David Drummond is very fine, here's the thread

[Simone Lussardi]

I read somewhere that you got hit by a multivortex tornado :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: and got your vehicle destroyed.

I really hope everything is fine, and you can answer me personally.
Sincerely,

PS: I'm sorry I cannot really find were I read that, but I'm sure it was his name and another person who also write in this forum. If I made a mistake I apologize in advance :)

[Simon Andersen]

Melissa Robinson mentions it on her webiste http://www.2centsoapbox.net/ that they were hit but that they are all fine. The video is apparently on TWC.

[Simone Lussardi]

Originally posted by Simon Andersen
Melissa Robinson mentions it on her webiste http://www.2centsoapbox.net/ that they were hit but that they are all fine. The video is apparently on TWC.

Tks :wink:

[Stuart Robinson]

Was David the same chaser who got hit by lightning a few weeks back??

Glad to hear that both you and Mrobinson are safe

[Simon Andersen]

Originally posted by Stuart Robinson
Was David the same chaser who got hit by lightning a few weeks back??

Glad to hear that both you and Mrobinson are safe

Same one Stuart.

[mikedeason]

Certainly sounds like this is going to be Dave's year to remember! :-)

We saw you guys pass by last night after we broke off the action. Hope you're ok.

Regards,

Mike

[Angie Norris]

Just saw the vid on TWC (after getting back from the incredible night in NE) :shock:
David, glad you guys made it through ok!! No more adventures this season, please... :wink:

Angie

[Larry J. Kosch]

David (and Mel),

Glad to hear that both of you are OK after that too-close encounter with the tornado in Clay County. :D Was the wind speed on that wind gauge the actual wind speed or was that how fast you were going?? :lol: :lol:

Hey, this is for all of those you are spooked by David's bad luck so far this chase season. David (and Mel) can chase with me anytime. If anything turns a chase sour, it's a busted day. I would much rather have lightning hitting the ground on both sides of the road and be watching a funnel dropping down on the road in front with these two chasers than anybody else.

Perhaps David can have a couple of battle emblems on his van, like they did in WW II with bomber planes. He can put a lightning bolt and a tornado sticker by his door, wear a flying cap & goggles, stick his head out of the window and give us a thumbs-up!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: 8) LJK.

[David Drummond]

All I can say after yesterday is WOW! I will be posting multiple video clips here shortly as I am working on encoding them right now. As some of you have heard, we had a multi vortex tornado develop right on top of us. We had just seen a rain wrapped tornado west of there near the community of Ayr just south of Hastings, NE. We were heading east staying ahead of the storm when it changed it's trajectory and one of the largest RFD sweeps I have ever seen came out and around us to the east. This took down some large trees over the road which REALLY slowed our progress, well at this point our escape to the east. We finally snaked our way through the downed trees and bailed east as quick as we could trying to get east of that RFD and out of the bear's cage. We spotted a fire truck and pulled up to tell them about the trees on the road when the tornado developed right on top of us. When you see the video that is where it begins. Multiple vortices were forming and spinning all around us! Before we started moving we registered a speed max on the wxstation at 107.8 mph effectively putting that in the F1 range at least during that time.

I just floored it trying to go the only way we could....east. I had the accelerator completely floored and was only moving at about 10 mph for a little while. The van was trying to lift up in the back as this is the lightest end of the van and was pushing the back sideways. I looked in the rear view and saw the fire truck trying to turn around and I could swear I saw it start to turn over as the dust between us blocked out any further view. I have yet to confirm if that happened but we called nowcaster Tom Tackett who was able to call the NWS who in turn contacted the Clay County sheriff's dept who THEN called us trying to find where he was so they could check on him.

As we ran for our lives east at this point, we came through the community of Fairfield on HWY 74 where you hear the siren's going off in the video. We were trying to get far enough east of everything to stop and assess the damage and we finally did near the community of Strang. Some locals saw us having difficulty and stopped to help put plastic on the windows. This proved to be a futile attempt in the wind and they took us in to their community into a steel barn where we could get the plastic on. They then took us over to a little resteraunt they had there and was going to let us use their internet connection and offered us food and drink. I walked out to the van to get a cable to see a rapidly rotating wall cloud almost overhead and we told them all to head for shelters while we bailed out south as they were scrambling.

We eventually ended up very near Hallam, NE where we heard the call go out for any and all help that could come. Being past trained as a First Responder and carrying a full trauma kit we made a quick run over there where what we saw was nothing more than completely amazing.

The state police let us in and sent us up the road to Hallam where as we followed a state police car in weaving through all manner of debris ranging from LARGE hay bails to power lines to structure materials.

Arriving at the intersection just east of the town where the first responding help to the area was setting up. A member of the Southwest Fire Dept came over and asked if we were Storm Chasers and replied yes and they said they had heard of another tornado strike just to the south at the community of Cortland and requested that we head south down there and see what, if anything, had happened.

Heading south we passed tremendous damage along the road as well as all manner of materials in the road. We finally came upon a spot that water was rapidly running across and there was tremendous debris. Right across from there was a couple of houses completely destroyed and we needed to get across that. A fire truck had come up behind us and they decided to go through it. After they did we snaked though. I managed to severely damage a CV axle on some debris getting through that. We found one family that had actually left Hallam and came to that location to take shelter and had been in the basement. The crew from fire truck that went in with us asked us if we could transport them back to the triage station that had been set up at the Stuart Station Power Plant just north of Hallam. At this point it was time to turn the cameras off and start helping. We threw everything that was in the seats in the back and loaded up the whole family, mom and dad and 3 kids and we headed back through the mess to the triage center. The mom was wanting a cigarette really bad so my ride along gave her the whole pack she had and we also gave them some drinks out of our cooler. They were pretty scared that there were more tornadoes in the area, so while we were transporting them I called Tom and got an update to find out that everything had moved east of the area much to their relief of course.

When we arrived there the crews there took on the family where the mom hugged us and kissed us before we parted, and then the medical crews got concerned about us after finding out about our tornado encounter. They had us check in to triage for records and then we headed back to Hallam. At this point our help was no longer needed so I was back to shooting video again. I will also post some videos of this stuff. I won't be posting video of the family we transported. I felt that not only would running the cameras at that point been seriously disrespectful but helping them FAR took the priority at the time. She did invite us to come back out today and she would give us a tour of her house so I gave her contact info as I am sure no one is getting in there at this point.

