Here Comes Fall!

Should I be excited? I dont know...typically fall brings with it a mini season of chasing. One can expect at least 1 good setup to offer some nice supercells and tornadoes. However, it is 2009 and with that being said, I shouldnt get my hopes up too high.

The GFS lately has been showing a more troughy type pattern developing around Labor Day. Originally with a big, persistent west coast trough providing many active chase days. However it is ill timed for me so I was hoping a trend towards the Euro would occur with the Euro also showing a trough pattern but keeping it further north and not as progressive. As of right now it looks like the GFS is coming in line with this and I am happy.

This could be the start of an active fall pattern. We need to break down this constant NW flow - east coast trough pattern if we are to have a good fall. So to see GFS bringing in multiple troughs along the US/CA border is a good sign that a more permanent transition is about to take place. The pattern needs to change on a global scale if we want a good fall. One trough for a few days would be nice, but a general global shift to keep them recurring would be better!

Ive been thinking allot lately about ways to improve my website. Im an idiot when it comes to computers and technology. One thing I dont like so much about chasing is that if you wish to become successful and put yourself out there you must understand the latest and greatest technology and become savvy with learning it. Ive never been good at that and its been slow but Ive been making it happen.

One thing I want to change is the home page of the site. Updating it takes a bit of time and I would like more of a blogger type feed to be displayed so rather than me logging into my site builder and changing things there I could simply do a quick post on the blogger type site and have the feed show up on the homepage. That is pretty common on allot of chaser sites and for good reason.

I also need to think of a nice way to display photos on the site. Like have a thumbnail slideshow where you can click on a particular photo and have a zoomed up caption appear along with the individual picture would be nice. So Ill be investigating that as well.

With my last day of work now a month away - people are telling me Im going to be bored. I disagree, theres allot for me to learn and do which will keep myself busy.

SDS may be extreme this year if we dont get some local storms soon. This has been one of the calmest years I can remember, however the storms we DID get were pretty severe which is a tradeoff I guess. I would rather have some garden storms every other night than 2 severe storms all year though. The basic elements of a storm - thunder and lighting - are enough to keep me happy when it comes to local storms.

Looking forward to what fall has to offer! See some of you in the field should the opportunity present itself!

Time Lapse

I finally taught myself how to make time lapse videos the other day. First piece was from a chase last week to southern WI. Second piece was this one:



So far Ive enjoyed it. I will probably work on a few more from footage Ive taken over the years.

For now through Im finally putting together a stock footage CD. Nothing too fancy but I figured its about time I step up my game if I wish to be successful. My mentality all the long has been to let people come to me and find me. I realized though that there are some chasers who haven't even been out there for a year becoming better known than me, with far less impressive stuff simply because they whore themselves out.

If that sounds selfish then maybe it is...but...this is what I want to do with my life. I work hard and am very passionate about what I do. Time to be more competitive!

As far as the weather goes. We had a nice severe warned storm roll through today. Storms have been largely absent this summer to it was a nice treat. Some light scattered tree damage in the area and some really loud thunder made it a nice treat!