My life as a storm chaser...

[Daven75]

Hey guys, I thought this would be a good day to post up some photos from my storm chasing and just every day stuff. I'm a Storm Chaser out of Illinois and I'm going to school for geography and and area of study of meteorology. I have a TON of photos but I'll start you guys off with what I have handy with me! I know storm chasers get alot of flack from news agencies but I'll say this, I am not one of those chasers that goes for the best shot, or the most exciting video. I have a passion for weather and anything I see is amazing to me.

Heres from today (11/17/2013) These were taken just outside Pana, IL.
We had followed this storm from when it started to when it out ran us. This day, not just for me, but for everyone effected was a dangerous day. As you may have heard.


You can see the wall cloud on the right.



Here are some random's from my collection-































Everyone seems to like this one, idky, it was a test shot for me lol



Heres my first ever tornado photo-










Last but not least, my favorite shot so far-

I have SOOOO many more but not enough time to upload them all. I also have a tumblr for just my photos if you wanna check it out-
Dthomasphotography.tumblr.com

I'll post more when I can get some time. I have alot more night sky photos.

Comments, good or bad, questions, all welcome!

Thanks guys!

 

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Very cool pictures!

Stay safe out there.

 

[scottdevine]

Simply awesome shots...very very nice...

 

[zmcgovern45]

Nice Photos...

Being from Peoria, I can say that the recent storms have been eye opening. Living in the midwest my entire life, I have seen my fair share of tornado stories on the news, but never have I been so close to such massive amounts of destruction.

For those who are unaware, a series of violent storms rolled through the midwest on Sunday. Tornadoes wreaked havoc on Washington, IL - Peoria, IL - Pekin, IL and other surrounding areas. Over 500 homes were completely leveled and several lives were claimed.

Luckily my family and home are safe, but many others were not so fortunate.

Washington IL tornado damage raw chopper footage | Video | abc7chicago.com


I'm sure you are very knowledgeable of the capabilities of these storms, but please be safe. No photo is worth risking it all :dblthumb2:

 

[Colinpd137]

Beautiful photographs, believe it or not when I was younger that is what I wanted to grow up to be. I was & still am always fascinated by the weather & mother natures fury. The last photo is my favorite as well!

Stay Safe out there!

 

[scshaysc]

All of the photos are beautiful! The Gas & Diesel sign and the red VW really caught my eye. Praying for those hit by the storms in Illinois.

 

[Daven75]

Very cool pictures!

Stay safe out there.

Thanks! I always do, I side with cation everytime.

Simply awesome shots...very very nice...

Thank you!

Nice Photos...

Being from Peoria, I can say that the recent storms have been eye opening. Living in the midwest my entire life, I have seen my fair share of tornado stories on the news, but never have I been so close to such massive amounts of destruction.

For those who are unaware, a series of violent storms rolled through the midwest on Sunday. Tornadoes wreaked havoc on Washington, IL - Peoria, IL - Pekin, IL and other surrounding areas. Over 500 homes were completely leveled and several lives were claimed.

Luckily my family and home are safe, but many others were not so fortunate.

Washington IL tornado damage raw chopper footage | Video | abc7chicago.com


I'm sure you are very knowledgeable of the capabilities of these storms, but please be safe. No photo is worth risking it all :dblthumb2:

I'm glad your family is safe! It was a terrible day, I am from Plainfield and I know the feeling of having a community erased. in August 28th 1990 Plainfield got destroyed by one of I believe 2 F5's ever recorded in illinois. I look at it like this, if I'm close enough to where I can't get a good pic, I'm TO close. lol.

I hope this isn't against the rules sense it really isn't for profit for anyone else but check out this, if you buy a shirt, all the proceeds go to storm relief!

Store | Storm Assist

Beautiful photographs, believe it or not when I was younger that is what I wanted to grow up to be. I was & still am always fascinated by the weather & mother natures fury. The last photo is my favorite as well!

Stay Safe out there!

