STORMTRACK is a non-profit publication intended for the scientist and amateur alike who share an avid interest in
the acquisition and advancement of knowledge concerning severe storms. It is published bi-monthly by Master
Graphics in Lewisville, Texas. David Hoadley founded the publication in 1977 and STORMTRACK has continued
to grow and improve ever since. David Hoadley still contributes drawings and sketches. Currently, we have about
675 subscribers!
Anyone can submit an article or letter to STORMTRACK. Articles should be single-spaced and contain proper
English. Right justified margins are preferred or the editor can retype the text. High contrast photographs reproduce
best. Diagrams should be clear and legible, subject to photo-reduction. All articles will be edited.
Subscription rates are: U.S. first Class mail $14/year. For Canadians, it’s also $14/year in U.S. Currency. Overseas
is $20/year in U.S. Currency. Individual issues are $2.35 per copy. Back issues are available by year, or the
complete 19 year set (1978-1996) can be purchased for $135. Please note that issues up through 1993 are
photocopies. To subscribe or renew, send a check or money order PAYABLE ONLY to Tim Marshall, 4041 f
Bordeaux Circle, Flower Mound, Texas 75028.
I. COMMENTARY
I’d like to thank all of the subscribers to Stormtrack for letting us make the 20th anniversary possible. This issue is
devoted to those who made this publication a success. Little did anyone imagine that a publication about storm
chasing would last so long. For those of you who wondered how this publication began, David Hoadley, with the
encouragement of nine individuals, began the publication in 1977. The newsletter was just $1.80 per year! I’ll let
Randy Zipsers’ article bring you up to the time that I became editor. In May 1986, when I became editor, there were
161 subscribers. I typed each issue on my old IBM PC-JR with 64K of memory. At first, 1 could only type four
pages of text before I would fill up all the available work space. But soon after becoming editor, I bought a doubler
and increased my work space to eight pages of text! Wow! Don’t laugh to hard but up to this issue, that was the
computer I was using all these years. The text was printed out on my 24 dot printer until this issue. I am glad that
David still contributes to Stormtrack with his articles and funnel funny sketches. The flavor of the publication still
remains.
In 1986, Stormtrack was big enough that I had to find a local printer to process each issue. That turned out to be too
expensive. Then Gene Rhoden recommended that I have an acquaintance of his, Don Lokke, print the publication.
Don worked out of his garage where his presses were stored. So, I talked to Don and found out we could add a slick
cover with high quality photographs, and bind it for not much more money. Gene Rhoden designed the cover and in
July 1987, our first slick cover issue was printed. That lasted until September 1989 when printing problems and
delays forced us to seek another printer. I also was tired of having to drive two hours to pick up each issue of
Stormtrack. So, I searched for a local printer and found a husband and wife team who lived in the neighborhood that
could do the printing. Robbie and Cheryl Wright (Master Graphics) have been the printers of Stormtrack ever
since.
Between 1993 and 1994, Stormtrack had about 650 steady subscribers. Then in 1995, the number of subscribers
began to fall dramatically thanks in part to the internet. We were down to about 500 subscribers when I began to
think that the paper version of Stormtrack was done for. So, I talked to Tim Vasquez about taking Stormtrack on
the internet and he was willing to do this when he got back from being stationed in Korea. In the meantime, I
decided to improve the publication and I bought an ACER computer with 100MB hard drive and CD-ROM. Need I
say it took me a while to learn how to use the new word processing software. It is much more complicated and
different than the simple Writing Assistant software I was used to. Also, I had bought an Okidata 4001e 600dpi
printer and had lots of problems using it initially (i.e. the drum went bad by the third copy).
Meanwhile the movie ‘TWlSTER was making its debut and within a few months there were hundreds of new
inquiries and Stormtrack roared to almost 700 subscribers, the highest in its history! Stormtrack started getting
subscribers from Australia, Europe, Hong Kong, and New Zealand. Then, Tim Vasquez came back from Korea and
we got together to make a Stormtrack home page just in time for the 20th anniversary issue and Stormtrack On-line
was launched on November 5, 1996. I also began to surf a thing called the internet. So, a lot has happened this year
in order to take Stormtrack into the 21st century.
III. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
David Hoadley writes: “Some time ago, I was asked to bring storm prints to display at a severe storms conference in
Omaha, Nebraska. That was October, 1977. It was my first conference, and I was overwhelmed by the response.
More than 70 attendees from all over the country wanted copies. This was the motivation that prompted Storm
Track. It was initially intended to make chasers aware of the value of their photography -but also grew to include
chasing technique and interesting storm encounters. Randy Zipser, whose company invited me, was involved from
the beginning and helped greatly in contributing to and shaping the early product.
Since then, it has grown and matured to reflect a wide range of chaser interests across the country. I took it as far as
I could then turned it over to Tim Marshall in 1986. Since then, he has changed the format to a magazine, added
photography and quality paper, written and attracted more professional articles, and more than tripled the
subscriptions. Congratulations to Tim Marshall, who has done an outstanding job with the publication and helped
define and shape storm chasing in the United States for the past 12 years. Wherever this evolving future leads,
Storm Track was at the beginning and is now an integral part of that history.
Now, at a time of anniversary and reflection, I would like to believe that Storm Track has helped shaped this new
chasing culture and fostered in its advocates the need for courtesy, patience, and safety. It is always difficult, with a
big storm just over the horizon, to wait for information at the weather office, for traffic at a stop sign, or sit behind a
slow driver -with no place to pass. However, interrupting busy staff, failing to stop, and ‘riding’ someone else’s
bumper (or your horn) are not only rude and dangerous but a sign of immaturity. If you have to hurry to the storm,
then you don’t know what you’re doing.
Ken Nakamura gave TWISTER an overall rating of F3. “The special effects were awesome and spectacular, but
there were flaws. The second tornado had two subvortices initially revolving counterclockwise around each other,
but changed to clockwise as they reached the road, with the “sisters" revolving cyclonically! Other flaws that were
distracting was the scene where they were driving down a dirt road but a head-on view of the chase team shows a
paved road in the background".
