Last May I had a freak episode where I suddenly collapsed on the Cafe Brazil tiles. Nobody really reacted, thinking I was just another drunk… especially when I kept repeating “I’m not drunk.” All sense of equilibrium went to Gonesville which stimulated some awesome nausea and the days to follow were like living in that wobbly fun house. The diagnosis was inner ear damage (Thanks Dr. Winston) and in the safety of my bed I checked the latest jet stream progs… holy cow! Three days of severe storms in good chase country starting tomorrow!!!
Problem 1: I cant stand up without falling down.
Problem 2: My drivers license had just been revoked.
Problem 3: I had warrants for my arrest in Kansas and Arkansas (I get a lot of speeding tickets folks) both of which were in the target area.
Problem 4: I’d be driving across the country without a nights sleep.
Problem 5: (the biggest one) My girlfriend knows all these things and to prevent me from leaving sits in the car REFUSING to shut the car door.
The forces of nature screamed “DONT GO!” All except one… The strongest one of all… My love for photographing severe weather.
Solution to problem 1: Don’t stand up… just drive.
Solution to problem 2: Drive under the speed limit no matter what.
Solution to problem 3: See above
Solution to problem 4: Drive as far as you can, pull over and get 1.5 hours of sleep, gas station coffee and sun flower seeds. (Little trick folks… Sun flower seeds keep you awake as long as you can eat em… seriously, try it… thank me later.)
Solution to problem 5: Get a new girlfriend.
FYI. Day 1 of the chase I lost my rear windshield to giant hail. One cardboard box, 2 rolls of duct tape and 12 hours later I was chasing a fantastic long-track supercell in Oklahoma and intercepted a tiny tornado near Piedmont, and Day 3 I intercepted a nasty tornado in Jetmore Kansas (seen above) and that evening captured fantastic lightning striking through orange mammatus clouds and rainbows near Dodge City. The footage from these 3 days aired all over the USA and The Weather Channel is using it for a documentary.
Here’s the hail video