When people say I'm "going on vacation" to go storm chasing, I always correct them. This is not a vacation. It's an adventure. There is no controlled environment. It's not an amusement park. Mother Nature has no safeword. Stuff happens, and you don't know how/when/where it will end. This is what makes storm chasing so unique, as well as simultaneously addictive and terrifying. Today's chase was definitely an adventure. Both vehicles got stuck in the mud in the middle of a storm that eventually passed over us. Thankfully some other chasers (The Core-Punchers) were able to get Brad's van out. Van 1 wasn't so lucky. A tow truck had to come and pull it out and it took 4 hours apparently.
George and Charles stayed with the van while the rest of us walked down the mud road with nothing but the clothes on our backs. We thought it would be a few minutes. We didn't have any of our stuff. I just had the GoPro. Ray didn't even have his shoes. It was actually a nice walk. We could hear storms in the distance and frogs croaking. The mud between my toes felt nice. I felt very one with nature. It was a peaceful moment.
Charles and the Core Punchers caught up to us and brought us to the highway. Charles called Brad to pick us up and we gunned it down to Throckmorton where we saw a wedge tornado which was apparently a mile wide. We also ended up in "the bear's cage" and if I hadn't been so dehydrated then I probably would have peed my pants.
Tomorrow will be another crazy day. This time I'll have all my cameras with me so I can better document it all. Now I need to recharge all my gear as well as all my adrenaline.
This is a screen-grab from Andre Belisle's iPhone footage. With the contrast increased, you can really see the outline of the wedge.
George and Charles stayed with the van while the rest of us walked down the mud road with nothing but the clothes on our backs. We thought it would be a few minutes. We didn't have any of our stuff. I just had the GoPro. Ray didn't even have his shoes. It was actually a nice walk. We could hear storms in the distance and frogs croaking. The mud between my toes felt nice. I felt very one with nature. It was a peaceful moment.
Charles and the Core Punchers caught up to us and brought us to the highway. Charles called Brad to pick us up and we gunned it down to Throckmorton where we saw a wedge tornado which was apparently a mile wide. We also ended up in "the bear's cage" and if I hadn't been so dehydrated then I probably would have peed my pants.
Tomorrow will be another crazy day. This time I'll have all my cameras with me so I can better document it all. Now I need to recharge all my gear as well as all my adrenaline.
This is a screen-grab from Andre Belisle's iPhone footage. With the contrast increased, you can really see the outline of the wedge.
Here is the video I edited together. I was wearing my GoPro the whole time and was freaking out a little in the back of the van. The video quality is quite poor, due to it being shot vertically, on an iPhone.
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