Thanks, Yea, its pretty crazy seeing the fury of nature out there. I'm currently working on getting first responder trained so I'll be ready incase I need to help anyone. i always carry a medpack and anything else I would need. Shovels, tools and all. I also chase with a firefighter when I'm up north so yea. I figure if I'm hurt I can't help anyone, if I'm not, I can help many.

All of the photos are beautiful! The Gas & Diesel sign and the red VW really caught my eye. Praying for those hit by the storms in Illinois.

The red VW has a partner too, its a blue one, they're at the local cruise night and they are names coke and pepsi!

I love them!

 

[Misterpaul]

I saw the red and blue VWs in my neighborhood many times this past summer.

As for the storm chasing good luck and good hunting but make us one promise: don't stop in the middle of the $%^&* road. I was racing a severe storm home this June and had to deal with two different vehicles and their idiot drivers that thought the middle of the road is a good place to stop and take pics.

 

[JHL88]

super sick photos man. What camera do you use?

 

[kochdalton87]

Awesome pictures! But like the others have said, stay safe.

 

[cardaddy]

I think it's not exactly the top of this shot that kills it, but the way the (roof I think) is playing in the foreground with the color/light and of course the reflections. Just takes the shot to the next level. Well that.... and the symmetry of parallel lines between the clouds and trees.

Now the last one, that is pretty cool!

But my favorite I think is the old Chevy with the filter. Boy these guys are really getting happy with clear coating 'rust' these days are they not!?!???? rops:

 

[BillE]

WOW!

Those are some dramatic photos of lightning.

You 'work' on car shots are just eye catching (to say the least)...great work!

Living in semi tornado area...I hope NOT to see you...LOL.

Be careful out there!

Bill

 

[vet]

Nice pics!

When I was a kid, one went over our house, but didn't touch completely down. It took a few trees out by the roots.

 

[Daven75]

I think it's not exactly the top of this shot that kills it, but the way the (roof I think) is playing in the foreground with the color/light and of course the reflections. Just takes the shot to the next level. Well that.... and the symmetry of parallel lines between the clouds and trees.

Now the last one, that is pretty cool!

But my favorite I think is the old Chevy with the filter. Boy these guys are really getting happy with clear coating 'rust' these days are they not!?!???? rops:

Haha, I'm usually not a huge fan of the rust clear coated BUT I have to say this was one of my favorite jobs of it. I'm trying to remember is it was paint or actual rust, I don't remember! Gah!

WOW!

Those are some dramatic photos of lightning.

You 'work' on car shots are just eye catching (to say the least)...great work!

Living in semi tornado area...I hope NOT to see you...LOL.

Be careful out there!

Bill

Thanks, I try and do a different point of view than everyone else, cause who wants to see a picture over and over just of a different car? As for Chasing up in MN, I don't think I'll ever really be able to but I know a few people who will!

Nice pics!

When I was a kid, one went over our house, but didn't touch completely down. It took a few trees out by the roots.

Dang, I've had that happen before, before I knew ANYTHING about storms really, I had a funnel cloud develop RIGHT over my house and I had taken a picture of it with my phone, not moments later the tornado sirens wen't off lol. Its a pretty creepy feeling.

Thanks for all the compliments guys! Its funny cause I posted these and expected to hear major critiques! LOL.

 

[Romans5.8]

Gorgeous photos! You have a lot of talent! Just fantastic!

I've always loved storms. When I was little my grandma had this wraparound covered porch and we would sit on the porch and watch the rain or listen to the thunder. Fantastic to see God at work through the power of nature! Of course; as we saw- it can get dangerous.

I rode a motorcycle through a tornado once! LOL. Not intentionally. Was unforecasted, was out on a ride with a buddy. Started to rain, then started to rain hard. Pulled into a gas station, looked at the radar on my phone, and it was apparent that this was a big, slow moving storm so if we were gonna get home tonight, we were just gonna have to ride through the rain. No big deal, we had rain gear. We decided to go the interstate because of far less debris and animals, and just happened to notice all of the sudden there were almost no cars on the road, one car even passed us, honking and flashing their lights, then stuck their hand out the window pointing towards the exit, and then exited themselves. I was thinking, geeze, what's the big deal, motorcycle can handle a little rain it's no big deal! Not my first time riding in the rain either, when you do long distance touring it's unavoidable! Well anyway it started to get really loud, lots of hail, debris flying through the air, and that loud freight train noise. And by the time we were on a stretch of interstate several miles from any town. So we're going down the interstate, alone, at about 55mph through this insane hail. By the time we got to an exit, the hail had stopped, so we just kept on going. A few hours later, we were home!