Adrian Mackey is rested up and ready to go again after his trip from the UK to the states where he spent two weeks
in tornado alley. “On Tuesday May 16th, we stopped in at Weather Displays in Logan, OK and upon checking their
radar, noticed a cell with a well defined hook had exploded in the clear air in southwest Kansas -not too far from
Dodge City. Our hundred mile drive brought us up to the storm which exhibited a nice crisp flanking line and neat
backsheared anvil. At approximately 2030 hours, the wall cloud produced a charcoal black funnel three miles to our
east and became a tornado as it churned dirt from a field. Although only lasting five minutes, it did appear to be
multi-vortex in character and moved between the towns of Jetmore and Hanston. The other highlight was Monday
May 22nd, when we tracked twin mesocyclones near Wheeler, Texas and followed them to the Oklahoma border at
I-40. We headed to McLean and encountered quarter-size hail before turning around when we realized we were
minutes away from windshield annihilation. The skies of the high plains in those evening hours will be a lasting
memory for me."
WHAT GOOD ARE STORM CHASERS? by David Hoadley
The movie TWISTER portrayed storm chasers as carefree and reckless, a motley crew of roadside gypsies and
beatniks who compete with one another to see who can get closest to the vortex. Over the years, real storm chasers
have contributed much to the public safety as well as the scientific community. 1 present the following contributions
storm chasers have made which l believe is representative of at least the older, long term chasers who have been at
this for many years.
l. AID IN WARNINGS — Of increasing importance to many communities are “real-time" warnings given from
mobile chase vehicles through ham radio and mobile phones. Chasers call in reports to the appreciative National
Weather Service offices which -in turn- use them immediately for radio and television warnings. Since even
Doppler radar can miss more than half of the smaller tornadoes, such on-site reports are essential to provide the
earliest possible warnings. Even when the larger storms are radar-visible, spotters provide essential information
about changing storm structure that radar may not catch such as the development of the wall cloud, large hail
reaching the ground, and whether the vortex is reaching the ground. Such reports can save critical minutes in the
warning process and give people additional time to seek shelter. “I’ll take a pair of trained eyes over my Doppler
radar", said one NWS official.
2. HELP IN TRAINING SPOTTERS- Storm chasers voluntarily contribute slides and videotape for use by
the National Weather Service in training local storm spatters to provide accurate and early community warnings.
When severe storms approach, these spatters go to pre-designated locations around cities and towns to provide visual
reports of developing storms. In 1980, the National Weather Service produced “A Slide Series Supplement to
Tornado: A Spotter’s Guide’. This set of 156 slides was duplicated and sent to more than 50 offices around the
country, along with a l6mm training movie and descriptive text discussing the program and each slide. I believe it
was the first large scale effort of this kind. Chasers such as myself received letters from the National Weather
Service asking me to volunteer photography for use in the program. I submitted over 200 slides, of which about 30
were selected. I also assisted in editing and writing the commentary and glossary that accompanied the slide set.
The original slide and movie set has been revised several times since then for further public use. 1 like to think that
many lives have been saved as a result of this training, and that chaser photography was a substantial factor in
making it a success.
3. GIVING TALKS TO THE PUBLIC- Chasers have given numerous talks to the public. I for one have
given about 75 talks to almost 3,000 children and adults in public schools, colleges, civic associations, scout troops,
fraternal lodges, churches, summer lodges, neighborhood social gatherings, and for fellow office workers. Each
slide/video show lasted about an hour and included the discussions of hazards and safety measures. Hopefully, these
people are more weather-wise now.
4. PROVIDE SLIDE IMAGES FOR PUBLIC PAMPHLETS-Slides from chasers have been used by the
National Weather Service and others in publicly available pamphlets about storm characteristics and dangers. Such
documents can be found in the lobbies of many National Weather Service offices, police stations, grocery stores, and
insurance companies.
5. WRITE AND PROVIDE SLIDES FOR TECHNICAL ARTICLES- Many chasers have written
technical articles and/or contributed slides to formal and informal publications. Such research has advanced the
science of tornadogenesis. Chasers slide images have appeared in numerous scientific articles, journals, and preprint
volumes like the American Meteorological Society, National Weather Association and the American Geophysical
Union.
6. AID IN DOCUMENTING TORNADO REPORTS-Storm chasers provide detailed accounts to the
l debrief the National Weather Service after the event. There accuracy in providing the locations and numbers of
tornadoes as well as describing unusual characteristics of storm structure are invaluable. Much of their data is from
sparsely populated areas and this gives researchers a better idea about seasonal frequency, locations and trends over
several years.
7. AID IN FORECASTING SEVERE STORMS- Many years of data gathering and storm chasing have led
to a better understand the forecast conditions necessary for severe storms. Some chasers, like myself, have
developed unique forecast procedures which has intrigued several scientists. Other chasers have found jobs in the
National Weather Service or academia and have brought fresh insight about forecasting.
How Storm Track Started by Randy Zipser
It is not surprising that few know of the beginnings of Storm Track. Its concept first originated with David Hoadley
of Falls Church, Virginia during the summer of 1977. I first met Dave in the spring of 1974 when we both visited
the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL). At that time, I was employed with General Electric’s Management
and Technical Services Company (GE/MATSCO) in the Washington, DC area. Since we were from the same area,
Dave and I kept in frequent contact, often devoting entire weekends to viewing each other’s slides. Also, during this
period, GE/MATSCO, under the direction of Col. Robert C. Miller, USAF-Ret., was charged with organizing the
Tenth AMS Conference on Severe Local Storms in Omaha, Nebraska. Fortunately, I was assigned to handle the
arrangements for the Conference’s “informal" slide show, and asked Dave as well as Bob Dundas, the photographer
of the Great Bend, KS tornado, to assist me.
Dave and I were hotel mates at the conference and decided to pre-screen some of the film material the evening
before the informal slide show. On the evening of October 19, 1977, Dave and I had a spontaneous “mini" slide
show in our room at the Omaha Hilton. To my recollection, the others present were Alan Moller, Chuck Doswell,
and Richard Anthony -all veteran storm chasers.
Little did any of us know at the time, that our informal get-together would lead to Storm Track. Although Dave and I
previously discussed starting a newsletter for severe storm enthusiasts across the country — to exchange photographs,
information, and chase tips — the idea received an overwhelming positive reaction from Al, Chuck, and Rich. In fact,
David was so excited about doing the publication, that he began putting together the format for the first issue THAT
VERY EVENING! He worked after midnight and developed the name STORM TRACK. He also acquired titles to
most of the subsections, like the commentary, letters, etc., that are in use today. I acted as associate Editor
through discussions with him on the early concept and later development of the newsletter, responding to his ideas
and offering some of my own like topics for the funnel funnies.
