Xmas Snowpocalypse?

Yea, not for this area.

All eyes are on the major winter storm that will be taking shape in the coming days. Again though, it should be pretty boring around here. Current indications are it will take a similar track as the last one. Whoop-de-frickin-do.

I debated if I want to even try and contact stations who may be interested in purchasing a stream. Said screw it. It would cost me 250+ dollars to chase the damn thing into IA or even further. There is not much profit margin to be had.

If 2009 would stop anal raping me I could actually get a chance to make an impact out there. Oh well. Lately I've just been working on the website, adding allot of content. I want to try and get most of my previous content up before chase season 2010, that way when it begins I can focus on real time updates and not have to worry about adding old stuff. Ive done so much with it, but still feel as if ill never be close to finished. Oh well. It keeps me busy.

I might get some bumper stickers made for my site as well. Some chasers probably wont approve of this. I could care less. Theyre mostly for friends and family who are proud of me and interested in what I do. I think too many chasers worry about what the others are doing rather than themselves. More of them need to spend less time on the PC monitoring the happenings on the internet and more time out getting laid. It might cheer them up a bit.

Probably wont update till the new year unless something interesting happens.

That being said, everyone have an awesome xmas and a great new year! Good riddance to 2009!

The Great Blizzard of 2009 - A Chicagoans Perspective.

December 8th and 9th 2009. A massive blizzard paralyzes parts of the nation. The storm deepens to near record lows [currently sitting at 976mb over Lake Huron.] In its wake...closed interstates and stranded automobiles. Men all over the Midwest getting a good workout from shoveling their wives cars out of the driveway.

The storm didn't just affect the Midwest though, damaging thunderstorms roared across the deep south, and even parts of Pennsylvania. The Rockie Mountain ski areas received over 50 inches of snow in spots. Parts of New Mexico and Texas were hammered with high winds, some as high as 135mph in the Guadalupe pass! Dust storms created worse driving conditions than the blizzard.

Wow what a storm...here in Chicago...we too were affected. As I write this it is 10pm on Wednesday, December 9th. I have survived...time to survey the outside world.

Open the door...wow...some massive snow drift peaks. If we get another snow soon Mt Everest might have to bow down.

However me being the prepared man I made sure to bundle up with my super winter survival gear. I manage to trudge through the mountainous terrain of doom so I can survey my truck...you know, with all these reports of people having their cars buried and having to dig out...I wanted to see what I was in for.

That will be most difficult indeed. Peoples Facebook statuses near where I live had comments all day about how brutal the snow and wind was and how their cars couldn't handle it. Im so glad I drive a 4x4 with all terrain tires for such brutal snow.

Then something catches my attention...the deepest wind blown snowdrift of them all.

To hell with rulers, massive snowfalls, and especially drifts like this call for tape measures!

WTF...ok...I guess I over estimated a bit, its easy to get carried away in extreme situations...lets go lower.

Yes...I survived...all thanks to my trusty super winter survival snow gear!

By this point though I am starting to feel fatigued and decide I must make a dash towards my shelter, which truly looks wonderful amidst the beautiful winter scenery.

I am now safe and warming up with a tall can of my favorite brew.

Chicagoans really know how to pull through extreme events let me tell you, we get it bad around here!!! What really worries me is we probably have about 10 more events of this magnitude before the year is over, and with such chaos during this one...I fear for mankind.

So there you have it. The great blizzard of 2009 as seen from the perspective of a resident on the southwest side of Chicago.

Next please...

CTV + Big Winter Storm?

Yesterday I finally made the switch to CTV. I had been debating on it for awhile and finally bit the bullet and I'm glad I did. Their setup is so simple and easy and actually works flawlessly on my older laptop. TVNs setup involved multiple applications and caused my machine to constantly crash and freeze up. So I definitely look forward to streaming with CTV, Ive also seen what goes on behind the scenes and their customer service is great and they really look out for each other. I like that in a company.

It wasn't a personal decision, people have been pressuring me to switch over for months. I don't give in to pressure and I don't do stuff to please others or "be with everybody else." I do what works best for me regardless of whos involved.

I had many many requests for people to view my stream last year and unfortunately because it always crashed I had to tell them sorry. That will not be the case next season!!! So be ready!

Now onto the weather, like a hawk I have been watching this upcoming system. I always love when a system shows up many days out and verifies, because then I can throw it in all my critics faces. I get scoffed at often for watching models predict storms further out. Although it looks like the brunt of this storm is going to miss Chicago [go figure] and favor areas west of here. The low will track pretty much over the city it looks like. Im not expecting a whole lot of action around here.

With this system comes a debate on whether or not to actually go on a blizzard chase. I wasn't even considering it but some newer chasers reached out to me and said if I drove they'd pay for gas and whatnot. I might take them up on that offer since it would cut costs. Plus it'll give me a chance to test the stream in the field and make my debut, and hey ya never know...I could end up getting something interesting and getting it shown on TV and perhaps finally make a sale and get paid for what I love to do.

Also, we had our first measurable snow of the winter 09-10 season early this morning. About a month late. 2009 continues to defy what is considered the norm and prove that in the world of weather nothing is normal.