Right now due to damage to the van I am basically stuck on Nebraska. Monday will be trying to get windows replaced, half of the soil and vegetation of Nebraska cleaned out of the van and get the CV axle repaired.

Stay tuned......

[Tony Laubach]

David,

Glad to hear you're okay.. its been a very memorable season for you.. glad to hear you made it through okay.. quite amazing that only the van took injuries. Stay safe out there, dude!

[Graham Butler]

David and Mel,

First of all I am very happy that you two are alright and that you got great video in the process of having th crap scared out of you. David I hope the van is able to be fixed without tons of money (and time)!! You are more than welcome to chase with me in my vehicle until yours is back up and running. Your last two incidents makes me wonder whats next? Volleyball sized hail??

I think that this is an great example of why storm chasers should have at least a basic knowledge of first aid and even better first responder training. You never know when your help may be needed in these small rural towns with little or no Fire/EMS dept. I think what you two did by responding to the call for help was very admirable especially after your own ordeal. Even though the family did not require any immediate medical attention you two were able to calm them down and give them a sense of comfort.

You two take care and good luck with the van repairs. If you need anything you know my phone number.

Graham Butler, wx5svr
graham.butler@ttu.edu

[j_r_hehnly]

Glad to hear you are OK, too.
Seems a person would have had a pretty good chase season just keeping a camera on David!

[Joey Ketcham]

Originally posted by j_r_hehnly
Glad to hear you are OK, too.
Seems a person would have had a pretty good chase season just keeping a camera on David!

That's why next year I'm gonna just follow David around with the camera rolling the whole time.

In all serious, glad you came out ok David. It's amazing how even after your own ordeal you stopped and helped those in need and assisted emergency workers. Not only are you respected by the chase community for what you did, but chasers like you shows the public & emergency personel's that we're not a bad group of people who just enjoys to see destruction - which is never the case.

It's very important for all that chases to know basic First Aid, I'm ashame to admit that I know nothing about first aid, but I'm going to change that and look into some First Aid classes and contact the Red Cross and find out of any first aid classes I can take.

[Caleb Lawrence]

Wow, David, that is some story of events there. Like everyone else, glad to know you're doing okay. That one part sounded familiar; a steel barn in a small community to repair stuff? Sounds like all you needed was an old drive-in and The Shining playing there...heh. Good to know you're ok, dude.

And Ketcham, exactly how I feel. I was just looking at medical kits lastnight before I went to bed due to the reports and events that happened yesterday and lastnight. Gotta get one of those and a first-aid book (or take a class), and learn it. Never know when you might have to help.

[David Drummond]

I had someonecall and talk with the Fairfield Fire Dept. That is where the fire truck in the video of us getting hit was from, and this is also the community up the road that had the sirens blaring.

They report that he DID manage to drive the fire truck out of it although it blew them around quite a bit and they were naturally pretty shook up!

[David Drummond]

OK, I have posted some video now. Both low and higher resolution. The higher is the way to go if you really want to see it as the lower is very small for slow dialup, but doesn't look great:

Chasers hit by tornado:

23 megs :: 3:15 runtime :: streaming a MUST see!
Video has since been removed


Damage video from Hallam, NE in the first hours after the tornado hit:

15 megs :: 2:06 :: streaming:
Video has since been removed



will be posting some more B roll stuff later....

...edited to remove low rez links that have been removed from the server.

[Shane Reichert]

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

That was crazy!!! I can't believe how calm the both of you were. I'm glad to hear you made it through unhurt.

[Caleb Lawrence]

Man, you are the man (and woman), for being able to stay calm during that. Surprising nothing worse happened through that ordeal...just about what you'd see out of a movie; my face was about 5 inches from the computer screen watching.

By the looks of the damage, they'll be cleaning up for a while too...I hope the families and people living there will be okay. Looks like a sobering experience for all involved.

[David Drummond]

Here is some video of the van. It's not the greatest quality and is 6 megs but if you have an ambitious connection you might check it out. I was trying to show how much of the inside of the van was coated with "stuff". For those of you that know me I am pretty anal about keeping it spotless on the inside. It is anything but that right now.

*Video has since been removed*

right click and "save as" is probably the best option to get it. :shock:

[Graham Butler]

Originally posted by David Drummond
For those of you that know me I am pretty anal about keeping it spotless on the inside. It is anything but that right now.

Yea unfortunately I do know.....nudge nudge jab jab. I wasn't able to d/l the video....not sure if its my problem or not but from what you said earlier its bad. The one nice thing about a mess that bad is that you KNOW the outcome will look MUCH better than the initial condition. It will be rewarding to clean the van.....or watch me clean the van. I still owe you big time for setting up my Tahoe and would be more than happy to help clean the van!!

Good luck making it back to Texas

Graham Butler, wx5svr
graham.butler@ttu.edu

[Bill Hamilton]

David,
I think you need to have a vehicle detail party just to get all the "stuff" out of there after looking at those videos. Glad you are ok! You definitely know how to get into don't you!

[George Tincher]

Hey, I hear you two and the van will be on Good Morning America live from Hallam tomorrow......any truth? If so, I am taping it!

-George

[Carrie Halliday]

Thank god both of you (David and Mel) are alright. This is the first I have heard of this, logging in to check what was up on the forum. I had to reread twice, didn't think you could be "hit" twice in such a short time. Talk about luck David!!
What y'all did to stop and render aid was admirable. Seems we just had a thread on this not long ago, now it happens. The respect for human life over sensationalism (media) that y'all did is so awesome. Sure shows what kind of person (s) you are, very upstanding and commendable in my book. :thumbleft:

[David Drummond]

Originally posted by Graham Butler+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Graham Butler)</div><!--QuoteBegin-David Drummond
For those of you that know me I am pretty anal about keeping it spotless on the inside. It is anything but that right now.

Yea unfortunately I do know.....nudge nudge jab jab. I wasn't able to d/l the video....not sure if its my problem or not but from what you said earlier its bad. The one nice thing about a mess that bad is that you KNOW the outcome will look MUCH better than the initial condition. It will be rewarding to clean the van.....or watch me clean the van. I still owe you big time for setting up my Tahoe and would be more than happy to help clean the van!!