Then watching the news, I found out the town we were in was hit with a tornado that damaged a couple dozen homes, and best I could figure, we were 3 or 4 miles from it when it touched down give or take. Yikes!

 

[Daven75]

Haha Damn man! Thats insane! Yea, one of the things that chasers are stressing is the fact that people claim "We had no warning" when in fact they had PLENTY.
Heres a good example-
This was showing the risk area, from high, to moderate to slight to see text which is a possibility.


Note that almost ALL the tornados that occurred happened in the high risk or predicted areas with the exception to WAYYY southern Illinois. Even then though they fell in the moderate risk area. I'm not saying they may not have had warning but if theres even a chance of severe weather you at least look into it. I know my parents did, and I knwo several news sites/stations that posted the severe outlook.

Then this too, the Watches and Warnings that were issued throughout the event.


Idk, it just bugs me that some people can say they had no warning when most of the time chasers confirm that the sirens were going off and people had warning. Sorry, /rant lol

 

[Romans5.8]

Right! You're exactly right!

But your situation and my situation are a bit different. Very large storms and outbreaks are usually predicted sometimes days in advance. In my case it was a bit more isolated. In the morning when we left, we checked the weather, and there was a forecasted chance for light rain around noon. Well, there was light rain around noon, and then it went away. In the late afternoon when we were heading home, still about 100 miles from home, it started to pickup steam and turn into a more severe thunderstorm and eventually, a tornado. This was not forecasted, at all, until just a couple of hours before the storm. Without a radio on the bike and being on the road instead of watching the TV, we didn't get those warnings! Sure a siren is a great thing but those don't really exist in small rural areas you pass through on the interstate roaring along in your motorcycle! (Especially not when your out on the twisty backroads which is where we were until the rain picked up; but when the weather is bad I usually stick to the interstate) Even when I had checked my phone it was calling for thunderstorms, 'possibly some severe', but was given no indication of possible tornado activity. Even later when watching the news the newscaster said "Spotted showers turned into something more!". Here in the midwest, storms that turn severe quick do happen. Maybe you'll know better, but it's my understanding that you take all of the humidity, combine that with big temperature changes that happen sometimes in the summer, and that's where you get sudden, pop-up severe storms. Generally they can predict it because, if the conditions will be right, then that's what'll happen. But in this case, I think the temperature drop wasn't predicted to be nearly as severe. Being nearly 100 during the day and probably 60 when I got home around 9 or 10.

I mean hindsight is 20/20. There probably were warnings. But when you head out looking at the weather for the entirety of your route and see 'light showers possible', the thought "Gee, there might be tornadoes" doesn't exactly pop into mind!

This also was not the magnitude or size of the tornados from Sundays storm. It touched down very near several homes in this small town, and resulted in mostly broken limbs, torn siding and ripped shingles. I think a tree fell on a car as well. No injuries, in fact; two idiots on motorcycles were able to ride right through it

 

[Daven75]

Right! You're exactly right!

But your situation and my situation are a bit different. Very large storms and outbreaks are usually predicted sometimes days in advance. In my case it was a bit more isolated. In the morning when we left, we checked the weather, and there was a forecasted chance for light rain around noon. Well, there was light rain around noon, and then it went away. In the late afternoon when we were heading home, still about 100 miles from home, it started to pickup steam and turn into a more severe thunderstorm and eventually, a tornado. This was not forecasted, at all, until just a couple of hours before the storm. Without a radio on the bike and being on the road instead of watching the TV, we didn't get those warnings! Sure a siren is a great thing but those don't really exist in small rural areas you pass through on the interstate roaring along in your motorcycle! (Especially not when your out on the twisty backroads which is where we were until the rain picked up; but when the weather is bad I usually stick to the interstate) Even when I had checked my phone it was calling for thunderstorms, 'possibly some severe', but was given no indication of possible tornado activity. Even later when watching the news the newscaster said "Spotted showers turned into something more!". Here in the midwest, storms that turn severe quick do happen. Maybe you'll know better, but it's my understanding that you take all of the humidity, combine that with big temperature changes that happen sometimes in the summer, and that's where you get sudden, pop-up severe storms. Generally they can predict it because, if the conditions will be right, then that's what'll happen. But in this case, I think the temperature drop wasn't predicted to be nearly as severe. Being nearly 100 during the day and probably 60 when I got home around 9 or 10.

