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John Homenuk

Day 1: Back home in Minneapolis

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I love Minneapolis. I’m so excited to be heading here for our first few days. After spending a year here in 2017, Minneapolis will always feel like home to me. It’s odd, really, knowing that you will end up back somewhere. It’s a weird feeling to be certain of something in your mind – but I am certain that I will end up back in Minneapolis sometime soon. The city is far too welcoming, exciting, and energetic for me to leave it behind. Nevertheless, enough about me – there are other exciting things to discuss!

The long awaited, discussed and debated 2018 Storm Chasing trip is finally here. On Friday morning, we will boarding a 7:00am flight out of JFK en route to Minneapolis. The weather is going to cooperate. Temperatures there are likely to be in the 90’s, which all but certainly will set the tone for the trip ahead. After careful analysis of the weather pattern, we’ve decided not to chase storms for the first two days.

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John Homenuk

Gravel & Grace

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It looked like a bomb had gone off.

The clouds bubbled over the top of themselves like boiling water in a way-too-small pot, signifying the intensity of what was really happening within them. Below the boiling clouds, the structure ebbed and flowed like a river, and even below that, it spun and rotated like a spinning top which was curling toward the ground like a tentacle.

It was a supercell, the most powerful type of thunderstorm on Earth, and it was alive.

The storm itself was massive, sprawling across the entire horizon, its updraft shooting some 60,000 feet straight above my head. Somewhere underneath the base of it, ravaging winds were producing widespread damage; very large hail stones were falling and pounding the ground, powerful wind gusts were ripping siding off homes, and somewhere within the mass of clouds a tornado was tearing up the dirt.

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John Homenuk

Storm Chase 2017: Second day model analysis and much more

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When I was in the 10th grade, I bought my first cell phone. I mean I actually bought it, with my own money from my own work. It was a hell of an accomplishment for my teenaged self, and I was proud of it. I was more proud that it was a first edition iPhone, and I couldn’t believe the power of what I had in my pocket. It took some getting used to, but soon enough I could access the internet and send text messages with my thumb!

More than 10 years later, I’m preparing to use my 7th edition iPhone as a tool to enhance a localized internet connection in my car. What a time to be alive. The mobile hotspot has been the discussion point of the day, and we’re making sure that we have it properly set up to have access to the internet at all times during our chase. This is a critical part of our operations and so we’re being fairly hard-nosed with it. We want it to be exactly right.

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John Homenuk

Storm Chase 2017: First day of planning, prep, and targeting

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They say the excitement builds early for these things. I suppose that excitement was found this afternoon in Home Depot, when I finally located the power inverter I was looking for. Safety and precautions are a long, drawn out process and we aren’t taking any shortcuts with this one, but in all seriousness we are having fun preparing for the weekend ahead. With safety in mind, we are making sure that all of our proverbial ducks are in a row. Who would’ve thought the thrill of the chase would begin in a warehouse?

These things can seem a bit monotonous at first, but in reality it is all part of the fun. We’re taking our time to “dot every I” and “cross every T” along the way. Cell phone service checks, mobile internet hotspot reassurance, spare tire backups, personalized essentials. It’s all part of the plan that begins earlier than the first day of actual chasing. With the checklist dwindling down a bit, we are starting to get anxious to get out there.

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