Storm Chase 2017: Our very first as a team

There are certain trips that you dream of when you are kid. Before they even occur, they are replayed many times over in your imagination. For many, it’s the magic of Disney World. For some, the warm glow of California or the mysteries of visiting Europe. For weather enthusiasts, hobbyists and meteorologists, it’s the first legitimate storm chasing trip. The moment has finally arrived for our team: this weekend will be our first organized trip together, and we couldn’t be any more excited to get it started.

It’s worth mentioning that this isn’t the first trip for all of us. Doug traveled to the Plains with his Rutgers storm chasing group a few years ago, lucky enough to witness several supercells and tornadoes. For John, it’s his very first stab at the supercells of the Plains. You read that right, we’re rolling into the High Plains with a combined 1-year of storm chasing experience. You have to start somewhere.

When considering how to approach this weekend, we’ve taken several things seriously. One of the most poignant obviously is safety. We are following all necessary safety “protocol” and are taking every precaution necessary to make sure we are safe — and that others around us are, too. For example, with safety in mind, it is important to have an escape route for all types of emergencies. Tire patches, jumper cables, and other repair tools for the vehicle. First aid kids, special communication devices, etc for ourselves. That’s just the tip of the proverbial safety iceberg.

We’re also tracking down every meteorological aspect of the weekend ahead to make sure that we position ourselves properly (storm chasing is a long process that begins far earlier than the day of the event). We’re equipped with proper internet connectivity, radar imagery, scanners, and more.

Finally, and perhaps more importantly, we have considered how to approach this weekend from a communication standpoint. We couldn’t be more excited to announce that we will be blogging the entire weekend, beginning Saturday and continuing through Monday. While this is relatively “short” in the storm chasing world, we’re really excited for the opportunity to share our experiences with you as they unfold.

We will be updating our blog with the “Chase” tag each day, live-updating as we go with the latest thoughts and details on where we are and why. In addition, we encourage you to follow our personal Twitter accounts (@jhomenuk and @snowmonian) for updated personal information and thoughts. You won’t see those from our @nymetrowx handle as our focus there will remain on  local forecasting.

With all of that said, our first blog post from our 2017 Chasecation is coming up later today. We’ll be chatting about where we are heading this weekend, and why — as well as discussing our thoughts, concerns and uncertainties with the forecast as we move forward. Hope you are all as excited for this as we are!