Thursday 8 April 2010 Today was cooler but nice. No possibility of a storm chase opportunity until at least Monday, and that is a thin chance. It seems we got hit hard by yesterdays hail. It knocked a lot of blooms off of trees and plants, but the hail was not big enough to ding metal, thank God, because we had Betsy parked outside. We've decided to name our storm chasing truck Betsy, which is actually short for big expensive truck.
In other weather news.... ...ah the deep cycles of early spring....
Friday 9 April to Monday 12 April 2010 A powerhouse high pressure system has come to dominate the eastern half of the United States bringing warm temperatures and clear weather. The models seem to be all over the place with possibly something later tonight and possibly something later on this week. I hope it doesn't turn into a situation like last year when the Weather Channel started bragging about following around Vortex II and the whole severe season shut down in the beginning of May. Livestreaming Events Turn on the player below to see what is playing on the Svoboda KC livestream channel. It could be re-run's, or it might be live, you never know.... Watch live video from Svoboda KC on Justin.tv You can click on the on button over on the Livestream window and see if Svoboda KC is streaming something live or, click on the "On Demand" tab on the bottom and see past livestreams. We try to stream the YJ's Jazz Jam every Sunday night from 8 to 10 PM. Contact us at http://www.facebook.com/Svoboda.KC...Maybe we can stream an event. We are also looking for sponsorships for our streams. You can also check out the SvobodaKC.com Livestream page here or go to www.livestream.com/svoboda. ChrometunaAlso, I have cross pollination of blogs going on with Chrometuna, and his regular talk show, which runs starts at 3 a.m. daily, so if you are up that late, go to www.justin.tv/chrometuna and chat with him... Watch live video from Chrometuna's Super Natural Boloney on Justin.tvUpcoming EventsFinally... I have my handy dandy google calender with all the upcoming events in the area and beyond...
BLOG DOG
PLEASE LOOK AT AND COMMENT ON MY BLOG...
If you are interested in expressing your opinion about art, or this blog, or if you have ideas, calender updates or even blog entries, send me a message at http://www.facebook.com/Svoboda.KC TMI, BRD
Good Friday Surprise As prepared as we think we are, nature proves otherwise. We found out the hard way as we had a derecho in our bedroom, living room etc. We left our windows open in the house, only to find ourselves rudely awakened Friday morning about 09:45 by the wind storm blowing us out of bed. We ran around shutting windows and checking the internets to see what was happening. As we did so we witnessed our next door neighbors shingles being blown off his house...
Easter Sunday Storm Chase This was the first time we got to try out our new chase vehicle. Everything looked good for a moderate chase day, so we headed out about 16:00. We originally thought that we would pick a southern target as the spc called for severe storms to develop south and east between 8 and 9 pm on a limited basis. However, storm developed to the west of Kansas City early, so we chased them. They started taking on good severe characteristics as they were over Liberty Missouri. I noticed that the cell I was chasing was trying to spin, but just didn't have enough energy to make it. We took I-35 north to Kearney and headed east from there. When we got to Excelsior Springs we got into some pea sized hail. We took shelter under a gas station awning, but it ended pretty quick. We headed into Excelsior Springs Missouri, and noticed the cell was really trying to organize a good wall cloud with some mild rotation. We dialed 911 to report it twice. The first time, the dispatcher tried to send me over to Ray county. We headed east into Richmond, but by that time the storms seemed to be weakening and were out of our range. So we headed home and took some nice pictures of the development to the south and east of us in the late afternoon sun. There were some tornado warnings on the central eastern side of Missouri with a couple of reported tornadoes.
Monday 5 April 2010 Everytime people predict armageddon, it seems it doesn't happen. At least, for Monday, there were a lot of chasers out, but I think a lot of them were disappointed at the end of the day.
Tuesday 6 April 2010 The prognosis for Tuesday seems a little stronger than Monday. Also, it seems to be centered over Kansas City. We'll see... 10% risk of tornadoes being within 25 miles of a point within the brown circled area.
The new spc outlooks have been fluctuating. It reduced down to a 5 % chance of tornadoes then went back up to a 10% chance, but in a slightly smaller area. I'm thinking a line of storms will come through our area in the evening as the cold front finally comes through with some straight line winds and hail.