I mean hindsight is 20/20. There probably were warnings. But when you head out looking at the weather for the entirety of your route and see 'light showers possible', the thought "Gee, there might be tornadoes" doesn't exactly pop into mind!

This also was not the magnitude or size of the tornados from Sundays storm. It touched down very near several homes in this small town, and resulted in mostly broken limbs, torn siding and ripped shingles. I think a tree fell on a car as well. No injuries, in fact; two idiots on motorcycles were able to ride right through it

Oh no I wasn't really referring to your case. I know there are plenty of cases where they come out of no where, actually one of my pics, the two photos of the storm clouds, alone in the sky just exploding was one. Started as that, 10mins later produced a funnel.

Out of curiosity, when did your riding incident happen??? I ask cause within the last years the prediction and warning technology has advanced amazingly. Yea, generally with larger scenarios like this past weekend its alittle easier to put out a warning ahead of time because of the sheer size of it. I've seen small storms pop up and go severe but honestly, most of the time, the warnings that are given will be given atleast 4hrs in advance. Im not saying like a tornado warning but for instance, last Sunday, a PDS tornado watch was issued that morning around like 9am. PDS means Particularity dangerous situation. They also released a statement saying that there will be a significant tornado outbreak likely. I feel like alot of people have that doubt that nothing will happen. Its sad to see it because I've been chasing and saw someone just standing there smoking a cig outside a store when there was a tornado literally right behind the store heading at them. Its like cmon people, wake up! lol.

I also know people that live in Illinois that now kinda shun the sirens? I guess, basically they go off and they don't think anything of it. Like realllyyyy!? Theyre going off for a reason lol.

There was talk to issue sirens for VERY high winds and if you ask me that'd be the worst idea.

 

[Romans5.8]

Oh no I wasn't really referring to your case. I know there are plenty of cases where they come out of no where, actually one of my pics, the two photos of the storm clouds, alone in the sky just exploding was one. Started as that, 10mins later produced a funnel.

Out of curiosity, when did your riding incident happen??? I ask cause within the last years the prediction and warning technology has advanced amazingly. Yea, generally with larger scenarios like this past weekend its alittle easier to put out a warning ahead of time because of the sheer size of it. I've seen small storms pop up and go severe but honestly, most of the time, the warnings that are given will be given atleast 4hrs in advance. Im not saying like a tornado warning but for instance, last Sunday, a PDS tornado watch was issued that morning around like 9am. PDS means Particularity dangerous situation. They also released a statement saying that there will be a significant tornado outbreak likely. I feel like alot of people have that doubt that nothing will happen. Its sad to see it because I've been chasing and saw someone just standing there smoking a cig outside a store when there was a tornado literally right behind the store heading at them. Its like cmon people, wake up! lol.

I also know people that live in Illinois that now kinda shun the sirens? I guess, basically they go off and they don't think anything of it. Like realllyyyy!? Theyre going off for a reason lol.

There was talk to issue sirens for VERY high winds and if you ask me that'd be the worst idea.

The town I live in sounds them for thunderstorms, high winds, any number of things. Useless!

Happened two years ago. There was 3 or 4 hours of warning when it became more severe (just not through weatherbug or accuweather or whatever app I was using). But, as I said, no radio and no TV meant I didn't hear it!

 

[Daven75]

Yea, I may be trying to get a local community a supply of weather radios for every home. It'll be interesting and worth it if you ask me.

Its pointless to sound them for anything but a tornado if you ask me, kinda like crying wolf!