Good luck making it back to Texas

Graham Butler, wx5svr
graham.butler@ttu.edu[/b]

Heh, if I was in Texas I would LET you wash it right now. That is going to be a daylong job just cleaning out the inside.

Yes George, it is true, I have been requested to come out to Hallam in the morning to do a live interview. They also wanted the van in it's current condition so I don't know if they are going to show it or what.

Now the challenge is, get out there and do that in the morning, get back and get glass replaced, get the axle fixed, and hopefully still have time to chase tomorrow here in NE/IA hopefully.

Just a note to I really wanted to thank Tom Tackett for nowcasting and Jay McCoy who threw us some info in a pinch there during our little ordeal. We are also extremely appreciative to all who have contacted us to make sure we are ok and whatever. Many of you have sent me private emails and I will get around to answering them as soon as I can. Just wanted to acknowledge that I was receiving them :wink:

[Caleb Lawrence]

Ouch...that is pretty damaged and messy. In the one reflection of the glass on the left side of the van, I noticed you had the camera on your shoulder. Is it a TV-type one, or a more advanced Sony model?

[Mason Dixon]

David, do you have carbon fiber hood and top on your van or is it just painted that way? Also, was the front passenger side window busted out along with the back window?

[Niki Darnaby]

Was that an anti-cyclonic tornado??

Where exactly was this video taken?

It's a good thing you guys weren't hurt.

[Ben Engle]

Something tells me i should just start following you around, david. Im glad to hear that you are ok, and it makes me proud to be a part of the chase community when people like you take time off from taping destruction to lend a helping hand to people you've never seen before.

In the first video when you are driving through the large blowing debris, i keep noticing orange flashes. Am I correct in assuming that is just your lightbar reflecting off the dirt?

Glad to hear that you are both ok!!

-Ben

[Anonymous]

Wow, glad to hear you two are okay! :shock: What an experience! I seen the video on TWC earlier but didn't know who it was. I do now!

[mrobinson]

Originally posted by Mason Dixon
David, do you have carbon fiber hood and top on your van or is it just painted that way? Also, was the front passenger side window busted out along with the back window? its sprayed with bedliner they put in pickups.. Yes the front passenger side window exploded about 3 inches from my face.... Thank God it exploded outwards and not inwards or it would have got me right in the face.

[David Drummond]

Originally posted by Caleb Lawrence
Ouch...that is pretty damaged and messy. In the one reflection of the glass on the left side of the van, I noticed you had the camera on your shoulder. Is it a TV-type one, or a more advanced Sony model?

Yeah it's a Sony.

[David Drummond]

Originally posted by mrobinson+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mrobinson)</div><!--QuoteBegin-Mason Dixon
David, do you have carbon fiber hood and top on your van or is it just painted that way? Also, was the front passenger side window busted out along with the back window? its sprayed with bedliner they put in pickups.. Yes the front passenger side window exploded about 3 inches from my face.... Thank God it exploded outwards and not inwards or it would have got me right in the face.[/b]

Just to add to this, we know which glass went which way because the back glass is factory privacy glass that has the tinting built in. The front window is clear glass with aftermarket tinting. All of the glass in the van is the factory privacy glass from the rear window. We could only find a couple of pieces of the clear glass from the passenger window so we can only conclude the glass went out and not in.

[David Drummond]

Originally posted by Niki Darnaby
Was that an anti-cyclonic tornado??

Where exactly was this video taken?

It's a good thing you guys weren't hurt.

I do believe it might have been anticyclonic. Keep in mind a LOT of stuff was happening in a very short period of time. I do know for sure at least a couple of the vortices that went around us were rotating anticyclonically and it appears when we finally got east enough and got on of those shots it was rotating that way. Again, this stuff was happening very quickly and I was trying to (and still trying to) wrap my mind around what happened.

[John Mason]

Just downloaded the main video on UK dial-up and glad I did. An incredible piece of footage. Looks like you could hardly see where you were going a lot of the time!

Here in Wales that would have spelt disaster as most of our roads have a sharp bend in them every 50m or so....

Glad you're both OK!

Cheers - John

[Simone Lussardi]

Well, I see you're fine :shock:

The videos..... OH GOD.... 8)

:wink:

[j_r_hehnly]

Just saw you guys on Good Morning America. The video looks much more inense on a TV screen as opposed to the computer...

Now, go get the windows fixed!

[Gaetan Cormier]

:shock:
Unbeleivable!!!! I'm just glad that are OK David and Mel! Wow! amazing footage!!!! I'm just watching it all over and over again and I can't still beleive this!!! I would be Sh*tting bricks for sure if that would of happen to me, but then again, we never know how we would react when something like this happens, must of been a freakin adrenaline rush!!!!

Keep safe!

Gaetan

[Niki Darnaby]

Since it was anticyclonic was your location south of the main Hallam tornado or were you on the left split of the storm.

I don't remember any strong anticyclonic couplets out there from radar...even the left split of the Hebron storm had a strong cyclonic couplet.

[Susan Strom]

Tried to hit it on http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/video_in...ideo_index.html (http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/video_index/video_index.html)
Content not available on the links yet, maybe later.

Quite a season for you so far, glad you're ok. Go get the traditional post-chase steak dinner, you've more than earned it! LOL

It says a lot that in the heat of the chase you also stopped to help. Right on...

[Gaetan Cormier]

Tell me David or Melissa...

When the multi-vortex tornado formed over you did you noticed a major pressure drop? Some people say that when feeling a quick pressure drop, you might feel almost like going to feint... was it the case with both of you?

Gaetan

[David Drummond]

Tell me David or Melissa...

When the multi-vortex tornado formed over you did you noticed a major pressure drop? Some people say that when feeling a quick pressure drop, you might feel almost like going to feint... was it the case with both of you?

Gaetan

I can't say as that I noticed it, but then again things were evolving EXTREMELY fast. Mel can post if she felt it or not.

[David Drummond]

Since it was anticyclonic was your location south of the main Hallam tornado or were you on the left split of the storm.

I don't remember any strong anticyclonic couplets out there from radar...even the left split of the Hebron storm had a strong cyclonic couplet.

This was a storm WEST of the storm that hit Hallam. Not the same storm.