In the weeks that followed the conference, Dave wrote the premiere issue of Storm Track, complete with
introductory cover letter and artwork. The first issue was sent in late 1977 to about a dozen people we knew at the
Universities of Chicago and Oklahoma, NASA, NSSL, NSSFC, NCAR, and ERL. The first nine subscribers to
STORMTRACK were Dr. Rodger Brown, Dr. Charles Doswell, Ron Holle, Alan Moller, Dr. Richard Peterson, Dr.
Alymer Thompson, Charles Vleck, Dr. John Weaver, and myself. Dave remained the editor of Storm Track when I
moved away from the DC area in 1975, and he continued the job for another eight years. Tim Marshall became the
new editor in May, 1986. What a long way since that humble Omaha evening in 1977.
One for One in ’96: March 5, 1996 Chase by Mike Cohen
Our first chase of the season almost never happened. March 5, 1996 was a day where the Storm Prediction Center
(SPC) had a slight risk of severe thunderstorms for the area east of Dallas. I checked with the Fort Worth National
Weather Service and spoke to Al Moller who told me that there was a cell in Hunt County going severe. I asked if
he felt there would be action to the south of this storm and he said yes. When my chase partner, Bobby Eddins,
pulled up the wind profiles, we were not impressed as winds at all levels were out of the south-southwest. On a wild
hunch, and since we hadn’t seen a good storm since last year, we decided to go chasing. When we reached the
Tarrant/Dallas county line on 1-20, we saw our target storm. It was small and multicellular, but it looked promising.
When we reached FM 1641 west of Terrell, we were east of the storm and watched a developing wall cloud cross I-
20 as it moved northeast.
We drove northeast of FM 2965 toward Wills Point and could now see a pronounced rear flank downdraft (RFD)
and rotating wall cloud. Taking FM 751 to Quinlan left us behind the storm but this gave us a great view of the
storm to our east-southeast as we crossed Lake Tawakoni. The storm evolved into a classic supercell with a
beautiful flank and wall cloud with constant motion wrapping to the southeast of the rain core. We watched a brief
funnel form and dissipate. Anyone who has tried to chase storms in East Texas knows how frustrating the pine trees
can be -restricting your view, and this day was no exception. Every time we saw something interesting, we would
lose it behind the trees.
We stopped in Emory to gas-up and make a call back to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. I spoke to
Skip Ely, the meteorologist-in-charge (MIC), and found out the mesocyclone had 40 knots of shear. As we went
southeast out of Emory on Highway 69, we crossed a 100 yard swath of one inch diameter hail -about two miles
outside of town. Our storm was now turning to the right.
We took Highway 182 to Quitman and then Highway 54 east toward Gilmer trying to retain our position on the
storm. We continued to see a wall cloud and rear flank downdraft wrapping around it through the trees. We turned
north on FM 312 at the small town of Little Hope, Texas (we feared this as an omen) and watched a well developed
wall cloud moving east. We returned to Highway 154 and found a decent view to the north and stopped. Just as we
pulled over, I noticed a condensation funnel extend to the ground with debris. We jumped out and started shooting
video at 6:25pm CST. The small tornado was approximately 4 to 5 miles north of us in northeast Woods County.
1 The tornado formed just as the mesocyclone occluded and didn’t last very long. We were running out of daylight so
we watched the storm for another ten minutes. Our reports were passed onto the National Weather Service in
Shreveport, Louisiana. We were happy to start out the year one for one. All chasers know this doesn’t happen very
own.
PAST AND PRESENT HELPERS OF STORMTRACK
The following individuals have contributed part of their time in helping make this publication a success. The
following is a brief autobiography of our helpers.
BRUCE HAYNIE has contributed countless hours at assembling, stamping, and taping STORM TRACK over
the past few years. “I was born in Longview, Texas on August 12, 1967 (a native Texan) and was raised in Dallas.
I’ve been interested in the weather ever since I can remember, but became particularly interested in tornadoes after
the 26 May 1976 tornadic event that occurred one mile south of my house in Dallas. I knew after 10 April 1979
(Wichita Falls, TX.) that I wanted to chase storms. I attended Texas Tech University from 1987-1992 where I met
several individuals who were into storm chasing. On 9 September 1987, I saw my first tornado while chasing just
west of the Lubbock area. My chasing has continued since 1957 with many busts and a few successes. I currently
reside in Dallas, Texas. Check out my homepage at http://www.why.net/users.kbhayni. My E-mail address is
kbhaynie@why.
RICHARD HERZOG has been assistant editor of STORMTRACK since May, 1991. “I graduated with a
meteorology degree from Penn State University in December, 1990 and was hired by Haag Engineering Company in
March, 1991, which fortunately was where Tim Marshall works. l was very interested in going storm chasing with
Tim and helping with STORMTRACK. My main duties have been proof reading the issues before they go to press
and helping with the stamping, stapling, and addressing to mail them out. I did the full editing of the May, 1993
issue and have also contributed movie, video, and book reviews. l always have been impressed by the geographical
and demographical distribution of our subscribers, and how STORMTRACK helps bring chasers together."
GENE RHODEN helped with the design of the slick cover in 1986 and was essential in finding Mr. Lokke who
was our first printer. Gene has been interested in storms and storm chasing since 1976 when a tornado hit north
Dallas. He is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in meteorology at Oklahoma University while working
part time at the Discovery Store in Dallas. He lives in Norman, Oklahoma and commutes to Dallas and back weekly.
He has a fully equipped chasemobile and is a licensed ham radio operator.
