STORM CHASING
Prior to 2001 most of my storm chasing was unorganized and undocumented, except for occasional old school 35mm photos of the chase experiences. I owned no video camera and kept scant hand written notes of some of the chases. In fact, what I would consider actual chases occurred far and few as I tended to wait for storms to come to me wherever I might be at any time. If I could choose one particular point in time that I could label as my first "official" storm chase it would be in July of 1984 (actual date forgotten but memory of the experience very vivid) chasing monsoon season thunderstorms in the San Bernardino Mtns of Southern California. I had numerous chases during the months of July, August, and September that year and all were very memorable. It was those experiences that made me realize that I needed to be mobile to get more storms. Technology of the day was limited to a cb radio and 35mm slr camera. My forecasting knowledge was zero and I relied 100% on local news for my forecasting.
Even after my epiphany of storm chasing, the rest of the 80's and 90's were filled with sparse and random chases across Southern California, mostly during monsoon season with a few during significant fall, winter, and spring events. I even ventured out on a few short chases in western Arizona during the monsoon seasons of '89, '90, and '91 while on vacation at various locations along the Colorado River. During the 1990's, as I became more chase-experienced and "informally-knowledgeable" with meteorology, my chasing and overall passion with weather intensified. Chases became more satisfying as I began to "see" far greater than I ever have before. I went from driving through heavy rain and hail and watching lightning to actually noticing structure and behavioral characteristics of the storms. I learned the how's and whys of monsoon season, and local phenomena such as convergence zones, and how they aid in storm development
In December 2000, I purchased my first camcorder, a Sony 8mm Handycam. THAT changed everything. I finally had a significant tool that I could use to document my chases, or any weather event for that matter. A digital camera was added to my arsenal in 2003 allowing me the freedom and flexibility to turn my chasing into an art form. I upgraded my camcorder to a Sony MiniDV Handycam in 2006 which significantly improved the quality of my chasing and weather videos. I also continued to learn more about severe weather and reach out to the online weather community, which enhanced my chasing and overall weather passion.
2008 would eventually become an evolutionary period for my storm chasing as I obtained access to high-speed mobile internet. Finally, on September 8, 2012 I added HD technology to my video recording equipment and the rest was history.