[Shane Adams]

I guess my question is - why were you guys underneath that thing in the first place?

[David Douglas]

I guess from here on out instead of saying "Let's Roll" we can say "Just Bookit"

:D

[Mickey Ptak]

Well we had a local TV meteorologist here in OK that said…

“…They didn’t know what they were doing.”

After showing your video.

I’m not judging nor am I trying to start a flame war here, but I can’t understand why someone would show off such a video. Personally if it were me and if it were my video it would have been for my eyes only. I wouldn’t be real proud that I had got myself into that situation much less let it get to national TV.

I’m really glad you both are OK, but how did you manage to get yourselves into that situation in the first place? I’m not bashing and if it sounds like it I apologize.


Mickey Ptak

[Shane Adams]

can’t understand why someone would show off such a video.


$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[Mickey Ptak]

Mickey Ptak wrote:
can’t understand why someone would show off such a video.



$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
_________________
SA

You are probably right there.

I'll take my reputation over the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ any day.

Mickey Ptak

[Kevin Scharfenberg]

Aside from the obvious monetary/TV exposure aspect, I've gotten the impression reading this thread and the threads on WX-CHASE that at least some number of chasers actually think this was "cool". It's not. Someone could get killed in a similar situation at any time, which is not worth the national TV exposure and high-dollar video sales, at least to me!

[David Schuttler]

You tend to get in that situation when your trying to help people and not just capture cool pictures and video. The Fireman facing the other direction also did not see it coming .

my 1.5 cents worth anyway

[David Wolfson]

As someone just getting into chasing, I found it very instructive and much appreciate their sharing it. As for getting $$$, well, they deserve it for what they and their vehicle went through.

First, DD and MR are hardly amateur thrill-seekers and do know what they're doing. Second, the firemen were almost caught up themselves when the meso recycled to the east as it apparently did, so it's not like they were obviously in the wrong place.

Like Roy's tigers the combination of one's own actions and powerful forces of nature can sometimes lead to unintended consequences no matter how expert you are.

Give DD a break -- he only has seven lives left!

[Mickey Ptak]

David Wolfson Wrote:
I found it very instructive and much appreciate their sharing it

That’s great that you found it to be instructive and perhaps that is the case for most. However, it’s these kinds of video’s that portray a negative message about storm chasing and storm chasers to the general public and most importantly the thrill seekers/adrenalin junkies. There are a lot of dumb people out there and it would surprise me if one of them would put themselves in this same situation. Hell look at the freaking Tornado Truck or what ever the hell it’s called. I mean why the hell would you want to even do that when there are other means of studying tornados.

It’s the people that do not find it “instructive” that you have to worry about.

David Wolfson Wrote:
Give DD a break -- he only has seven lives left!

LOL, let us hope he still has all nine.

Mickey Ptak

[David Wolfson]

It’s the people that do not find it “instructive” that you have to worry about.

I wouldn't worry about them much. They won't be in the gene pool very long! :roll:

[David Drummond]

We put the video out because it was an incredible event that should be seen. I know very well what I am doing while chasing and really could care less about what some TV meteorologist had to say who was not there and probably never chased themselves.

The long and short if it -- it illustrates to all chasers that all it takes is for one thing in your chasing to go terribly wrong and anyone could have found themselves in such a situation. I was in the perfect viewing position and had an excellent paved road ahead of the storm to the east. One of the largest RFD wrap arounds I have ever seen came out around to the south and back around to the east very rapidly and effectively put us in the bears cage, which was SEVERAL miles wide at this point. I was already moving at that time east to get back ahead of it when that RFD downed large trees across the road which I was able to carefully navigate around but lost precious seconds that eventually resulted in the tornado developing on top of us it seems. Sure I could have blown past that firefighter and I possibly would never have been caught in it. I made a decision to stop and tell him about the trees down and to tell him to go east with me and get the hell out of there. The extra seconds needed to do that were obviously not there. Was it a bad decision to stop and tell him? I don't know but I would stop and warn them again if I had to repeat it. I also stopped to tell a group of kids in a van that were out looking at the storm and were obviously not chasers. In fact they had stopped to talk a couple of times and I had told them this storm was serious and they needed to really be careful. I stopped a little down the road after I got out of the tornado when I saw them again and told them this storm was not playing around. Judging by the look on their face after seeing the damage to the van I think it sunk in. I did not see them again that day.

It's easy to see the video and make judgements about coulda, shoulda woulda, but until you find yourself in that situation and have to make split second decisions than no one can really second guess what could or should have been done differently.

Was it cool? Well I suppose there was some "cool" factor to it, I mean after all, I have video from INSIDE a developing tornado. It's not like I was out there TRYING to get it, but I am happy I had the dash camera rolling to capture this incredible event from the inside.

I hope what other chasers take from this is "hey a good plan can go wrong, and that could happen to me" and have that in their mind when they are in a near storm environment.

What I hope any inspiring chasers take from that is "maybe I need to make SURE I know what I am getting myself into before heading out under a storm".

What I hope the public in general understands is that what we as chasers are doing out there is not child's play and even the best laid plans can go bad in a split second and it's not an activity you should be loading up the kids in the minivan and going out doing. You can EASILY and QUICKLY be killed! I was damn lucky. VERY LUCKY!

And yes Shane, of course they paid a few $$$ for the video. I shoot video for a living and naturally I am going continue to conduct my business. I will tell you it did not even cover my chasing budget for the year, just so you know no one got rich off this.

Bottom line you guys, when your out chasing, keep that video in the back of your mind when you see things rapidly evolving and try not to get yourself caught in what I did. While looking back at it is exhilirating I can tell you that was NOT the case at the time and survival was foremost on our minds until we knew we were safe.

[Jason Bowen]

Thank you for the lesson, David. This video and your expirence will be in the back of alot of our minds when we are out and about. Instead of only 2nd guessing everting, I will probaly throw in some 3rd and 4th guesses more regularly.

[Jared Mysko]

I guess I should put in my 2 cents here. First of all, David you are nuts but we all love you for it. I was very concerned when I first caught the news and my first thoughts were of chaser casualties. With that first post in this thread I thought you were in the hospital and on life support! Luckily it was not nearly as bad as my imagination can conjure up. By the way, exactly what happened to the van? I think it is great that you can sell the video to the media and recover your costs but I doubt that it will pay for an extremely expensive hobby.