Tuesday 6 April 2010 STORMCHASE! Today I was given the opportunity to chase for the TV station. I started out west on I-70 to Basehor, Kansas. There I intercepted the leading edge of the line of storms and witnessed the gust front of winds somewhere in the 50 mph range. Then, I chased the storm towards the east and north where it outpaced me by the time I got to Liberty, Missouri. There was some development to the southwest towards Platte and Clay county Missouri, so I headed south on I-35 then North on I-29 and 169 in Missouri. The cell I was on was rapidly strengthening and had an impressive bust front to it. Somewhere north of 169 and NW 68th, I encountered the hail core and had to stop on the side of the highway as visibility was zero due to the intense rain and hail. I got back on 152 heading east towards Liberty, and the ground was coated with hail about pea to nickel sized. I then headed north on I-35 to Kearney, Missouri, then east on 92 towards Excelsior Springs, Missouri. I went towards Lawson, where there was a power pole snapped in half. I got caught up in another intense rain storm, and stopped at Caseys for pizza and to ask if there was any other damage in town. I then headed back to the station for a nice end to the evening. I streamed video the whole time and the system worked rather well.
Wednesday 7 April 2010 What an incredible week of weather. I wasn't able to catch up with the severe event on Wednesday, as I was working. I'll have to defer to another account here... http://www.tornadovideos.net/forum?func=view&catid=10&id=37189#37189
Livestreaming Events Turn on the player below to see what is playing on the Svoboda KC livestream channel. It could be re-run's, or it might be live, you never know.... Watch live video from Svoboda KC on Justin.tv You can click on the on button over on the Livestream window and see if Svoboda KC is streaming something live or, click on the "On Demand" tab on the bottom and see past livestreams. We try to stream the YJ's Jazz Jam every Sunday night from 8 to 10 PM. Contact us at http://www.facebook.com/Svoboda.KC...Maybe we can stream an event. We are also looking for sponsorships for our streams. You can also check out the SvobodaKC.com Livestream page here or go to www.livestream.com/svoboda. ChrometunaAlso, I have cross pollination of blogs going on with Chrometuna, and his regular talk show, which runs starts at 3 a.m. daily, so if you are up that late, go to www.justin.tv/chrometuna and chat with him... Watch live video from Chrometuna's Super Natural Boloney on Justin.tvUpcoming EventsFinally... I have my handy dandy google calender with all the upcoming events in the area and beyond...
BLOG DOG
PLEASE LOOK AT AND COMMENT ON MY BLOG...
If you are interested in expressing your opinion about art, or this blog, or if you have ideas, calender updates or even blog entries, send me a message at http://www.facebook.com/Svoboda.KC TMI, BRD
Getting Caught Up I've spent the weekend working on a big project, so I haven't had much time to dedicate to this blog. So I will do a lame attempt at talking about local arty/stormy/railfanny things plus whatever pops into my mind.
The Third American Civil War!?? Last week, the health care bill past. As a result, many in the teabagger movement have shown themselves to be douchebaggers. With the talk of revolution and violence, many have started to talk openly about civil war. With so much loose talk about violence and revolution stemming from the election of our current president and the passage of the health care bill, plus with the actual events of last week, one begins to wonder. *article from Washington Post.... *Marine will kill American civilians if he has to.... *Township turns to militia....
Stormchasing prognostication... This past week and weekend, we've seen more cool weather with little chance of severe weather in our area. There were tornadoes in Alabama last week and North Carolina yesterday. As far as our area, there is a chance of something on Good Friday, 2 April. Right now the weather is sunny and warm. The plants are growing and we, of course, are behind on our gardening. We have started grilling in the back. I love spring.
Tuesday 30 March 2010 The severe weather for Good Friday may be a southern event -- meaning Texas. We'll see if anything happens around here. If it does it will be very limited, maybe late Thursday night and early Friday Morning. The main action will be in Texas Friday and Saturday. However, early indications are that mid-April might get interesting in central Kansas. Late Monday and early Tuesday may be interesting as well from Texas right up to Kansas City.
Livestreaming Events Turn on the player below to see what is playing on the Svoboda KC livestream channel. It could be re-run's, or it might be live, you never know.... Watch live video from Svoboda KC on Justin.tv You can click on the on button over on the Livestream window and see if Svoboda KC is streaming something live or, click on the "On Demand" tab on the bottom and see past livestreams. We try to stream the YJ's Jazz Jam every Sunday night from 8 to 10 PM. Contact us at http://www.facebook.com/Svoboda.KC...Maybe we can stream an event. We are also looking for sponsorships for our streams. You can also check out the SvobodaKC.com Livestream page here or go to www.livestream.com/svoboda. ChrometunaAlso, I have cross pollination of blogs going on with Chrometuna, and his regular talk show, which runs starts at 3 a.m. daily, so if you are up that late, go to www.justin.tv/chrometuna and chat with him... Watch live video from Chrometuna's Super Natural Boloney on Justin.tvUpcoming EventsFinally... I have my handy dandy google calender with all the upcoming events in the area and beyond...