PHIL SHERMAN was the assistant editor of STORMTRACK from May, 1986 through September, 1990. He
helped edit and contribute to the publication and produced the January, 1989 issue. “ I have resided in the Seattle,
WA area since January, 1995. My wife Kathy and I have two children." 1 am a software engineer currently
employed by Adobe Systems and have worked the past eight years on the Persuasion presentation program. I grew
up in Wilmington, Delaware and acquired my severe weather interest early in childhood. Though the mid-Atlantic
area is not known for tornadoes we did have our share of summertime thunderstorms. After high school I went on
to Duke University where I majored in Computer Science and Economics. Meteorology remained my “vocation"
and the knowledge l gleaned from NSSFC and NSSL technical papers was complemented by a lot of intuition - in
other words, “just enough to be dangerous". Upon graduation in 1982 I took a job in Dallas with Texas Instruments
and was ecstatic when 1 arrived there by the proximity to the Alley and the almost daily Tornado Watches. Several
years passed in which I became increasingly keyed into the seasonal severe storm cycle and the variations that
occurred from year to year. In 1984 and 1985 I became primed for chasing after reading William Hauptmans’
Atlantic article “On the Dryline" and viewing NOVAs’ “Tornado" episode. Thereafter, I called the NWS and asked
the person on the phone about chasing. Fortunately for me, he handed the phone to Alan Moller, who proceeded to
inform me of the Storm Track publication and gave me some excellent advice: “buy all of the back issues of Storm
Track and learn from all of its writings." I did just that and found that a guy named Tim Marshall was a frequent
contributor and lived very close to where I had currently been working (Xerox Corp. in Lewisville). I called Tim
that winter (85-86) and he kindly invited me to his house to discuss chasing. I was in a daze by the end of that
session having witnessed several hours of Tims’ chase video from the early 80s; I also could not wait for spring to
arrive. I kept in touch with Tim until our first chase of the year (and MY first chase ever) arrived on March I 1, a
“high risk" day that was characterized privately by the weather service as “Wichita Falls, Part 2". I told Tim I was
interested in contributing to the production of Storm Track and he then asked me to be the assistant editor, a role 1
occupied until early 1990 when my son was born. The January 1989 issue was one that I fully edited. My most
successful chases include: 4 tornadoes at Canadian, TX 5/7/86; dramatic tornadic supercell at Windthorst, TX
5/l4/86; mini-supercell tornadoes at Ardmore, OK 5/2/88; beautiful tornado at Hodges, TX 5/13/89; and a
successful chase of 3 tornadoes from the Billings/Red Rock, OK storm of 4/26/91. My last chase occurred 4/27/94
- appropriately, a bust. I’ve seen many spectacular cloud formations in the Seattle area since moving, but no
tornadoes. My E-mail address is: psherman@adobe.com."
TIM VASQUEZ is the new STORMTRACK on-line editor at http://www.telepath.com/www/storm/
“West Texas is well known for its open prairies, remoteness, and rapidly-changing weather. It’s also the birth place
of Tim Vasquez, in Abilene in l968. As a kid, I spent a few years each in California, Germany, and the Philippines,
and was exposed to a wide variety of weather events. These experiences are what set my interest in meteorology into
motion. The finishing touch came in the early 1980’s, when I settled in Texas once again and saw countless severe
weather events unfold. Although I always had an eye for thunderstorms, I had no idea how out of tune mainstream
literature was until 1986 when he met with Alan Moller, a chaser and NWS forecaster. Alan introduced me to some
of the key conference volumes, tech memos, and papers that formed the backbone of severe weather research. With
this as a springboard, I spent months poring over everything I could find, and began storm chasing the next spring
with chaser Gene Rhoden. Unsure of meteorological job availability during the 1990’s, I joined the Air Force in
1989 to get some solid meteorological experience. My duties took me to the Tonopah Test Range in the Nevada
desert, where the F-117A Stealth Fighter was tested, and where I was an observer. In 1992, I went to a 7-month
forecasting course in Illinois. During the cold winter evenings, I spent time improving and perfecting a newborn PC
weather analysis program, thirst called RadarScan, then WeatherPro. It was named WeatherGraphix in 1993 and led
to the Windows-based Digital Atmosphere program. Having the top assignment pick of 17 fellow classmates, I
returned to Abilene to forecast at Dyess AFB, Texas. It provided me with a great opportunity to delve deeper into
thunderstorm forecasting and chasing. I arrived just as the base’s WSR-88D was being installed. I played a key part
in bringing the station’s severe weather forecasting skills up to date, and introduced two of the forecasters to the art
of chasing. I also worked part-time as an on-air forecaster at KTXS-12 in 1995. Later that year I spent a year in
Korea as a lead forecaster in Seoul. I currently am a systems programmer at the Air Force’s weather
telecommunications gateway in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I live in Norman and continue to work on weather
software projects."
1996 - The Other Rewards of Storm Chasing by David Hoadley
1996 was a minimal year for this chaser. I was in seven tornado boxes over five days and in ideal
location on four -but only saw three weak tornadoes and a half dozen small funnels. I chased May
9-10, 23 26, and June 16-28, looking for that elusive southwest flow aloft.
On the 9th, the first tornado was a broad but brief dust swirl beneath strong cloud-base rotation
southwest of Concordia, Kansas. A second, spinup-tube, rose from a field a minute later -seen in
the rear view mirror while driving away for a better photographic location, but it was gone before
I could stop. On Hay 10 (the Big Spring “grapefruit hail" day) I chased the first severe storm in
southwest Texas, south of Headland. It later triggered several Doppler tornado warnings near San
Angelo, however, darkness prevented visual confirmation.
The next chase took me to Russell, Kansas, late on the afternoon of the 22nd, after an almost non-
stop 23 hour drive from Virginia but too late to catch the Benkelman storm. The next day I chased
central Kansas, but my forecast was wrong despite strong surface dynamics (the previous day’s also
didn’t verify). On the 24th, I decided to play it smart. Tornadoes were reported the previous day
in northeast Colorado, and that morning the Storm Prediction Center called for more there. I did
the usual forecast but then, since the previous two had busted, ignored it and drove into southeast
Colorado to await the big show. Only at Springfield, did I first hear the tornado watch from the
panhandle to central Kansas. The tops of reported severe storms were already visible far to the
southeast! A quick calculation suggested it was too far to catch, so I sat patiently near LaJunta,
grinding my teeth and waiting for storms that never fired. After two busts, how did my 10AM forecast
do that day? Smaller than the NWS box, it was right through the middle of it and included every
reported tornado!! Sometimes, there just is no justice.
Chastised at that poor judgement, I closely followed my forecast the next day and chased several
cells north of Clovers, New Mexico -but to no avail. Convection occurred over a wide area but with
little apparent organization, while the dry line lay to the west. I saw the backside of one cell
go up east of Cloves, but it appeared no different from the others. However, within an hour and less
than 40 miles east, several chasers caught a brief tornado near Friona! What was more galling, it
was only 5 miles (!) from the dead center of my forecast! Again, no justice.
The last chase was June 16 through the 28th from
Colorado and the Dakotas to Montana, where I saw a weak
tornado northwest of Miles City on the 24th. The one
mishap -and a warning to chasers- was with a rather
large buzzard near Benkelman, Nebraska. While driving
to Goodland, through light rain, I approached this
ponderous fowl, dining by the side of the road. I
hardly slowed, since most usually flap away. Not this
time. Before I knew it, he took off -right into the
windshield- and hit hard, squarely in front of my face!
