Thursday, December 30, 2010

As 2010 Closes

Its kind of ironic that as this amazing year weather wise comes to a close there is a possibility of a semi local chase tomorrow. We already had one rare off season event here last month so why not another?

Of course I'm not a complete idiot and I realize its about as big of a crapshoot as there can be, but its been fun to watch how the system has evolved. Currently it is 48/43 which is pretty mild and moist for this time of the year, some locations south of here are reporting temps in the low 50s with dewpoints in the mid to upper 40s. For 9pm on December 30th thats pretty impressive. I remember the night prior to last months event I was sitting online noticing how exceptionally warm and moist it was. Of course it was November and we were dealing with low 60s temps and mid 50s dewpoints...but I digress...

These needle in haystack, off season rare events are beginning to fascinate me and I tried to do a comparison to past events which you can read here: http://convectiveaddiction.com/forecasts-2/new-years-eve-2010-a-midwestern-severe-event-in-the-making/

One of these days I will unlock the mysteries of these sleeper IL days and use them to my chasing advantage. As I mentioned I find them fascinating to study. They are much more challenging and really stimulate that nerdy side of chasing. I mean, any idiot can spot a classic plains setup on the forecast models and understand where tornadoes will be possible...these wacky off season events provide a greater challenge though.

Best case scenario, I chase and bag a rare tube to myself. Worst case scenario, I go party as planned and maybe get treated to a few [also rare] December lightning flashes. Either way, BRING IT ON!

See yall in 2011!

Monday, December 20, 2010

White Gold

Not much to report here. It was been a fairly active winter so far with multiple snows. None of them in this area have been really significant. The big blizzard gave us a typical glancing blow before hitting us with 40mph wrap around snow on the back side. Still, our snowfall here in the city is running above the long term average.

Good news for me, as I recently found some work doing snow removal with a landscaping crew. The pay is excellent, almost double what I made at my last job working in downtown Chicago. I also enjoy the work. The guy who hired me gets a kick out of level of enjoyment for being placed in the worst conditions possible. After the blizzard winds were gusting above 40mph with wind chills below zero and here I am standing in a snow-nado created by my snow blower yelling BRING IT OOOOON!!!!

So I will take it for what its worth. I love being outside in the elements, at a time when most people are whining and crying about the weather I am out there basking in it. Ive always been that way though, I love the weather everyone else hates. So this line of work is perfect for me. He says he needs to hire some people for more steady summer work as well. We will see where this leads.

I haven't decided to go crawling back to a typical job since my layoff just yet. Instead rather I have been working on ways to make my own money. Its going slow, but going slow is better than not going at all. It's not that I have a problem with working...its that I have problem with being a slave to my work and I refuse to be one of these poor drones who cant chase just because they have to work. I always find it amusing when people argue about this with me. They say "yea well, you're struggling financially without work" and I always say "yea well, you're struggling financially WITH WORK, at least I have a passion I'm enjoying." That seems to shut them up rather nicely.

Some people try and say that chasing is their escape from their everyday life of work, family, kids, whatever else. If thats what works for you great, but I think that mentality is sad, any life you need to have an escape from is not a life worth living. Different strokes for different folks I guess. One of my favorite lyrical quotes comes from a 311 song and it goes "Some people live for the rules, I live for exceptions."

Anyways, just thought I would chime in with some typical weather-life related babble. Its about to start snowing here, so I better get the gear ready and be on standby for the call.

Also, big winter storm coming around xmas. Stay tuned to ConvectiveAddiction.com for the latest as that is where I write most of my forecasts now instead of here. I will try and post again before the new year but if I don't I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday season!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Helping the Noobs

You know, something happened today that irked me quite a bit.

Over the years I have had lots of people reach out to me and ask me advice. I always do my best to give them the answers they are looking for. Sometimes they are satisfied quickly and we exchange only 1 or 2 messages. Other times I have had month long dialogues with people as I try to help them along the way. If they ask me things I feel I cannot give good advice on, I always try and point them to a resource that can better help them.

Today though one such person tells me "I emailed a guy once when I was like 10 with some questions and his response was something along the lines of "leave it to people who know what they're doing." I was like... okay..... rude"

I asked her who it was but she can't remember. Whoever you are, I just want to say you are a jackass. If you feel you are too important to bother helping newcomers, let me be the first to knock you off that pedestal you've built for yourself. Because all I can see is up your nasty nose and smell your rancid groin when youre standing that high on your own ego.

I don't care if you've been chasing since 1970. That only means you were born sooner than me. It does not give you the right to be a pretentious jackass. You may be experienced, but you're still an anti social retard.

The ironic part is typically these types of people are the first ones to bitch about under educated people out there ruining the holy grail image of storm chasing. Of course though, they can't be bothered to help a person who has some genuine questions about getting started. Much like the people who bitch about StormTrack, I almost never see them contributing anything of use.

I dunno, I have always enjoyed interacting with people, and going out of my way to help others. I enjoy talking and discussing the topic. Seeing the level of excitement people have as they pursue something they are really interested in gives me a great feeling. Passion is truly powerful, and I've always encouraged people to pursue what they really love, and will always do my best to be whatever mentor I can be.

And I get the fact that some of you can't be bothered, you're too busy trying to balance your shitty 9-5 lifestyle with chasing and are juggling 19234785 things at once. Life is a clusterfumble of crap, I get it...but that doesn't give you the right to be rude. If you cant help, point the person to someone who can!

So again I say, to people who respond to people in a negative way. Go take your anti social narcissism and sit in the corner while you slap yourself in the face with a 2x4 repeatedly. Everyone deserves a chance to make the most of their interest. If you choose to still be an ass to them, just know that you lose any respect for yourself that I might have had.