Cheers David Drummond (chaser of the year IMO),

Jared Mysko

[Jared Mysko]

Now that I read that last post David, (and watched the video a few more times) you may have save some firefighter's lives right there. You are correct, you did not have to stop but you did knowing full well that those firefighters were putting themselves in the path of destruction. If you didn't stop, they may have gone further and who knows what might have happened?

[Shane Adams]

And yes Shane, of course they paid a few $$$ for the video. I shoot video for a living and naturally I am going continue to conduct my business. Melissa's handheld video added to the drama of the storm and really gave more insight than the dash cam could have. I will tell you it did not even cover my chasing budget for the year, just so you know no one got rich off this.


Dave, you don't have to explain to me why you did what you did, because I know. I was just answering the question of someone else. I'm not concerned with how much money you made from the video.

My only question (well before this semi-debate thread got going) was 'why were you guys there in the first place?' and that question has been answerd to my satisfaction.

[Kevin Scharfenberg]

Well Shane, my question is, for an eastward moving supercell, if you see an RFD dust plume go up to your west, wrap around to your south and then to your east, why would you drive eastbound toward the inflow/RFD interface under the strongest part of the updraft? That's the LAST direction I would have driven under those circumstances, because it seems to me that would be the most likely location for a tornado to be developing.

[Shane Adams]

Well Shane, my question is, for an eastward moving supercell, if you see an RFD dust plume go up to your west, wrap around to your south and then to your east, why would you drive eastbound toward the inflow/RFD interface under the strongest part of the updraft? That's the LAST direction I would have driven under those circumstances, because it seems to me that would be the most likely location for a tornado to be developing.

I dunno, wasn't there. Maybe they had no other option. But in the same situation, I'd probably go south......greater risk of RFD encounter but affords a much clearer view once you're out of the mess; a northward jog might save you from the tornado but could also kill you with large hail.

This would be an interesting thread on its own....

[Jared Mysko]

Ok, I think we should maybe debate this one. I for one would head to the clearing and that is what it appears that David was doing. He just got caught and was way too close. Going the other way, he would have gotten pelted with hail almost certainly. He was running for his life! It looked to me like he had three different plumes of dust go across his path in different directions. What exactly are you supposed to do in that situation? Lie flat in the ditch? No thanks. They got away. They did the right thing.

[David Drummond]

I will add to that debate that while the paved road east was our option (and a great one until the trees came down), every road to the south in the vicinity was mud. North obviously was directly into the hail core and back west of us we had already seen two tornadoes. Paved road to the east, at least in THIS situation was the only option.

I am gonna probably get killed for saying this, but I can honestly say, after that experience I will never leave my vehicle for a ditch. As bad as it was with half on nebraska coming in my vehicle at 100+ mph (god forbid had there been a structure nearby! :shock: ) I am sure it would have been much worse on body tissues outside the vehicle. Had it been worse the vehicle would have been my death. Outside of it most certainly would have been, at least in THIS situation.

[Niki Darnaby]

are you certain this was a tornado and not a gustnado associated with the rfd.

[Graham Butler]

are you certain this was a tornado and not a gustnado associated with the rfd.

Since David said in his other posts (did you read them?) that a new meso formed I would only assume that this would be a tornado. The fact that he has 19 years experience I think it would be a safe bet that he knows what the hell he is looking at. And then there is the fact that he saw the tornado once he got away from it.

Graham Butler,wx5svr
graham.butler@ttu.edu

[mrobinson]

are you certain this was a tornado and not a gustnado associated with the rfd. no question it was a tornado.

[Chris Sokol]

First of all, I am glad that the both of you made it out ok.

Second of all, I really do not think that anybody who was not there has the right to second guess what you did.

[mikedeason]

Second of all, I really do not think that anybody who was not there has the right to second guess what you did.

I certainly agree that no one should second guess their actions. I think 9 out of 10 of us would have reacted the same way and drove the heck out of there.

I think the constructive debate here (and really it isn't a debate, per se) is taking the time now that this is post mortem to discuss situational awareness. We HAVE to keep our head on a swivel out there and keep two steps ahead in knowing what our escape options are.

Myself, I'm more content to hold back a bit further than I use to be. Some folks want to be closer to the action and that's fine to a degree. Their SA must be keener, however, than those of us who prefer to hold back a bit. Reading Dave's posts it sounds as though he had a pretty good grip on where he could go and where he couldn't .

Was the outcome good? Nah, but under the circumstances it was the lesser of evils and certainly could have been worse. And anyone who was chasing last Saturday knows, those storms, despite their relatively slow movement, were quite impressive as far as rapid, structural changes went.
I don't think it is unrealistic to assume that any experience chaser could have been caught under rapid mesocyclo/tornadogenesis under those conditions.

Dave and Mel, glad you guys made it through ok. And I hope ya'll did get a few bucks from it. If it had been me, I certainly would need the money to buy some new underwear. :-)

Regards,

Mike

[mikedeason]

are you certain this was a tornado and not a gustnado associated with the rfd.

The RFD spinups last Saturday were certainly numerous, but most of the ones I saw were very short lived and on the order of about 10-50 feet in width.

Regards,

Mike

[Sam Mather]

Definitly life on the edge, I think this video will help the general public to see the need for training before chasing. And remind us chasers that we don't know it all, I never want to be where you all were. I can push it sometimes. Thanks for reminding me to hold back and be cautious. THANKS TO YOU ALL FOR THINKING OF OTHERS AND THANKS TO GOD FOR THINKING OF YOU!!

[Greg Stumpf]

David,

I have access to the Level-II 8-bit data here at NSSL and can view using WDSSII (a sophisticated 4D radar display that can cut cross-sections, etc). Can you provide me, to the best of your knowledge, the exact time (UTC) and location (nearest county road intersection) of the event that overtook your vehicle. If this was the storm west of the Thayer storm, it may have been pretty close to the Hastings radar (KUEX - Blue Hill NE) at the time and there is some pretty dramatic structure seen in the radar data, including a rapid LL mesocyclogenesis.


Greg Stumpf

[David Drummond]

Greg this would have been the storm west of the one that hit Hallam. We were in Clay County on hwy 74 about halfway between Ayr and Fairfield, NE. This was around the 7:30-7:35 pm cdt if my camera time stamp is correct. If I am not mistaken that is darn near right on top of that radar site is it not? I would love to see some radar images of that, I have not as of yet.

