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Latest Blog Posts Index:
The peak of spring severe weather season this year was a challenging one, with several big misses and no "catch of the year" to speak of. Despite that, several tornado intercepts and high-speed lightning captures made it a productive 2 months.
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It feels a little strange publishing my end-of-season Plains recap on the same day as one of the better tornadoes of the decade in western Nebraska, but that's storm chasing for you.
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Looking ahead, I see much of the same as we've been experiencing: an active pattern for storms, but nothing standing out as trip-worthy in the Great Plains.
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I don't like making posts like this, but it's really become a significant problem that I have to address. Reddit's r/tornado is a wildly popular forum (subreddit) on the Reddit platform, with 322,000 subscribers as of June 2025.
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Models have been struggling with the upcoming pattern, illustrating why we often can't rely on them beyond 4-5 days during active periods.
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Since our most recent active period ended (with the last chase in the sequence being May 20), some periodic supercell and tornado action has continued, albiet well south and west of traditional chase alley into central Texas and eastern New Mexico.
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I observed a strong tornado directly impacting the town of Grinnell, Kansas.
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Making one more update before this next active period arrives. Models have backed off of the Midwest components of the potent Plains tornado setups shown from Saturday-Monday.
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Peak tornado season is upon us, and accordingly an active period of severe weather in the Plains and Midwest looks to be on our doorstep.
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As models begin entering the peak season time of late May, anticipation ramps up into what period usually produces the best storm chasing events in the Great Plains.
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The first two months of meteorological spring in 2025 were among the most active March/April periods in my career. Chase days comprised half of the month of April! The first Great Plains chase expedition of the year took place on April 27-28, then the month ended with a literal "backyward" supercell that produced one of the best storm structure shows in recent years.
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A trough has been sitting in the west, providing enough flow and inducing enough moisture return for the good chase days in the Texas panhandle. This trough will eject - meaning fully move east out over the Plains and Midwest - starting on Sunday. This will set the stage for a three-day period of good severe storm and tornado potential as this trough's strong upper level winds overspread good moisture at the surface.
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As the Gulf slowly recovers from the previous mega-cold front sweeping across it, moisture return is shown by models to gradually improve as continued upper-level waves ripple across the country in the coming 2 weeks.
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In a typical spring season, most of March is spent looking at models for the first severe weather setups and signs of the permanent arrival of warmer temperatures.
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A top-quality lightning barrage from an elevated supercell in the Cape Girardeau area on Friday, April 4, 2025.
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A quick update to highlight a tornado risk in the Great Plains that kind of snuck up on us. Models have increased the just-in-time moisture return behind yesterday's wave, and are now initiating supercells in southern/central Kansas tomorrow evening/night in a favorable environment for tornadoes.
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The unusually-active early spring continues in the Midwest and South at a level I don't recall seeing before in my career. We have a big tornado setup today in the lower Midwest as a shortwave ejects overtop of good low-level moisture and instability. Following that, a system shown for Wednesday is another with very big tornado outbreak potential across the Midwest and South.
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As the "March of Troughs" continues, models indicate a seemingly-endless series of severe weather episodes every couple of days. This is shown continuing mostly in the southern US, with some potential events having components in both the Plains and Midwest regions.
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I observed two nighttime tornadoes in the St. Louis metro on Friday night. The first was a rain-wrapped tornado producing power flashes in Arnold and Oakville, Missouri. The next was the start of a significant tornado in Mascoutah, Illinois that passed within 2 miles of home.
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The Midwest's first big severe weather day will be tomorrow (Friday) evening as the big upper trough approaches, spreading fast upper-level winds overtop of surging low-level moisture.
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March is shaping up to be an active month for severe weather as multiple troughs (jet stream waves) move across the United States in succession. It's been one right after another, and models indicate this will continue for the forseeable future.
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It's that time of year again! We've made it through another meteorological winter, can you believe it?! I think I speak for most in that I'm more happy than usual that we're headed into the season of green trees and grass, warm air, longer days and most importantly to storm chasers, storms!
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PENSACOLA, FL - A record-breaking, unprecedented winter storm impacted the Gulf Coast from January 20-22. This is a log of the trip to cover this event in the capacity of a storm chaser/news cameraman.
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December maintained 2024's track record of active weather right up to the very end of the year. The month featured the full spectrum of weather including lightning, hail, a tornado and several rounds of winter precip.
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November was a quiet month for storms and weather in the lower Midwest, punctuated by a couple of heavy rain/thunderstorm events. The first snow of the season arrived on the last day of the month.
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September and October of 2024 were very quiet in the Midwest for thunderstorms and severe weather. Celestial events made up for the dry spell, with several significant aurora outbursts and a rare comet appearance providing several days of night sky shooting.
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In January 2025, I'll pass the 15-year mark as a Midwesterner living in the small town of New Baden, Illinois on the east side of the St. Louis metro area. In this view, you can see the interstate leading to the Gateway Arch 29 miles in the distance - giving you an idea of all of the reasons I picked this as my new hometown in 2010.
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I went into downtown St. Louis five times for Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS from October 13-17, successfully capturing the comet on the second through fifth outings.
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