Point Roberts Wind Storm

EDIT: My Periscope stream was actually saved. The sound wasn't recorded, but I did get some great shots of the flooding.

Check out the link below.
https://www.pscp.tv/thatchaserchick/1dRKZbErEvvKB


The lower mainland doesn't get much in the way of severe weather but

on this rare occasion, I was able to chase a wind storm in Point Roberts. There was a wind warning, with 100km/hr winds in the forecast. 

It was dark when the winds were strongest, but here is what it was doing to my hair. https://twitter.com/thatchaserchick/status/955082312395276288/video/1

I did some live streaming over Periscope. After the whole Jeff Piotrowski's popularity with the #blueshed during Hurricane Harvey, I figured live streaming was where it was at. And I guess it can be, if you have good reception, but my stream ended up having no sound.. and I didn't realize the streams get deleted after 24 hours. The unfortunate situation was that I ended up streaming more than I did shooting with my actual camera. I got a lot of newsworthy shots of flooding on the roads and in and around people's homes, but it was with the Periscope stream -which had no sound and was deleted a day later. 

All in all though, I picked a good spot, since I got barely and precip. The only water I was hit with was seawater. 

What was unique about this situation was that I took a date with me. He said he wanted to "do something out in nature", so I brought him along for the ride. Even though he likes thunderstorms (and even sort of chased a tornado last year near his hometown in Alberta), I don't think he knew the extent of what he was signing up for when I picked him up at 5am this morning. He hadn't eaten. He wasn't dressed warm enough or wearing anything water resistant. He took it like a champ though. 

There were times where I could tell he was physically uncomfortable and wanted it to be over.. But he didn't explicitly tell me to stop, so I kept going because it felt good. Though, this was the reason I actually didn't take any photos and didn't shoot that much video with my good camera -because I was so aware of him just standing there, covering his ears with this pained expression on his face as the wind cut through him. He was a good sport though. At one point, he held my gear for me while I was live streaming. I appreciated that.

When I bought him breakfast afterwards and then drove him home, he was like.. "That was fun.. Though I guess I just didn't realize we were going to be out in it for that long.." I kind of laughed and was like.. "I cut it short for you. I could have spent all day out there."

I guess the lesson here is, storm chasing is like sex; if you don't have the right partner, it's way more satisfying to just do it alone.

Here is the video I did manage to get.

Lake Erie Wind Event - October 28th and 29th, 2015

On October 28th, I decided to skip class and ride along with George Kourounis and the Storm Hunters, Jaclyn Whittal and Mark Robinson, from The Weather Network to document the wind and waves at Port Stanley, located on the northern side of Lake Erie. We got hit with what may have been the moisture from the remanence of Hurricane Patricia (there's some debate on whether this was actually the case). The wind felt warm and mild and the water looked like chocolate milk as the sand got churned up. We saw some impressive waves hit the lighthouse.





The next day, on October 29th, George picked me up bright and early and this time we headed down to Crystal Beach, which is near the northeastern tip of Lake Erie. Mark and Jaclyn were already there, and apparently they spotted a waterspout in the distance about 15 minutes before we arrived! It was a shame to miss it, but it was pretty far away and didn't last long. Unlike at Port Stanley, the wind at Crystal Beach was far from mild. With gusts of up to 100km/hr, it was cold and unforgiving. We were also pelted by graupel -snow flakes coated in ice, so essentially pea sized hail flying at your face at almost hurricane force. This didn't seem to phase the surfers though. Like us, they were also in their element but in a different way. It's interesting how people are drawn to severe weather for different reasons and seem to come from all walks of life.

I edited together a little video of both days.