[mrobinson]

David,

I have access to the Level-II 8-bit data here at NSSL and can view using WDSSII (a sophisticated 4D radar display that can cut cross-sections, etc). Can you provide me, to the best of your knowledge, the exact time (UTC) and location (nearest county road intersection) of the event that overtook your vehicle. If this was the storm west of the Thayer storm, it may have been pretty close to the Hastings radar (KUEX - Blue Hill NE) at the time and there is some pretty dramatic structure seen in the radar data, including a rapid LL mesocyclogenesis.


Greg Stumpf

Wow I'd love to get my hands on radar data.. :)

[Greg Stumpf]

David,

The KUEX radar is Right on U.S. 281 about 0.75 mile south of the center of the town of Blue Hill (based on the lat-lon coordinates I have), so you were anywhere from 10-15 miles northeast of the radar. I really need a pretty precise location within a mile or two - perhaps from your GPS or chase log, of the county road intersections with Hwy 74. If you don't have logs, perhaps you could review the video again and estimate your location within a mile based on observable landmarks.


greg



Greg this would have been the storm west of the one that hit Hallam. We were in Clay County on hwy 74 about halfway between Ayr and Fairfield, NE. This was around the 7:30-7:35 pm cdt if my camera time stamp is correct. If I am not mistaken that is darn near right on top of that radar site is it not? I would love to see some radar images of that, I have not as of yet.

[mikegeukes]

NWS Hastings Office has a few radar pics from 05-22-04, probably most of you seen.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/gid/display.php?fn...04_Tornado.html (http://www.crh.noaa.gov/gid/display.php?fname=svrwx/events04/22may04/05_22_04_Tornado.html)

Mike

[mrobinson]

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/gid/svrwx/events04/22may04/images/0003_uex_dv.png :shock:

[David Drummond]

OK Greg, I did some time checks on my camera. I looked at the current time on my camera and compared it with the official US time and time.gov and it is 4 min and 28 seconds fast. That means we pulled up at the firetruck at 7:29:06 when that first hit us. The 107.8 mph max wind recorded on the wx station was at 7:29:09.

AND! I think I found you a landmark. I can see in the video we crossed over a railroad track just a few feet before the fire truck. I can see this on Delorme Street Atlas about 1 -2 miles west of Fairfield just east of Road 34/74 intersection. All of the video seen thus far also is not all of it, we encountered something similar just about a half mile prior to this to the west as well although not ANYWHERE near as intense. If I can provide anything else let me know.

David,

The KUEX radar is Right on U.S. 281 about 0.75 mile south of the center of the town of Blue Hill (based on the lat-lon coordinates I have), so you were anywhere from 10-15 miles northeast of the radar. I really need a pretty precise location within a mile or two - perhaps from your GPS or chase log, of the county road intersections with Hwy 74. If you don't have logs, perhaps you could review the video again and estimate your location within a mile based on observable landmarks.


greg

[mikedeason]

http://www.centralnebraskaweather.net/052204/Animation2.gif
This animation covers one hour, from 2341Z until 0040Z, the period during which the UEX RDA was the luckiest RDA in the world. :-)

Regards,

Mike

BTW, this software is available at http://www.gibsonridgesoftware.com/grw88level2/

[David Drummond]

I think I have approximated pretty close on this velocity image where we were if I got the scale of the image right. The white line is hwy 74 between the two towns then I marked the location that I believe we were at:
http://wx5tvs.com/chasephotos/2004/2004pics/052204Nebraska/052204velocity.gif

[Jeff Snyder]

This animation covers one hour, from 2341Z until 0040Z, the period during which the UEX RDA was the luckiest RDA in the world. :-)

Regards,

Mike

BTW, this software is available at http://www.gibsonridgesoftware.com/grw88level2/

Mike,
Never heard of that software... I've been putzing around with it and I really like it! I have been using IDV, which is a very powerful display program btw, but it's a pain if you (well, I) just want to look at level II data as it is a mega-resource hog. The GibsonRidge software is much easier to use if you just want to view level II data... Additionally, it has a storm motion vector that, assuming you provide a good motion vector, let you convert radial velocity to SR velocity via the application of that user-provided storm motion... I do wish I can apply a better basemap (with at least the interstates), but oh well...

[mikedeason]

Jeff,

I'd encourage you, if you haven't done so already, to join the author's forum and give some input as he is still developing the software. Rob Dale and a few others including myself frequent there and the guy who is developing it is very open and receptive to user comments and suggestions. So far he is doing and outstanding job bringing added features in without making the app a resource hog (especially the smoothing feature.)

As far as map features go, I've inquired about some sort of GIS integration, at least the ability to export a georeferenced geoTIFF file to use in GIS apps and viewers. Of course, being able to import shapefiles (similar to DAWS and NEXRAD3) would be nice as well.

Regards,

Mike

[Greg Stumpf]

David and Melissa,

I finally have the KUEX (Blue Hill NE WSR-88D) images, with co-locations of your van on Clay County street shapefiles.

http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~stumpf/WX5TVS/Slide1.PNG

The following three images represent the 0.5 degree ground-relative velocity plots at 002944 UTC and the subsequent two volume scans. I've annotated the salient features.

http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~stumpf/WX5TVS/Slide6.PNG

http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~stumpf/WX5TVS/Slide10.PNG

http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~stumpf/WX5TVS/Slide11.PNG

The corresponding 0.5 degree reflectivity plots.

http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~stumpf/WX5TVS/Slide3.PNG

http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~stumpf/WX5TVS/Slide4.PNG

http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~stumpf/WX5TVS/Slide5.PNG

I've also ran the NSSL "Rotation Tracks" product

http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~stumpf/WX5TVS/Slide2.PNG

Finally, the 1.45, 2.4, and 3.3 degree ground-relative velocity images which followed the 002944 UTC 0.5 degree image

http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~stumpf/WX5TVS/Slide7.PNG

http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~stumpf/WX5TVS/Slide8.PNG

http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~stumpf/WX5TVS/Slide9.PNG

I'll provide my commentary in the next post.


