Hey all, been awhile since my last blog post but I just opened up a new site with Nate Curtis. If you're interested here's the link: Tornado Handoff
Also I got my first "chase" of the season on Thursday night. Brandon, Ryan and I all ventured down to Kentucky on the ill-fated, over hyped setup that was February 23rd. We didn't get into Kentucky well after sunset but ended up catching one of two severe thunderstorms that night south of Owenton. It was a rough chase because of poorly gridded roads and lots of trees but we got some awesome lightning and thunder out of the storm before it passed. All in all, not a bad start to the season!
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Chase Season 2012: Countdown
As the countdown clock noted, we have roughly 18 days or so until the meteorological spring and chase season 2012 begin. Its kind of hard to believe how close we are considering its cold and windy enough to rip the stubble right off my face. If the GFS stays true to itself from the past couple of 12/00Z runs then the Midwest/Plains will be in the freezer box for another few weeks at least. But relief is on the way. This chase season is shaping up to be my best yet, considering I'll have a car and a some better technology at my disposal. I've been piddling around in terms of looking for a job, but I am starting to buckle down in an attempt to at least get $3000 put away for the first half of chase season. I re-did the costs this year and it comes out to this:
Gas per chase: $100-$150
Internet from April-August: $250
Registration for Indiana Svr Symposium: $35
New site domain: $77.95
Food/Drinks per chase: $50
So if I chased 15 times this year, that'd come out to roughly $3250 just for chasing expenses. But this is all hypothetical and assumes that I'll be doing a lot of long distance chasing. I'd guess the actual expenses for just chasing will be in the $2750 ballpark but thats just me. The registration for the severe symposium and new site domain run about $112. So if I kept a minimum wage job from the second to last week of February to May 1st and worked 20 hours a week I'd only make it to $1305 and I'd prolly spend at least half so $652. If I upped that to 30 hours a week and worked from the second to last week of February to say...the end of the school year/third week of May I'd get $2827 which would definitely fund my chasing. I could swap certain chase days with people at work and that'd get me the money I needed to at least get 10 chases.
So my plan is basically set, work at least 13 weeks/rest of the school year and gain enough money to fund myself from April through the summer hopefully.
Gas per chase: $100-$150
Internet from April-August: $250
Registration for Indiana Svr Symposium: $35
New site domain: $77.95
Food/Drinks per chase: $50
So if I chased 15 times this year, that'd come out to roughly $3250 just for chasing expenses. But this is all hypothetical and assumes that I'll be doing a lot of long distance chasing. I'd guess the actual expenses for just chasing will be in the $2750 ballpark but thats just me. The registration for the severe symposium and new site domain run about $112. So if I kept a minimum wage job from the second to last week of February to May 1st and worked 20 hours a week I'd only make it to $1305 and I'd prolly spend at least half so $652. If I upped that to 30 hours a week and worked from the second to last week of February to say...the end of the school year/third week of May I'd get $2827 which would definitely fund my chasing. I could swap certain chase days with people at work and that'd get me the money I needed to at least get 10 chases.
So my plan is basically set, work at least 13 weeks/rest of the school year and gain enough money to fund myself from April through the summer hopefully.
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