In September of 2025, my work is generating the most income it ever has in my career. Yet, I'm being forced to shut down my successul operation, against my will, due to one cause alone: 95% of that revenue is being stolen by piracy and copyright infringement. I've lost more than $1 million to copyright infringement in the last 15 years, and it's finally brought an end to my professional storm chasing operation. Do not be misled by the lies of infringers, anti-copyright activists and organized piracy cartels. This page is a detailed, evidenced account of my battle I had to undertake to just barely stay in business, and eventually could not overcome. It's a problem faced by all of my colleagues and most other creators in the field.
My third Great Plains storm chase expedition of the season - a 12-day journey - ended on Monday the 27th, with two additional severe weather days in the Midwest to add to the long stretch of consecutive storm chase days. Following the successes of the first couple of days, the rest of the trip was unproductive and frustrating. Starting with the 20th, each day had big potential in model forecasts - but largely fell apart as the storms unfolded. The final tally for the trip was five tornadoes: three in Nebraska on the 17th and two in Texas on the 20th. Though most of the trip was a letdown, the first day was excellent in quality. So, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
A summary of all of the individual days is in the works, including GPS logs, photos, videos and 4-way dashcam timelapses. Stay tuned!
Forecast update 11: I am still tentatively planning a fourth trip the Plains this season if conditions allow. Right now, models don't show any sign of a pattern that would trigger trip #4 anytime soon. In fact, models are in good agreement in the annual summer ridge ending the severe weather season in the southern and possibly central Great Plains. This southern Plains "death ridge" would mean if we do get another trough, it may end up providing only opportunities farther north into Nebraska and the Dakotas. As with any big season where I have logged a lot of days (and spent a lot on travel), the bar is pretty high for a system to be worthy of a fourth chase. Right now, I don't see any such sign on the horizon.
The following table charts the probabilities for a Plains storm chase expedition taking place for the date ranges shown:
2019 Plains Storm Expeditions - Probabilities as of May 29
Web Site Design and Internet Marketing by CIS Internet
From Dan: Please Read
To my regular readers, I offer my apologies for this heavy-handed notice. Unfortunately it has become necessary, so please bear with me!
Please don't copy/upload this site's content to social media or other web sites. Those copies have been a critical problem for me, seriously harming this site and my photography/storm chasing operation by diverting traffic, viewers, engagement and income. "Credit" and "exposure" does not benefit this site or my operation, rather they threaten my ability to cover my operating expenses. Please read my full explanation for this notice here.
Before continuing, check each box to agree to and acknowledge these two statements:
Click this button to finalize this acknowledgement:
