard or from moments that force me to recall inside jokes he and I share. Whether or not you find these same moments funny, I maintain that
anyone will find this production to be entertaining
It's no secret that Andrew has always been one of my closest allies in the chasing world, and our friendship may lead others to think I am biased in my praise of him.
To them, I say, see for yourself.
Andrew's video,
PWX 2008, contains the best of both his 2008 and 2007 chasing seasons and is available at his website,
http://www.prairiestormmedia.com. He can be reached by email at
[email protected].