BLOG DOG
PLEASE LOOK AT AND COMMENT ON MY BLOG...
If you are interested in expressing your opinion about art, or this blog, or if you have ideas, calender updates or even blog entries, send me a message at http://www.facebook.com/Svoboda.KC TMI, BRD
My wife, Suyen, was sworn in to United States citizenship Thursday morning in a very touching, moving ceremony....
Stormchasing
Thursday 18 March 2010 Today was a gorgeous spring day. The beauty of this day was tempered with the thoughts that the weather people are prediting a big winter storm this weekend. The weather service is only predicting a very slight chance for anything severe way south, as in Texas and Oklahoma for Friday, and a slight chance for something severe in the deep south on Saturday. Here is a take on the potential winter weather from Tornado Videos dot net.... Here is a take from Fox 4 KC... and here it is from NBC 41.... It looks like the worst of the storm may happen in and around Kansas City. We'll see...
I'm thinking if this is a serious enough storm, my first chase of the year may be a winter storm. Stay tuned, I might try and stream in my off time.
Friday 19 March 2010 Today was a marvelous spring day. This evening is another story. After a gust front moved through about 17:50, the temperature rapidly dropped from the mid 60's at that time, to freezing just about an hour and a half later. Saturday 20 March and Sunday 21 March The snow came in Friday night and lasted until Sunday morning. I think a lot of people were in their spring time mode of thinking on Saturday as there were a lot of accidents due to people driving too fast for the conditions. Not a major snow by any stretch of the imagination. I've looked at some of the forecasts, and their doesn't seem to be anything on the horizon as far as intersting weather goes for at least the next 4 days:(
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 22 - 24 March 2010 Monday and Tuesday were gorgeous days. Wednesday, not so much. Here it is rainy and is expected to get cool by night. Contrast that with Monday sunny and temps in the 60's and Tuesday where the temps actually reached 70. However, today, there is an interesting snowstorm at west and a slight -- very slight chance of severe weather down south in Texas.
So, what's the score for Wednesday according to the National Weather Service? BEING ARTY Today Suyen and I drove to Warrensburg. We visited Julie Kendall at Cafe Blackadder. She seemed to be in very good spirits and says that business has been good. She invited us to a one year anniversary get together to say thanks to all the people who have helped out with her business. Suyen and I went to the Lyric Opera Saturday night during the height of the snow storm. The Dodge saw us through fine. My mother got us tickets to the performance of Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi. It was fine. I cannot say I've ever been to an opera before, and it was interesting to dress up for a show. An announcement was made before the performance that next years season will be the last one in the old Lyric building, as the operation will move into the new Kauffman performing arts center.
Sunday night, we took one of our friends to church to see the jazz jam at YJ's. Great show as always and a packed house....
Speaking Out Through Spoken Word
An interesting event is taking place at the end of April. It is called
SPEAKING OUT-empowerment through spoken word and will be held at the YWCA on 1016 North 6th street in Kansas City, Kansas. Violence is an always ongoing chronic problem in our country and it is good to see an effort to bring awareness through performance and spoken word. Mark your calenders. It will be Tuesday 27 April at 7:30 PM and is free. For more information contact
-- and in addition to that link, check out this one....http://www.nettelhorst.org/ Livestreaming Events Turn on the player below to see what is playing on the Svoboda KC livestream channel. It could be re-run's, or it might be live, you never know.... Watch live video from Svoboda KC on Justin.tv You can click on the on button over on the Livestream window and see if Svoboda KC is streaming something live or, click on the "On Demand" tab on the bottom and see past livestreams. We try to stream the YJ's Jazz Jam every Sunday night from 8 to 10 PM. Contact us at http://www.facebook.com/Svoboda.KC...Maybe we can stream an event. We are also looking for sponsorships for our streams. You can also check out the SvobodaKC.com Livestream page here or go to www.livestream.com/svoboda. ChrometunaAlso, I have cross pollination of blogs going on with Chrometuna, and his regular talk show, which runs starts at 3 a.m. daily, so if you are up that late, go to www.justin.tv/chrometuna and chat with him... Watch live video from Chrometuna's Super Natural Boloney on Justin.tvUpcoming EventsFinally... I have my handy dandy google calender with all the upcoming events in the area and beyond...
BLOG DOG
PLEASE LOOK AT AND COMMENT ON MY BLOG...
If you are interested in expressing your opinion about art, or this blog, or if you have ideas, calender updates or even blog entries, send me a message at http://www.facebook.com/Svoboda.KC TMI, BRD