The wiper snapped off in a thump and flurry of feathers
-but the window held. The wiper was replaced, and a
few more grey hairs were counted. This driver now
slows when approaching such wildlife. You should too.
However, my 40th year of storm chasing was about more than just the twisting clouds from an angry
sky. Two memorable non-severe days stand out with some of the best tornadoes I have seen. One was
during the early afternoon, while driving into southeast Montana from Belle Fourche. There are
stretches where US 212 rides a ridge-line and mostly looks down on gently rolling, green hills and
wooded valleys with widely scattered farms and cattle. That particular day, the deep blue sky was
filled with small cumulus, which scattered a checkerboard of shadows across the freshly green and
wind-swept fields. Classical music soon filled the car, and for the next hour I forgot about storms
and tedium and even where I was. Time stood still, as the changing patterns of prairie and cloud
passed in a pageant of color, light and shadow - as if revealing some grand plan.
Another day, while driving through western Nebraska, the evening sun caught an anvil almost overhead
-from a storm to the southwest. No man-made light marred the darkening horizon as this cloud deck
began to flare in yellow and pink against the deepening blue sky. A program of organ music was just
beginning on PBS radio. The sky seemed to catch fire and begin to burn with color, as the anvil
draped itself in brilliant gold and volcanic red. The car filled to the music of royalty and
acclamation, while open windows swept it clean with the night air - and stars began to gather. I
didn’t want it to end.
. . . some of the other rewards of storm chasing.
THE STORMTRACKER VAN by Carson Eads
I learned early on that having hourly updated weather information on the road was a must. The NOAA Weather
Radio wouldn’t be in range half the time and I rarely had a weather office to stop at along my chase route. Also, I
was a ham radio operator, N5LTN, and mobile communication with the weather service as well as other
spotters/chasers was essential. Thus, I designed my first “chasemobile"
in 1957 with the aid of fellow ham radio
operator Sam Barricklow, K5KJ. Each year I would add new equipment, but I soon found out that my ideas strongly
outweighed my yearly budget. l soon outgrew my first chasemobile and after the end of 1992 chase season, I chose
a mid-sized 1990 Chevrolet Astro Van
with all wheel drive. It’s powered by a 4.3 liter V6 engine that is considered
large for a V6 but still gets acceptable fuel mileage. The all wheel drive configuration is great when driving on wet
roads and that “occasional" back road. It’s also a popular vehicle which makes getting replacement parts easier in a
small town where most breakdowns seem to occur -rather than in a big city.
Living in Texas with all the extremely hot weather requires extra cooling of all automotive fluids to prolong the
service life of mechanical components. So, I added a higher capacity radiator for the engine. The transmission and
power steering now have external cooling units. The automatic transmission has been modified with the installation
of a shift improvement kit that increases the operating fluid flow of the transmission and creates firmer shifts. I’ve
added wider tires for improved stability and looks as well as safety (more rubber on the road equates to more
stopping power). For better visibility in heavy rain, I’ve installed triple edge blades in a single wiper configuration.
I keep the windows clean even during the chase.
I have
a bank of three amateur radios
mounted in a steel frame between the front seats. With three radios, I can
cover all of the radio spectrum from 2Mhz up to 2Ghz. One radio is an ICOM 275-H two meter all mode transceiver
with 100 watts output. The second is an ICOM 7100 scanning receiver and the other is an ICOM 736 HF, a six
meter all mode transceiver with 100 watts output. The radios allows me to send and receive information and is
especially helpful during severe weather events. I can scan frequencies and listen to other ham radio operators, fire
and law enforcement personnel, TV broadcasting services, aircraft communications, and NOAA weather radio.
Behind the radios is my 9" color TV with built-in VCR for viewing and recording local TV weather reports/radars,
viewing amateur TV repeaters that have local weather radars during severe weather events, and viewing THE
WEATHER CHANNEL broadcast while on the road via an RCA DSS satellite system. The system requires an 18"
dish which I have mounted on the rear end of the van on a pole welded to my trailer hitch; and I’ve made it easily
removable/adjustable.
Behind the front seat I removed the original bench seat and replaced it with a cut down version of a 19" rack mount
equipment cabinet. I added a table top to set up
the portable PC computer,
external 15" color CRT monitor, color
printer, and work space to analyze weather maps. Inside the cabinet is my cellular phone, the RCA satellite receiver,
power amplifiers for my amateur radios, a 550 watt DC to AC power converter and DC power distribution blocks.
From
the drivers seat,
I’ve installed a dash mounted electronic automotive compass used for navigational purposes. I
am currently working on setting up a global positioning system (GPS) with moving map navigation software. l also
mounted my Hi-8 Canon L-1 video camera on a modified Bogen monopod that is secured to the dash and has
vibration dampers. The tripod has a mini fluid head for smooth pans and tilts. I normally have a wide angle lens
attached to the camera and record continuously during severe weather episodes. The whole assembly mounts into by
steel rack that holds my radios. I employ a small external LCD screen that mounts on the console to monitor what
I’m recording.
I have seven antennas on the vehicle. The two meter vertical is a 7/8 wave antenna with 5.2 dbZ gain and is 62.6"
tall used to talk with other amateur operators during SKYWARN operations. The scanner antenna by Diamond,
model D505 with built-in preamp, is 24" tall and is used to monitor amateur radio nets, fire, law enforcement and
NOAA weather radio. The tri-band antenna by Comet, model SB-83, covers two meters and cellular and is 35" tall.
I have an egg-beater antenna for two meter sideband (SSB) mode and is used to talk long distances as well as being
designed for horizontal polarization for TV reception. A six meter SQLOOP antenna is for 50Mhz SSB horizontal
use and the HF antenna is used for long distance communications. The van was photographed extensively by the
TWISTER folks in March, 1995 to incorporate such features in their chasemobiles in the movie.
A “Second Season" Chase: September 18, 1996 Oklahoma Panhandle Tornados
by Jon Davies
Surprisingly, I’ve never seen a tornado in late summer or fall before, in what some people call the
“second season" as systems transition between summer and winter in the plains. I’ve missed several late
year tornados in the Kansas/Oklahoma area, including the September 5 tornado in east Wichita in 1992.
But this year finally changed that.
