Storm Chasing the Plains - 2010 Edition

Enlightphoto · October 29, 2010

Among some of the best I've seen. Serious Serious WOW.

scole · October 29, 2010

Don't know how i missed these originally but add me to the WOW camp. Your determination and dedication really show. Well done!!

joe-bob · November 4, 2010

Awesome!

jamesl · November 4, 2010

Sorry, I missed these last few comments. Thanks very much!

On the brave vs foolish front, I'd say it's a little bit of both.

James

ian408 · November 4, 2010

I watched Storm Chasers last night. Yikes--I'd say that bordered on foolish...

richtersl · November 4, 2010

Darren Troy C wrote: »

W O W !! !! !! !!

jamesl · November 4, 2010

ian408 wrote: »

I watched Storm Chasers last night. Yikes--I'd say that bordered on foolish...

Yeah, the folks on that show are much more wreckless in their pursuit of getting "into" the storm then we are. We observe from generally a distance of at least a few miles, and many times closer to 10 or so miles.

ChrisJ · November 4, 2010

Glad this thread got bumped... missed it the first time around. Incredible images (and video)! I love storms and miss them here in LA.

Llywellyn · November 4, 2010

I'm glad it got bumped, too! These are simply spectacular photos.

jamesl · November 5, 2010

Thanks Chris and Kerry! Having good storms close by is one of my favorite things about living here in North TX.

Marc Muench · November 5, 2010

jamesl wrote: »

Thanks Chris and Kerry! Having good storms close by is one of my favorite things about living here in North TX.

No wonder you like tornadoes around:D Those images are horribly addicting, great chasing and wonderful processing.
I too am glad this was bumped, as I missed it the first time.

ian408 · November 5, 2010

jamesl wrote: »

Yeah, the folks on that show are much more wreckless in their pursuit of getting "into" the storm then we are. We observe from generally a distance of at least a few miles, and many times closer to 10 or so miles.

I guess the good news is the data that comes out of those close encounters.

jamesl · November 8, 2010

Marc Muench wrote: »

No wonder you like tornadoes around:D Those images are horribly addicting, great chasing and wonderful processing.
I too am glad this was bumped, as I missed it the first time.

Thanks Marc! Not having a lot of natural landscape here in the Dallas area meant I had to "evolve" my photography needs in a different direction. ;-) I love what storms do to light, even in the middle of the day. Addicting is a great way to describe it!

jamesl · November 8, 2010

ian408 wrote: »

I guess the good news is the data that comes out of those close encounters.

Yeah, hopefully they can use some of that resulting information to help change the building code and builder more resistant houses and such.

schmoo · November 8, 2010

jamesl wrote: »

Yeah, hopefully they can use some of that resulting information to help change the building code and builder more resistant houses and such.

I just saw the Mythbusters storm chasers episode. Are you kidding me?!?

jamesl · November 8, 2010

schmoo wrote: »

I just saw the Mythbusters storm chasers episode. Are you kidding me?!?

! I haven't seen it, but I know the gist of it. However, the concensus from folks who study tornadic winds is that they are NOTHING at all like straight line winds coming from a 747. Tornadic winds have incredible veering thrust lines that can be moving in many directions at once inside the vortex. I think the Dominator being on that show was more of a PR move than anything else. ;-)

ian408 · November 8, 2010

jamesl wrote: »

! I haven't seen it, but I know the gist of it. However, the concensus from folks who study tornadic winds is that they are NOTHING at all like straight line winds coming from a 747. Tornadic winds have incredible veering thrust lines that can be moving in many directions at once inside the vortex. I think the Dominator being on that show was more of a PR move than anything else. ;-)

If you look at the various probes that get left behind, there are three key features. Weight, low profile and cone shaped. I notice that the TIV and Dominator are both heavy and cone shaped. What's interesting to me is that neither is really gathering much data that I can tell (well, except maybe that RADAR on Dominator) both seem to be commercial ventures to shoot film. One IMAX and the other stock footage (which is how they fund their chasing).

The science guys seem to drop probes and measure from afar--I don't see them as wanting to lie down in a field of grass and hang on for dear life (not all like the TIV/Dominator guys). Not to mention that the protection on that Mythbuster's thing seemed to be geared toward stuff coming from the front and if you look at any storm footage, there's stuff flying from every direction.

Discovery looks more like they're trying to find ways to combine different shows. The "Meteorite Men" got a bike from American Chopper--anyone want to guess what's next? Mythbuster's and Swords?