11 May 2006 tornado photo enhanced

After yesterday's rain/sleet/snowstorm I decided to keep up the old chase photo posts with this one.  Taken at Todd's Tavern VA, the clump of trees in the foreground was 150 yards away and the tornado was just behind it.  You can see the rain curtains to the right of these trees; they were rapidly rotating left-to-right. 

This is a classic example of the hazards of Virginia chasing as this tornado followed us northeastward along a tree-lined road.  We knew it was in the vicinity due to the volume of torn leaves floating down around us as we sped up the road, but we couldn't see it until just after we popped out at this clearing and got out of the vehicle.  When this thing showed up we didn't know which direction it was heading relative to our position.  Definitely an underwear-changing experience...

My first gustnadoes

This picture is from May 2002 during my first Tornado Alley chase.  A line of strong storms was approaching our position from the right side of the picture, and the resulting outflow created the two gustnadoes in the center of the photo as well as the ground level dust kickup at the left edge.  I had seen my first actual tornado a few days before this but didn't get a picture of it.
Again, another SDS-thwarting review of chase photos, especially relevant during yet another snowstorm.

SDS relief

"Mothership" rotating wall cloud from 25 May 2004 chase, Spotsylvania county, Brock Road Elementary school parking lot.  Posted to relieve mid-winter SDS!!

Mid-January chasing blues

I've been perusing pictures of past chases to keep up the spirits during the nadir that usually occurs this time of year.  It's really not long until spring, but it seems so far away that storm chasing has become a distant memory.  I am keeping busy with things weather-wise over at my Fredericksburg Weather blog but the continual mantra of cold air, freezing precipitation, and cold air damming is wearing on my nerves. 

I have been contemplating a more wide-ranging 2011 Virginia chase season after I return from my stint with the Hokie Stormchase team out in Tornado Alley.  The first two weeks of June are typically very active here in the Old Dominion, and if I throw my chasing net further out I may be able to squeeze in more than the average number of June events.  I should have more time to do such things this year (for reasons that I will mention in a later post), and that will help make up for the slow times right now.

Now for the 2011 storm chase outlook

I don't have a clue.  How's that?  With the models performing as poorly as they have so far this winter here in Virginia I won't even hazard a guess as to what this year's chase season might look like here until we get a lot closer to spring.
The good news is that I won't be strictly confined to Virginia chasing this year since I'll be part of the Virginia Tech Hokie Stormchase team this spring.  This is actually a field class out of the Geography department at Tech that will take us to and from the Plains with the students doing the forecasting.  I'll be along to (a) drive one of the vans, (b) help out Dave Carroll (the instructor) any way I can, and (c) provide another pair of "experienced" eyes to help keep us out of harm's way.  It's still a few months away but I need some happy thoughts to get me through the brutal combination of cold weather and lack of chasing over the next couple of months.