Landspout funnel cloud/tornado 7/29/2011 @ DeKalb, IL 5:30pm

Today was quite interesting to say the least. I was sitting on my couch eating dinner and I thought I heard the sirens going off. This was a bit confusing because A. I am quite deaf and wasn't sure if that was I was hearing or what. B. It was sunny and partly cloudy at best. C. I've been looking at radar all day and have seen no reason for concern. So, I decided to go out and investigate what was going on. I was in my shorts and bare feet. I saw a few people taking pictures of the sky and standing around. So, I strolled up to the people and followed suite and.... WHOA!!! It was a big ol' white funnel cloud about a mile away moving towards me. I took off running back to my apartment to grab my phone and camera but, alas, it was too late. The funnel began to rope out and dissipate leaving me with no video or pictures.  I jumped in my car and went after it but it was a waste. There was simply nothing to chase. No structure. No inflow. Nothing but a cumulus blob that was less than impressive. It was just a case of strong instability and the stretching of the updraft. Rare in this area but quite common in NE Colorado. Either way, it was amazing to see. The surprise factor was outstanding.

My friend Kyle snapped this from downtown DeKalb.

First Storm for the New Blog 7/27/2011 DeKalb, IL

So, I decided to create a blog because facebook is getting a bit heavy and the photo interface is getting quite annoying. This will be a blog of my storm chases, nature photos (amateur at best), and travels....

This first post is from 7/27/2011 DeKalb, IL @9am. A somewhat surprisingly non-severe photogenic shelf cloud/wave strolled through the area this morning. It wasn't very exciting but it was quite beautiful anyways. I was sitting at home and decided at the last minute to run and grab some photos. Man.... am I glad. Either way, I like hump-day surprises.

Backside of line