Storm Chase of April 27th, 2014.

Day two of my storm chase mini-vacation to eastern Nebraska. Also, it was the first High Risk day of 2014, although I did not chase anywhere near the High Risk (or Moderate Risk, for the matter,) location. I woke up that morning to thunder from a slow moving Mesoscale Convective System that seemed to sit…

By Brian April 27, 2014 Off

Storm Chase of April 26th, 2014.

This was the first *real* of the year. My target area was Lincoln, Nebraska. Now, on the Monday and Tuesday before this, Saturday looked like it could be a pretty huge day. But by that Wednesday, the outlook was not so great looking. But, there was a chance that a supercell or two could form.…

By Brian April 26, 2014 Off

Possible Storm Chase on Saturday

Saturday is great for some severe weather in southern Kansas and Oklahoma. If it keeps looking like it looks right now, I’m going to do my best to go storm chasing. It’ll kind of depend on whether or not I can get off of work on Friday. Otherwise, I may have to pull an all…

By Brian April 21, 2014 Off

…Annnnnd we’re back to winter…

After a weekend in the 70s, it is now in the upper 30s/low 40s and snowing. *Hopefully*, this will be our last snowfall until like November. The GFS does show us getting one more snow event, but it’s at 300 hours out, so I’m not putting too much stock into that forecast. For the rest…

By Brian April 14, 2014 Off

Possible Storm Chase on Saturday

This one snuck up on me a little bit. But The Storm Prediction Center has given northern Illinois and parts of eastern and southern Iowa a Slight Risk for tomorrow. I’m in the process of doing an analysis of the event. But one thing I can say right away is it will be an unusual…

By Brian April 11, 2014 Off

Slow Start to the Year

We are definitely off to a slow start this year, tornado-wise. The U.S. averages about 80 tornadoes in the month of March, with the March of 2014 only recording 25 tornadoes. In April, the U.S. averages around 155 tornadoes. So far this April, we’ve had 11 tornadoes. Granted, it’s early yet; and one large outbreak…

By Brian April 8, 2014 Off

First Storm Chase of the Year

I went on my first storm chase of the year today. It wouldn’t be accurate to describe the chase as “disappointing,” as I had a very pessimistic outlook of seeing anything today. What’s the saying, “keep your expectations low and you’ll never be disappointed?” Anyway, I saw nothing but rain today. To see a more…

By Brian April 3, 2014 Off

Storm Chase of April 3rd, 2014.

First storm chase of the year! I had high hopes for this day in the proceeding days up until this event. But the morning of the event, I was much more pessimistic. For one, I didn’t have what I would call a “free range of opportunities.” By that, I mean that I couldn’t chase where…

By Brian April 3, 2014 Off

Spring Is Finally Here

Temperatures across northern Illinois (as I write this,) are in the low to mid 40s. More importantly, it’s looking like these temperatures are here to stay; for the most part. Tomorrow the temperatures will dip back down a bit, and Sunday morning could be in the single digits. But by Sunday afternoon, temperatures across the…

By Brian March 4, 2014 Off

Glimmer of Hope, or Maybe Just a Mirage

Looking at the long range GFS (I know, I know,) there is something that caught my eye. (Image missing.) This is the surface temperatures, winds, and MSLP at 276 hours out. Yes, that is super ridiculously far out. Yes, it’ll most likely change. But with the lows position in northern Wisconsin, and northern Illinois sitting…

By Brian February 24, 2014 Off