Monday, January 25, 2010

Back to Winter.

Well, the week of spring-like weather comes to an end. I was hoping for some rogue thunder to be mixed in with the recent monsoon rains but alas, it looks like some of 2009 is spilling over into 2010 with the bulk of the lightning activity being downstate.

Ive been working allot on my site as well as the site I will be launching [hopefully] before chasercon along with several other IL chasers. That site is called www.convectiveaddiction.com - our goal is to launch before chasercon but we've been slow to actually build it up. I think we're starting to crunch it though, I guess people just work better under pressure.

This is the hardest part of winter, I've gotten a taste of spring and now I want it badly. First I must endure another blast of winter which is arriving as I type this. GFS doesn't show anything interesting into the first week of February, so I guess on the plus side I can continue truckin' away at the many projects I'm working on.

For those who have recently stumbled onto this blog feel free to check out my website www.aerostorms.com

Not much else to say - boring weather means a boring blog!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Giggity

I tried not to look and went nearly 2 weeks without doing so. However there has been some buzz from fellow chasers about things being seen on longer range models. I began peaking for myself and sure enough am beginning to see some real teases.


















Yea, it wont be too much longer now. The above would probably bring some warm rain to the area and if I'm lucky a rumble of thunder. Typically this area sees its first thunderstorms around the end of February so to see them in January is a bit rare. It did happen in 08 though!

So while Im not holding my breath just yet, I am starting to get a little giddy at the thought of spring time air being less than 2 months away. Ive looked at some el nino springs around here including the years 1996 and 2003 and found them to be pretty awesome years around here. Lets hope history repeats itself.

Once I get my HD camcorder I think I am all done with upgrades for the 2010 season. Everything I mentioned before has already been purchased and taken care of minus the hail guards which I still need to follow up with the shop on. I really hope they can pull through for me and get them done.

Site updates are still happening and Im getting close to a point where there wont be too much to update except for new content and past events I choose to do write ups on. Im also working with 5 other IL chasers to build a new multi purpose chase site names convectiveaddiction.com - don't even bother visiting right now. We haven't launched it yet.

The models are showing some potential severe setups in the deep south as well. Ill be watching!

More later.

Friday, January 1, 2010

2010 > 2009

Happy New Year! Or as the text message I sent out at 12:01am said "Hapey new beer from Chicago."

I'm not a believer in resolutions. Anyone who uses a calendar to justify trying to better themselves is an idiot in my opinion. I try to constantly better myself as a person everyday by always trying to be the best person I can be to those around me as well as working towards my next goal.

So when I say good riddance to 2009 I really mean good riddance to 2009s weather pattern. What a load of crap that was. I had a really good chase year though, I can't complain too much really. In fact, the main reason I hated 2009s weather pattern was the lack of local storms which are required to maintain my sanity. When your city sets a record for the all time coldest July it also means local storms are lacking.

Anyways, there will be some changes for this year and the upcoming chase season. Here are the main ones:

- I am upgrading to HD [more details on the camera coming soon.]
- I will have a cellular antenna for better data signals.
- I've got a laptop stand.
- I will [hopefully] have my custom designed hail guards completed.
- I've got new GPS tracking software that works flawlessly so there will be no more issues there.
- I switched streaming services to CTV, which also works flawlessly.
- The laptops ram has been upgraded from 512mb to 2gb in order to better handle everything.
- I will be making a Twitter account for my website [not for me personally because I hate twitter.]
- I am part of Convective Addiction.com [coming soon!]

You get the idea, the things listed above have already been completed or are in the process of being completed. I'm sure as the year progresses there will be more. I am always changing the way I do things.

My new free schedule will allow me to chase any setup I want. I am going to hit it hard this year, chasing more aggressively than ever before. This is the year I will see just how big of an impact I can make. My biggest setback was work. Finances will be tight, but I will make it work. Those who have known me know how much Ive always wanted this opportunity. As long as I still have some income coming in, Ive got to seize the opportunity and do it now.

Even if the weather pattern is a repeat of 2009, there will still be great storms and tornadoes to catch. I missed allot of the biggest events of 2009 because I gambled on crappier setups and couldn't get the time off work for the days that ended up being big.

All that being said, I hope everyone had a great new years at their festivities. Time to kick into high gear, March is now less than 3 months away!

I haven't updated the site since xmas eve. I posted some ice storm photos from Chicago, the event was one of the better ones I can recall around here. Ice storms aren't all that common and we managed to pick up about .3" accumulation. Regular site updates will resume in the coming days.

Cheers to a successful 2010!