Chase Summaries
MAY 17 - JUNE 1, 1997: My first chase trip to the plains states. Summaries are primarily from the southern plains and include several supercell days, as well as my first tornado intercept on May 25th, 1997 near Anthony, Kansas.
MAY 22 - JUNE 5, 1998: A mega-death ridge plagued the plains states during my second chase trip. Then to add insult to injury, I missed the F4 tornado event in Spencer, SD by only a few miles at the end of my chase vacation.
MAY 14 - MAY 30, 1999: Overall, a very successful chase vacation! Supercells were encountered on numerous days, with the best day occurring on May 20, 1999 in the Texas Panhandle when a couple of tornadoes were filmed.
MAY 19 - JUNE 3, 2000: Plenty of severe storms, funnel clouds, and photogenic Supercells contributed to a decent chase season across the southern and central plains. Even a display of the Northern Lights!
JUNE 23 - JULY 5, 2000: This is the first year I was able to make more than one chase trip to the plains states. The best action occurred in the northern plains...fantastic lightning, big Supercells, and even a bow echo tornado encounter in Montana.
MAY 11 - MAY 29, 2001: This was my first year working as a driver/guide for Tempest Tours, and was another good year filled with plenty of chase action. Everything from being stuck in the mud near Ceevee, Texas to a nicely backlit tornado near Ada, Oklahoma on May 20th.
JUNE 28 - JULY 9, 2001: My second trip to the plains took me to western plains of Nebraska and South Dakota. This was a very good season for the Nebraska Sand hills region, as severe storms erupted almost on a daily basis.
MAY 21 - JUNE 10, 2002: My search for Supercells this year took me from near the Mexican border in Texas north to the state of Montana. Some memorable chases were the "Pampa Beast" on May 23 and the Crosby County Supercell on May 27th. From May 26th until June 5th I served as Tour Director for Tempest Tours.
AUGUST 16 - 24, 2002: A trip to the desert southwest was made in search of lightning activity from monsoon thunderstorms. There are no summaries from this period, but the MONSOON - LIGHTNING PICTURES are worth a thousand words.
MAY 9 - JUNE 1, 2003: My first chase day resulted in a tornado intercept near Monroe City, Missouri on May 10th. This was followed by a rather dismal period storm wise for my stint as the Tour Director for Tempest Tours until May 23rd. On my last day, a nicely structure storm was intercepted on May 30th near Fort Morgan, Colorado.
JULY 2 - JULY 13, 2003: My second chase trip to the plains faired better as numerous some great storms were encountered on several days. An exceptional fun chase day occurred on July 5th near Elsmere, Nebraska when I try to out maneuver a nasty storm.
SEPT 18, 2003 Hurricane Isabel: A trip was made to the eastern shore of Virginia to intercept the northern edge of Hurricane Isabel.
MAY 15 - JUNE 5, 2004: Like many others, this was by far and away my BEST chase season to date! Twenty days were spent in chase mode which resulted in 16 severe storm intercepts, three of which were tornadic (May 22, 24, & 29). Two of the tornado days occurred while serving as tour director for Tempest Tour #3B from May 22nd to May 28th. In addition to the nearly two dozen tornadoes that were observed, I witnessed one of the most spectacular supercells of my career on May 20th in Morgan County, CO!
JULY 26 - AUG 2, 2004: The season remained active well into summer, so I couldn't resist making another trip to the plains in late July...my latest chase trip ever! I found severe storms almost daily in the states of Colorado, Nebraska, or South Dakota. I came away with some of the best lightning captures of my career as well as another incredible "mothership" near Sioux Falls, SD on July 31st!
SEP 25 - SEP 28, 2004 Hurricane Jeanne: An intercept of hurricane Jeanne was made on the Florida peninsula on September 25 and 26th, followed by two days in search of tornadic storms within the rain bands from Georgia to Delaware.
MAY 18 - JUNE 13, 2005: Overall the 2005 Spring Chase Season proved to be a good one for most storm chasers. Twenty three of my days were spent in chase mode which resulted in 16 severe storm intercept days. At least 9 tornadoes were intercepted, but unlike 2004 none of these tornadoes proved to be long-lived or significant events. However, what may have been lacking in dramatic tornadoes was more than made up for in spectacular storms. Two of which were among the best structure storms I have ever seen (June 2nd near Arriba, CO and June 7th near Wanblee, SD). My chase time between May 28th and June 11th was spent serving as a staff member and tour director for two consecutive tours with Tempest Tours.
AUG 17 - AUG 19, 2005: A late summer "Spring-like" severe weather set up prompted me to make a trip to the central plains, my latest and shortest trip ever! Two of my three days in Nebraska and Kansas yielded intercepts on tornado warned storms. The other day was spent enjoying weaker storms amid the quiet and beauty of the Nebraska Sandhills region. On that day a tornado outbreak occurred well to my east in Wisconsin which was too far away to consider for intercept.
MAY 3 - MAY 31, 2006: From a tornado standpoint, 2006 was one of the worst years ever experienced by the Plains chaser. After several early season tornado outbreaks in MO, OK, and TN the month of May began with a string of several severe storm days followed by a 10 day period of virtually no storms what-so-ever. Storms returned for the later part of May and early June, but tornadoes were still not to be found. Several days yielded beautiful supercells, lightning displays, and plenty of blowing dust. Surprisingly, one of the most memorable days of the season took place on May 28th when a mammoth several thousand foot high wall of dust (Haboob) evolved from a mostly uninteresting line of storms that turned severe in western Nebraska. Ironically, most chasers missed this event when they blew off the day as it became apparent the big supercells weren't going to happen.
JUNE 1 - JUNE 16, 2006: Continued from the May trip above.
MAY 4 - MAY 31, 2007: Unlike 2006, the 2007 chase season offered plenty of storms to chase. However, once again tornadoes were few and far between. Early May did offer a few days of tornadoes mostly in Kansas, but many of these occurred after nightfall (Greensburg, KS 5-4-07) or were imbedded in horrid viewing conditions. Fortunately almost every day in May (and June) offered storms to chase, many of which were severe and/or offered dramatic structure. Our best tornado day occurred on May 22 near Hill City, but for me the storm structure really stole the show. Overall a very good season despite the lack of tornadoes!
JUNE 1 - JUNE 17, 2007: Continued from the May trip above.
MAY 13 - MAY 31, 2008: May proved to be a very stormy month across the Great Plains and even offered several significant tornado days. May 22 and 23 offered plenty of tornadoes across western Kansas, but the storms were fast moving and gave mostly fleeting views of their tornadoes for those fortunate enough to be in the exact right position at the exact right time. I was not one of the fortunate ones on those days. My luck changed on May 24th when nearly a dozen tornadoes were observed from one isolated storm in northern Oklahoma. Tornadoes or not, May offered day after day of storm chasing opportunities.
JUNE 1 - JUNE 26, 2008: Continued from the May trip above, June continued to be a very stormy month across the plains states.
MAY 7 - MAY 31, 2009: May started out rather dull for the most part but storm activity gradually increased as the month progressed. Although tornadoes were largely absent in May, there were plenty of supercells to chase during the last two weeks of May. Unlike the past few seasons were numerous trips were required to the northern plains in search of the best storms, most of the activity remained in the more seasonal active areas of the central and southern plains.
JUNE 1 - JUNE 19, 2009: June turned out to be much more active then May and even produced a couple of significant tornado days---June 5th in Goshen County WY and June 17 near Aurora, NE.