Greg Stumpf

[Greg Stumpf]

Based on my knowledge and interpretation of the KUEX (Blue Hill NE WSR-88D) radar data, this is my best guess as to what phenomena hit the WX5TVS van.

First, it is clear that the main mesocyclone and possible large tornado passed about 2-3 miles to your NW and N, and that your van had an interaction along the leading edge of the RFD gust front.

Second, based on the velocity data above the 0.5 degree tilt at 002944 UTC, there is an anticyclonic Tornadic Vortex Signature with a delta-V exceeding 85 kts. This appears to pass just N of your location (within 1 mile). That anticyclonic vortex may have developed to the ground just after the 0.5 degree scan, since it appears in the next 0.5 degree scan just NE of Fairfield.

Third, there is an extreme RFD on the right (south) side of the low-level (LL) meso, with sampled ground relative winds at 115 kts at 700 feet above ground level (AGL).

My call:

You were definitely hit by a major RFD gust surge - probably as extreme as they get. The leading edge of the RFD was probably very turbulent, and no doubt there were probably multiple transient gustnado-like vortices that were just as strong as the RFD winds.

You might have also been hit by a developing anticyclonic tornado on the leading edge of the RFD surge, as indicated by the velocity data aloft. Video from the east looking toward your location would be helpful. Anyone?

You were not hit by the main cyclonic tornado of that storm, nor were you hit by a new tornado following a cycling of a new mesocyclone.

Other opinions are welcome. But in the end, glad you are alive!


Greg Stumpf

[David Drummond]

You might have also been hit by a developing anticyclonic tornado on the leading edge of the RFD surge, as indicated by the velocity data aloft. Video from the east looking toward your location would be helpful. Anyone?

Wow, what an insightful analysis Greg! Do you mind if I use that when I am able to finally get a chase account of it up? I can confirm that we saw multiple anticyclonic vortices around the van at various points, so that would associate well with your assessment there. In fact I think I made a comment on video about seeing something anticyclonic which I recall at the time surprising me. I also think we may have seen the results on the ground of either the occluded meso, or the developing new one when we were further west. It was shrouded in rain and there was tremendous inflow into that area so much so that telephone poles were rocking on the verge of breaking, it was at that point we started east and found the trees down and things got worse.

You were definitely hit by a major RFD gust surge - probably as extreme as they get. The leading edge of the RFD was probably very turbulent, and no doubt there were probably multiple transient gustnado-like vortices that were just as strong as the RFD winds.

So essentially, even though this wasn't the main tornado (thank god!) there were still "gustnado" vortices in the 115 knt range? That is more than enough tornado for me to experience in one lifetime! :shock:

[Niki Darnaby]

From the video, it definitely appeared to be more RFD related rather than a true cyclonic, supercell tornado...

I've seen several anti-cyclonic gustnadoes in association with the rfd that did considerable structural damage and definitely gave me a scare.

Glad you guys are okay...there will probably be similar situations to this tomorrow and Sunday I bet.

Good luck to all who are chasing this weekend.

[mrobinson]

I've been in indirect contact with someone at the SPC who has viewed a much longer version of the video whom thinks he see clear tornadic vortices and we were in the beginning stages of a multivortex anti cyclonic tornado. We are lucky to have not come in contact with any suction vortices.
Whatever it was dirt, rocks, sticks, grass and glass hitting you in the face and back at 107 mph doesn't feel good. I'd rather not do that again.

If someone was out east with a video camera I'd love to see it. I would really like to know for sure exactly what dropped on top of us and why the windows blew out the way they did.

[Niki Darnaby]

yeah that must not have been fun...

We actually ran into three people about 2 miles east of Hallam who were locals and abandoned their car for a ditch and were pelted by debris and hail...I would guess they were just on the south side of the gigantic wedge as it exited Hallam. Hopefully there will be some more photogenic storms this weekend.

[David Drummond]

yeah that must not have been fun...

We actually ran into three people about 2 miles east of Hallam who were locals and abandoned their car for a ditch and were pelted by debris and hail...I would guess they were just on the south side of the gigantic wedge as it exited Hallam. Hopefully there will be some more photogenic storms this weekend.

Now THAT scares me after seeing some of the ditches around that town packed with all manner of debris. After what I saw last weekend I can say, at least for me, I would never leave me vehicle for a low lying area. I would either try to run or find a building. I know if it gets bad enough I would die either way but after looking at that I can say I think I would die sooner in a ditch than in my vehicle.

[mikedeason]

Absolutely right about the ditches Dave.

One of the things which really struck me yesterday as we toured the damage path from Hallam up to Bennet was the prescence of corregated metal siding in many of the ditches and riparian stream valleys in the area. I don't think I need to bring up any gory reminders of what would happen if someone got hit with something like that while travelling at 200 mph.

As I've been able to witness more damage over the years, the more my belief is reinforced that getting out of the path if possible is preferential to "lying in a ditch."

Regards,

Mike

[Robert Hoff]

Should this be a perma-thread?

"David Drummond: How are you NOW?"
:)

[Simone Lussardi]

Should this be a perma-thread?

"David Drummond: How are you NOW?"
:)

Yeah.... what the heck I've started :lol: :lol: :lol:

Just joke eh... 8)

[Simone Lussardi]

BTW, this thread I will save on my computer, is TOO "historic" to loose it.

[semi OT]

Does Stormtrack think to keep a room in the forum with the most important topics saved there ? We are doing the same in Italy in our forum, so not to loose these precious threads.

[/semi OT]

:wink:

[mrobinson]

whats so important about it?? Personally I think this whole event has been a massive massive screw up and Its caused ALOT of crap

[David Drummond]

I think the fact that this happened so near a radar site, they were able to pinpoint where we were and they can see video of what was going on at that minute and corelate that with the nearby radar lends to some pretty insightful things. Just look at the analysis Greg has done already.

[Simone Lussardi]

whats so important about it?? Personally I think this whole event has been a massive massive screw up and Its caused ALOT of crap

Of course with all the respect for you guys, it is important. Your words and video can help a lot who study this type of phenomenos, professional or not (I am in the second case).

:roll:

[Melissa Moon]

whats so important about it?? Personally I think this whole event has been a massive massive screw up and Its caused ALOT of crap

This brings me to a question. If you think that it is really a "massive massive screw up" that's caused "ALOT of crap", why is it all over your new website? Just curious.