The evening of September 17 had seen several tornados in the northern Texas panhandle, and on
the 18th an even stronger upper level disturbance was coming out across the same general area. However,
a fly was in the ointment... The prior evening’s storms had become an elongated convective complex
moving across Kansas, Oklahoma, and northwest Texas on the morning of the 18th, sweeping out some
moisture and cooling surface temperatures ahead of the next system. Still, the panhandle area and south-
west Kansas looked to have enough sunshine and instability behind the convective complex to possibly
get some good storms going. The progged upper system had good dynamics with strong winds and
vertical wind shear through mid-levels to help shape up potential storms. Good turning in the wind
profile in low-levels also suggested potential for updraft rotation. Photographer and writer Jim Reed and
myself decided to give it a shot, leaving Wichita in Jim’s Ford Explorer around mid morning.
Because dew points seemed to be higher in the central and southern Texas panhandle, we targeted
this area for potential development, and were greeted by distant anvils as we approached Shamrock in the
eastern Texas panhandle. But as we moved closer, we saw that the anvils were only tops of dying updrafts,
the budding storms being snuffed out by cool stable easterly outflow behind the convective complex now
over southeast Oklahoma and northern Texas. Checking surface obs and forecast upper winds by laptop,
and receiving input by phone from The Weather Channel’s Mike Phelps in Atlanta on his day off, Jim
and I decided to move back north and west to the Oklahoma panhandle. This had been my original
target area from the night before, and an area not so affected by the Oklahoma outflow. Convergence of
surface winds and moisture for initiating potential storms also seemed to be maximized in this area.
Towers and fuzzy-looking cells were visible to our north and west as we passed through Canadian.
But these were so unimpressive that, as Jim and I crossed into the Oklahoma panhandle, we seriously
considered aborting our trip just to get back to Wichita at a decent hour. Yet I noticed an interesting look
to the bottom half of some of the cell updrafts below their fuzzy tops... a somewhat crisper, corkscrew-like
look down lower suggested an environment conducive to updraft rotation. Maybe we should stick around
to see what would happen as the upper wave moved in from the west.
The first cell we passed through heading north and then west from Beaver was nothing more than
a disorganized heavy rain shower that only increased our urge to head home. But with the next cell to
our west southwest, a distant rain free base was visible, sparking our interest. Sure enough, west of Turpin
the updraft base was rotating slowly with a lowering beneath it, and several intense CGs were visible near
the rain core further north. Around 6:45 pm, Jim and I set up position on a dirt road about 4 miles west
of Turpin. We were immediately greeted
with the sight of a sharp funnel (!)
that extended halfway to the
ground for a minute or two. We could not see any circulation or debris at the ground, but the funnel
made a nice photo contrast against the sun’s lighting behind it.
A couple minutes later Jim and I were reminded of one of the foremost dangers in storm chasing.
The CGs had thus far seemed confined to the area near the edge of the rain to our north. But as I was
videotaping next to the vehicle with Jim shooting from the ditch in front of me, a small lightning bolt
struck a power pole maybe 100 ft behind me, emitting a ‘pop’ that sent sparks flying and both of us
scurrying into the Explorer. The fact that we heard an almost immediate crash of thunder (confirmed on
the video’s audio track) suggests that the main bolt was probably a quarter mile away, and that our small
bolt was probably just a side branch of that. But our nervous laughter heard on video shows how shook
up Jim and I were.
Repositioning ourselves to the west edge of Turpin, we watched the lowering associated with the
earlier funnel occlude to the northwest, as a new wall cloud with a short inflow tail formed over Turpin
just to our east. The sun’s light created a faint rainbow over the town, along with gorgeous blues, purples
and browns in the clouds. These colorations and a couple of lightning bolts from the wall cloud itself
made for some memorable images as the cell moved quickly to the northeast and began to lose its
supercell structure.
Our attention now turned to a new cell to our southwest. We dropped south and then west of
Turpin on a blacktop, stopping east of Adams to watch the rain free base several miles to our west and
northwest. My first impression with this storm was that it looked somewhat “gust-oriented"... the base
initially seemed more like a shelf cloud beginning to gust out. But I was wrong. A lowering soon ap-
peared at the north end of the “shelf", and a downdraft clear slot began to notch rapidly into it from the
left. This coupled with cloud elements flowing in from the right suggested rotation. I hollered at Jim
that something might be getting ready to happen, and as I spoke a funnel appeared and descended toward
the ground...
a tornado around 8 miles west southwest of Turpin
at 8 pm! It appeared to make ground
contact for around a minute or so.
Just as rapidly as it formed, the small cone dissipated, but the storm’s classic structure was really
shaping up. The wall cloud and rear flank downdraft sharpened, topped by a short crisp tower visible
through fragments of lower clouds and a trailing flanking line. It was dusk and getting hard to see, yet
refracted sunlight lit the storm’s tower beautifully. Surprisingly, there was very little anvil visible and no
back shearing.
About 8 minutes had passed since the first tornado when the wall cloud began to occlude, and
lightning illuminated a new lowering with a pointed inflow tail on its northeast side. This time Jim
hollered at me... another tornado was down from the new wall cloud! Squinting in the half light at 8:10
p.m., I could just barely see it.
Several lightning flashes then backlit the tornado,
which lasted a couple of
minutes and had the appearance of a narrow tree trunk or stove pipe. What seemed to be a small dust
cloud could be seen in the lightning flashes.
Then the condensation funnel lifted,
leaving a sharp needle-like
point above the ground for some thirty seconds before it dissipated.
Unbeknownst to us, chaser Gene Moore was positioned near Baker to our northwest, where he
snapped an excellent close range shot of the second tornado, which later appeared on the Storm Chaser
page on the net. From our position, Jim got several more distant stills by leaving his shutter open 4 to 5
seconds. This was in spite of the fact he had to change film right in the middle of things (!?4!). I was
content to do only video, showing the second tornado backlit by lightning. As the storm moved north-
east, the well-defined tower became increasingly visible as lightning lit it frequently, a pretty but poten-
tially dangerous storm heading toward Liberal.
Jim and I followed the storm into Kansas, phoning a report into the Dodge City NWS when our
cell phone signal was steady. Thankfully for Seward County residents, no more tornados occurred, and
Texas and Beaver Counties in Oklahoma suffered no significant damage from the tornados we observed.
Though the vortices were short-lived, the architecture and sights of a couple very interesting supercells had
made our excursion quite worthwhile. And I had seen my first “second season" tornados! We continued
to take nighttime shots of lowerings and lightning, and finally packed it in for a late pizza around 10
p.m. at Meade.
