This Blog Will Be No More…

I know there are a few folks who have subscribed to this blog for automatic updates when there’s a new post, or maybe have a link to it on their site/blog, and I appreciate it! That’s why I wanted to let you all know this blog will be no more. No, I’m not keeping my babble to myself from now on, you couldn’t be so lucky

I have FINALLY figured out how to configure my web site in such a way to incorporate WordPress into the workings, and with that comes full on blog integration at www.tornadotimmy.com! The look of the site has changed quite a bit with the new WP integration, and I’ve lost some customization in the short term, but it’s MUCH easier on my end and I really wanted to have the blog fully integrated in the site.

All this being said, I’ll leave this blog up for archives sake, but all updates and new posts can be found over at www.tornadotimmy.com

Mobile Post Test

Testing the new site format from my mobile device to see how it lines up…

SNOW!

Okay, so the all-caps title may be a bit uncalled for considering it’s not really that surprising, but we finally got a clear view of Pikes Peak this morning….there’s a good amount of snow up there. ‘Tis the season, or close enough I suppose…

New Record Rainfall In Colorado Springs

There’s no doubt we’ve had pretty dry times recently here in CO, and the southern areas are suffering the worst. Yesterday gave us a pretty significant break from the dry pattern.

Colorado Springs set a new record for daily rainfall total with 4.50″ measured officially at the airport! We ended the event with 3.20″ here at the house within a 10 hour period. It was certainly a welcome soaking!

The official numbers:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=pub&storyid=73066&source=0

Blind Guy Driving

Here’s a classic piece of marketing…It’s a blind installation company!

Picking A Target

This time of year the phrase “picking a target” takes on a whole new meaning around our house. No, I’m not abandoning the weather realm. In fact, I was out trying to shoot lightning last night in the yard. With fall approaching our thoughts start to turn to hunting however.

Sage decided he wanted to get some target practice in tonight, but our forecast discussion had little to do with the WX as much as dove, antelope, deer and pheasant seasons

Just Another WX “Adventure”

Ask just about any storm chaser for a story, and you’re likely to hear the gamut. They’ll range from exciting, hair-raising, amazing, and just plain odd. I’ll chalk this evening’s outing as an odd and humorous adventure

I had all but written off the opportunity to shoot some lightning this evening as our round of monsoon-fueled storms had already moved through for the day, but a quick look at the radar around 10p had me standing in the back yard scouting for flashes. A few off to the west sparked (pun intended) just enough interest for me to venture up to campus for an attempt to capture a bolt or two.

I parked myself in a lot on the north end of campus near where I had a great shoot in the fall of ’08, my best shots to date actually. A quick set up of the camera on my driver’s side window and I was snapping shots. As usual, I turned the key to what I thought was the “accessory” position on the Xterra so I could listen to the radio as I snapped away. I managed a meager shot or two before I was ready to give up for the night, put the camera gear away, and prepared to leave. When I looked down at the console just before turning the key to start the vehicle, I noticed I had actually left the key in the “ON” position for the 30-minute period I’d been there. Much to my dismay…click, click, click was the only thing the drained battery could muster. The battery on the Xterra was all but dead, and there was no hope of getting it started!

My first thought was to call the campus police, I know most of the officers, to come give me a “jump”. I HATE to inconvenience anyone for my moments of stupidity, so my second thought was how close I was to my office at the Rec. We have a few bikes and helmets around there, and I had the ability to access them with ease. I chose the latter as my method of getting home….why not add a little more a little more adventure to a rather dull weather outing?

A quick conversation with the overnight custodial staff as to why I was milling around the Rec to borrow a bike, a little more than an hour after leaving the house, and here I am sharing my stupidity in a blog post with the hopes of giving you a chuckle. After all this madness, all I got was this lousy picture, LOL!!

A BIG shout out to the WX Meister, Chief Meteorologist Matt Meister, who offered to come give me a jump or pick up a new battery for me on the way home from his shift at KRDO tonight! Even though I didn’t take you up on it, I know you would have done it in a heart beat…thanks buddy!!

Wheat Harvest 2011 – Photos

I rarely carry my DSLR camera unless I’m on a “mission” to capture something specific, and our point-and-shoot doesn’t take good enough quality for my liking. It may be time to upgrade it as the images I like to capture are spur of the moment, need a camera in your pocket types.  This is where the continued improvement in phone cameras really shines these days…always with us.

As I post this from my phone, it’s a bit of a chore so I’ll just share the pictures and spare you from the witty captions this time

Images from our 2011 wheat harvest…

7/2/11 Mobile Pics

I always manage to snap some shots with my phone that don’t get published on here, so I thought I’d post them this time. Just remember the quality is that of a camera phone

7/2/11 Quick Report

We are out at the in-law’s farm this weekend, not just for Sage’s 5th birthday party, but because we will start harvesting wheat as soon as Monday. This is always a bitter-sweet time of the year for a storm chase opportunity. On one hand, I love chasing out here because of the terrain and the road network I know like the back of my hand. On the other, I want nothing to do with severe weather in the vicinity of anyone’s crops, let alone the ones we’ll spend a couple of weeks trying to harvest! In the end though, we can’t stop Mother Nature from inflicting her damage, so I might as well chase it when I have the opportunity

I won’t bore you with the details of the set-up, but a Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued for a good portion of eastern CO around 3p today…El Paso County back home, and the farm itself were included. I patiently waited for the storms to get going before making the usual north vs. south decision. I chose south, and soon was on my way to Kit Carson to check out my first cell of the day. It was pretty lack luster, but went up quickly. It dropped a little rain, and probably some small hail before it dissipated. I wound up chasing hail near Cheyenne Wells and Arapahoe where golf ball size hail was reported. The best I could find was near 3/4″.

I began my venture back to the farm as a line of storms was bowing out to the west. My intention was to beat them to the farm, but they dissipated a bit before they got there. This left me with some great photo opportunities, and I wanted the ripened wheat as my foreground with the setting sun providing the perfect light. Below is the outcome…

A nice little shelf around Seibert, CO…taken from south of Stratton

Always happy to see the storms moving away with no damage to the wheat!

My big head was being shadowed by the sun to my back, so I elected to blend with a power pole

I can’t begin to capture it, but there’s very few settings that compare to the color of ripe wheat at sunset/sunrise!

The obligatory sunset/windmill shot on the plains

Really should’ve chased some lightning shots after dark, but wanted a shot with wheat in the foreground

Just missed this being a great shot!

A fun little outing, and I’m happy to report none of our wheat fields took any hail that we’re aware of this evening. Hopefully we get a run of dry days and the opportunity to kick off wheat harvest in the next few days!