[mrobinson]

whats so important about it?? Personally I think this whole event has been a massive massive screw up and Its caused ALOT of crap

This brings me to a question. If you think that it is really a "massive massive screw up" that's caused "ALOT of crap", why is it all over your new website? Just curious. I wouldnt call it all over my website as its maybe 4 lines but I'm not going to play the disaster headache this has caused out on this website or any list at this time.

[Melissa Moon]

Hey, chill out, it was just a question. No big deal. :)

The reason I asked is because I just find it a little odd that you seem to have such a negative opinion about this whole event and you seem to want to make the whole incedent water under the bridge, yet when someone visits your site, it's the first thing they see. Not trying to attack you/start any mudslinging, but I just find it strange, and I was curious for an explanation of your reasoning.

I guess it if was me in that situation and I didn't want people to make a big deal about it, my logic would tell me not to put it on the front page of my website, nor mention anything related to it in my biography. That's just my humble reasoning.

I thought upon asking that it would be an innocent question, but now I can foresee crap being launched at the fan over it, so I am going to drop it.

[mrobinson]

Hey, chill out, it was just a question. No big deal. :)

The reason I asked is because I just find it a little odd that you seem to have such a negative opinion about this whole event and you seem to want to make the whole incedent water under the bridge, yet when someone visits your site, it's the first thing they see. Not trying to attack you/start any mudslinging, but I just find it strange, and I was curious for an explanation of your reasoning.

I guess it if was me in that situation and I didn't want people to make a big deal about it, my logic would tell me not to put it on the front page of my website, nor mention anything related to it in my biography. That's just my humble reasoning.

I thought upon asking that it would be an innocent question, but now I can foresee crap being launched at the fan over it, so I am going to drop it. HaHa no crap being launched anywhere. I'll put my chase account up and that will be the end of it.. When something else happens I'll post that up. Most of the "crap" I speak of is personal and not on the boards... I just want to keep it that way is all.

[David Drummond]

Well I don't consider it a massive screwup at all. Just as I told Shane and I will state now here publicly, I prefer to get in close to a storm. I can't explain why but I have a driving need to experience it closer than most would, not close enough to die, but closer. This is driven purely by personal choice and NOT the need to get video for BNVN or anyone else. The video was secondary and will help counteract some chase expenses and van repairs this year so I can continue to do what I love to do....chase. Selling my video allows me to do just that, chase when and where and how I want. If someone sees me as bad for that I really do not care unless they want to contribute chase funds for next year! :wink:

The fact that I do get closer than most lends it's self to more opportunities for things to go wrong. In this case a series of worst case scenarios came together on me and well you guys saw the results. It was not a case of not knowing what I was doing, heck I have managed to find the sweet spot on storms for years and years so I guess I have to have a few clues as to what I am doing out there. Some posts I have seen other places have tried to spin it that way. It was not a case of doing it deliberately for video, because even though the video was great, I still would prefer NOT to die.

Things changed rapidly, went from bad to worse, and some lessons were learned. I really do not care whether anyone else approves of where I was or that it happened or that video was released of it. Again, until someone else supplies me with chase vehicles and expenses to chase then they have no say in what or how I do things. Sure they are entitled to an opinion and entitled to express it. Just remember though, so am I. :)

[Bill Hamilton]

This is still America and we are free to do what we want and when we want to. For all the chasers out there who say they will NEVER sell their videos to the media, I bet that if you caught an exclusive piece of video that noone else had you would sell it as well. It makes me wonder that if it wasn't important to get a video worth selling why do a great deal of us have 2-3 or more expensive digital and video cameras. Not to count all the high tech gadgets we carry with us just to "enjoy" a storm.
I don't blame David for selling his videos because vehicle windows and all the wear and tear on his vehicle gets expensive in a hurry. Why not get paid for something you love to do! IMO

B.T.W This post/thread has deviated a long way from "David Drummond how are you" :roll:

[Larry J. Kosch]

Taking a hint from the last post, I would like to make a Motion to end this "David Drummond, how are you?" thread. Any Seconds??? 8) LJK.

[Simone Lussardi]

Taking a hint from the last post, I would like to make a Motion to end this "David Drummond, how are you?" thread. Any Seconds??? 8) LJK.

:lol: In the meanwhile I changed title :)

[Bill Hamilton]

Taking a hint from the last post, I would like to make a Motion to end this "David Drummond, how are you?" thread. Any Seconds??? 8) LJK.

I second the motion! :lol: No offence to David or Simone.

[Larry J. Kosch]

The motion to end this thread has been carried.

All of those in favor say Aye!!
:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

All of those opposed say Nay!!
:sleepy5: :sleepy1: :sleepy5: :sleepy1: :sleepy5: :sleepy1:

The motion to end this thread has been passed.
Please notify any moderator to end this thread, PLEASE!!! :blob2: :blob3: :blob4:

Thanks. 8) LJK.

[Robbie Cox]

Seems to me this is the TIV of the year.

Here is some video of the van. It's not the greatest quality and is 10 megs but if you have an ambitious connection you might check it out. I was trying to show how much of the inside of the van was coated with "stuff". For those of you that know me I am pretty anal about keeping it spotless on the inside. It is anything but that right now.

http://wx5tvs.com/chasephotos/2004/2004pic...204chasevan.wmv (http://wx5tvs.com/chasephotos/2004/2004pics/052204Nebraska/052204chasevan.wmv)

right click and "save as" is probably the best option to get it. :shock:

[Shane Adams]

What's a TIV?

[Robbie Cox]

What's a TIV?


Tornado Intercept Vehicle :lol:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My family and i just got back from our vacation to south dakota, WY, and NE. My young son (5 yrs old) and I had watched David's video of Hallam the day after the F4 hit and we made it our #1 choice to visit the town ( what's left of it) and it will be a learning exprience for him the rest of his life.All he remembered was that darn boat where the gas station once stood. One thing watching it on radar and tracking it and storm spotting in a fire truck,but for him to see the aftermath of what mother nature can do will always stay with him. Also one last thing thanks David for stopping and telling the firemen :)

[Bill Hamilton]

What's a TIV?


Tornado Intercept Vehicle :lol:

Yeah Shane! I bet you never heard about one of those things before. :sign5: jk