For me, several reminders came out of this chase. First, the old adage about towers and cell tops
needing to be crisp to suggest severe potential doesn’t always hold... if there is good vertical wind shear
and adequate instability, the storms may well shape up into something crisper and more structured if one
is patient. Second, storm chases can have rapid emotional ups and downs, and it helps to stay cool and
ride these out... Jim and I were so discouraged by the late afternoon look of things we nearly baled out of
our chase. I’m certainly thankful we didn’t. Third, look out for lightning! Enough said there.
Some information about the meteorology of 9/18/96 follows...
Parameters from interpolated 12 hr FD
fest sounding near Liberal (KLBL) at 7 pm
CDT 9/18/96 using KLBL surface ob:
Sfc (at KLBL) 130 deg at 14 kts
6000' MSL 190 deg at 17 kts
9000' MSL 220 deg at 22 kts
12000' MSL 230 deg at 30 kts
18000' MSL 235 deg at 44 kts
24000' MSL 225 deg at 52 kts
(Sfc temp = 69 degF, dewpoint = 66 degF)
(18000' temp = -11 degC)
For a storm moving from roughly
240 deg or 250 deg at around 20 kts
0-3 km helicity = 150-160
observed mid level winds = - 40 kts
storm-relative mid level winds = - 20 kts
Sfc-based Lifted Index = - -7
CAPE = - 2500 J/kg EHI = - 2.5
Above is a hodograph (see Storm Track, Jan.-Feb.1994 for explanation of hodographs and supercell
wind profiles) plotted from the 12 hr FD winds aloft forecast for the Oklahoma panhandle valid 7 pm
CDT on 9/18/96 using the Liberal, KS observed surface wind at roughly the same time. Notice the good
directional turning in the bottom 6000 to 9000 ft, and the strong increase in wind speed through mid-
levels (18000 to 24000 ft). Theoretically, the directional turning in lower levels would help induce updraft
rotation, while the strong winds and wind shear in mid levels would likely help strengthen and shape the
updraft, and serve to move precipitation downwind so as to not undercut the updraft with too much cool
outflow air in low levels. This type of hodograph suggests the potential of supercells with possible torna-
dos, if there is significantly unstable air and a lifting mechanism to help get a good thunderstorm updraft
going.
In this case, surface
convergence boundaries and
an upper level disturbance
helped to trigger storms in
an unstable area of the
Oklahoma panhandle
southwest Kansas
Above is the surface map
for 6 pm CDT on 9/18/96,
showing some surface
features relative to where the
evening tornadoes occurred.
(Thanks in part go to Tim
Vasquez’ Digital Atmosphere
software program.)
AN EVENING WITH ROGER JENSEN by Tim Marshall
Roger Jensen is a living legend in the storm chase world. He is recognized as one of the first chasers in the industrial
age who traveled the back roads of North Dakota and Minnesota just to photograph a thunderstorm. Roger moved
down to Texas this year in order to maximize his photographic opportunities with a longer storm season. He is glad
to be away from the “Siberian Ecstasy" as he calls it. Fellow chasers
Carson Eads, Bruce Haynie, Gene Rhoden and
myself took Roger out to dinner recently
and had a good chat about how chasing was in the early days. Feel free to
correspond with Roger. He is at the Heritage Country Manor Nursing Home, 505 North FM 1417, Sherman, Texas
75090. His phone number is 903-593-1483.
So Roger, give us a little background about where you were born and raised? I was born in Fargo, ND on
September 5, 1933. I stayed up there until the fall of 1945 when my family and I moved north to Lake Park. I lived
a lot of my life out at the farm raising wheat and milking pure breed registered Guernsey’s. Eventually, in the latter
50’s, I went into greenhouse work and truck gardening (selling vegetables from a truck). I worked on the farm for
30 years raising all kinds of vegetables and flowers; anything you could raise and sell in Minnesota. Then, in the
summer of 1974, we gave up the farm and moved to Detroit Lakes where I worked in a turkey processing plant for
11 years,
Tell me, do you still eat turkey? Oh Geez, not unless its awful good. I spent enough time at “Turkey Heaven".
So when did you get interested in storms? Ah, when I was almost born. When I was going to school up in Fargo,
I had a different interest than anyone else around. Most of the kids were scared of them, but when I was 8, 9, 10
years old, I just had a fascination about storms.
What did your mom and dad think of your interest in storms? I was the only one in the family that had an
interest in storms. They thought it was pretty unusual. My mother liked storms pretty good, but my dad didn’t like
them. My three brothers, Gordon, George, and Shannon were not very interested in storms.
When did you start photographing storms? Oh, back in the early 40’s, I started out using Kodak box cameras;
the 120’s and the 616’s, while we were at the farm. I started taking slides when I was working up at Mount Rainier
during the summer of 1952. The camera I have now, a Miranda single lens reflex, I got that in the latter 50’s. I
have Soligar lenses, a 24mm wide angle and a 75-300mm. I sent most of my film to Kodak by mail for processing. I
request card mounts for my slides so I can write on them. I remember the storms in the summers of 46, 47, 48 like
they were yesterday.
Do you have a tripod? No, I just hand hold everything. I can hold the camera pretty steady down to 1/30th of a
second.
What kind of film do you use? I love Kodachrome 64. I like the characteristics of it. it’s got a good color
balance. I always use a warming filter or a skylight filter on all of my photography. For my zoom shots, I use a
polarizer. I love to try to get sequences even if its far away thunderheads.
So when did you go out and start chasing storms? Early 50’s. I took the Desoto out, it was nothing real fancy.
The chase season was from mid-June to mid-August. If you’re lucky the season lasted that long. The last few years
at Detroit Lakes, there wasn’t hardly anything.
When was your first tornadic storm? June 20, 1957,
the Fargo event.
Our farm was about 32 miles east of
Fargo. It was a big and dirty thunderstorm backlit by the sun. I was tied up at the farm and couldn’t chase it. There
was a lot of damage in the Golden Ridge section on the northwest edge of the city of Fargo.
Have you ever corresponded with Dr. Ted Fujita who studied the Fargo event? Oh yeah. They thought I was
his brother there for years. He had three or four different secretaries that knew me. I have his research paper
number 42 on the Fargo tornadoes. I thought he done a really good job on that.
Did you ever hear about the tornadoes at Dallas or Union City? Yeah. Al Moller sent me a paper on the Union
City, Oklahoma tornado back when they were starting to be good chasers.
How did you get to know David Hoadley and STORMTRACK? I don’t know how I found out about Dave or
STORMTRACK. When I became aware of him, I wrote him and started getting STORMTRACK; it was just a
newsletter then. I didn’t become aware of other storm chasers until David Hoadley began publishing
STORMTRACK.
Did you like the TWISTER movie? It was pretty good. I liked the ending with the big wedge tornado.
Tell me about your big tornado day? It was June 28, 1975. I got a mile wide tornado near the town of Felton,
Minnesota. It’s a little farming town about 20 miles northeast of Fargo. That was a Saturday afternoon and severe
weather lasted well into the night. I got up there just because of the thunderstorm activity and the severity of it. I
wasn’t expecting a large tornado but that turned into a doosey. It moved north-northeast at about 5 mph and it was
on the ground at least 25 minutes. There was no tapering to it at all; it was just a great big monstrous thing. It
wiped out about seven or eight farms.
Have your pictures ever been published? Yeah, Yeah, in Tom Grazulis’s Significant Tornadoes book. That book
is a doosey. He sent me a video and a poster at that same time. Dr. Richard Scorer used several of my slides in the
publication CLOUDS OF THE WORLD. I sold him pictures, oodles of pictures back in the 70’s when I was working
at “Turkey Heaven". I have an article in the Correspondence section of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological
Society, Volume 54, No. 1. My wedge tornado appeared on the cover of the Bulletin of the American
Meteorological Society, Volume 58, No.6 along with my lengthy account of the record floods and storms in the
summer of 1975.
Do you have lots of slides? Thousands of them. They are in trays, in boxes. I spent about a month labeling all the
boxes for my move down here.
Have you taken many slides other than storms? Oh god, I’ve taken many pictures of clouds like interesting
cirrus formations - like cirrocumulus. I’ve seen oodles and oodles of cloud formations.
Were you ever interested in meteorology? Yeah, Yeah, it goes along with the interest I had in storms. I learned to
read weather maps from pilot manuals that my brother Gordon got for me back in the 40’s. Gordon was in the
marines. I never did go to any meteorology schools.
What do you think of all this storm chasing mania going on with hundreds and hundreds of people chasing
storms? I’ve been giving this a lot of thought. I hope they are out chasing for the same reasons we are out chasing.
And what is the reason why you chased storms for 45 years? Gosh, its for the awe at what your seeing. I was
born loving storms. I became aware of this by the time I was in the third or fourth grade. l realized right away that I
was different in that way and its been my strongest interest all my life. Geez, I’ve had lots of hobbies and interests in
my life that’s come and went. I liked trains and planes but that lasted for about five or six years.
STORM TRACK CLASSIFIEDS
Sell or swap your wares. Only 25c per word with a 20 word minimum = $5. Quarter page ads are $70, half page ads
are $130, and whole page ads are $250. Send your request for the next issue by February 15, 1997.
StormWatch, Winner: National Weather A.ssociation Media Award. StormWatch, the new official
National Weather Service Advanced Storm Spotting Training Video is now available from the Texas Severe Storm
Association (TESSA). StormWatch introduces the storm spotter and reveals the unique characteristics of the severe
thunderstorm they must know. StormWatch highlights storms which produce deadly lightning, ravaging flash floods,
damaging hail and destructive tornadoes. Send $24.95 plus $2.95 shipping and handling to: TESSA, P.O. Box
122020, Arlington, Texas 76012. Allow 3-5 weeks for delivery. Checks payable to TESSA. No purchase orders
please. (1/97).
NEW RELEASE! THE CHASERS OF TORNADO ALLEY. This is it! The long-awaited sequel to the
award-winning 1991 Public Television documentary CHASING THE WIND. THE CHASERS OF TORNADO
ALLEY tells the true story about storm chasers and how they pursue Nature’s most violent atmospheric
phenomenon, the tornado. A unique tale about the storm chaser’s love for storms and the Great Plains. Hosted and
narrated by TWISTER’S Dean Lindsay. Produced and directed by Martin Lisius. Send check or money order for
$19.95 plus $3.95 shipping and handling to: Prairie Pictures, P.O. Box 122020, Arlington, Texas 76012. Please
allow 3-5 weeks for delivery. No purchase orders please. (3/97)
Chasing the Wind...SPECIAL RELEASE! Since its Public Television premier in 1992, CHASING THE
WIND has become an American favorite. This award-winning documentary produced and directed by Martin Lisius,
is now available on home video through this special release. Ride along with storm chasers as they track the deadly
but elusive tornado across America’s Great Plains. Their strategy and dedication pays off as they intercept one of
the most spectral tornado outbreaks in recent history. CHASING THE WIND is the original storm chase adventure!
Send check or money order for $17.95 plus $3.95 shipping and handling to: Prairie Pictures, P.O. Box 122020,
Arlington, Texas 76012. Please allow 3-5 weeks for delivery. No purchase orders please. (3/97).
Make your own Twisters!!! Working tornado models for sale. Generates a 3-4 foot vortex about one inch in
diameter. This is not a water-based whirlpool. Produces several variations and goes through various stages of
development. Recovers in six seconds. Great educational tool. Mesmerizing entertainment for the off season. Fully
adjustable for experimentation purposes. Comes with instructions. From $40 for basic kit to $200 for turnkey.
Various options available in between. Shipped freight collect. Send money order to Capt. Harlan Trammell,
3090 F Springhill Road, Smyrna, Georgia 30080 or call 770-319-1814 (home) or 404-776-3625 (pager) for details.
Join Cloud 9 Tours for another successful season of storm chasing. Ride along as experienced storm chasers take
you with them to witness the wonders that nature has to offer in prime tornado season. We have state of the art
technology allowing us to get updated weather data on the road. Contact us for details at (405) 447-3171, e-mail is
stormsga)pair.com, or visit us on the internet (world wide web) at: http://www3.pair.com/storms/cld9/html
Stormtalk Book and Stormwatcher Video Set: There are 90 of the 550 original sets left. Once they are
gone, they are gone. The hard bound book lists about 1000 storm chase terms, many are slang. Terms explain the
relevance to storm chasing and key terms are cross referenced in bold type. There are over 100 illustrations, many
sketches are done by David Hoadley. The 45 minute color VHS video shows you the many cloud types that are
explained in the book. The set is $50 post paid. Make check or money order payable to Tim Marshall, 4041
Bordeaux Circle, Flower Mound, Texas 75028. Immediate delivery.
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