First Major Winter Storm In Midwest (11/21)

The first major snow storm (named "Bella" by TWC) affected the Midwestern USA mainly on November 21, 2015. This storm dumped up to 16 inches of snow over a rather narrow path, with my area in the NW Chicago suburbs being close to the maximum swath of this storm.



This was a heavy and wet snowfall that made for a very pretty winter scene, with many trees flocked with the wet snow (left). In the center is the lakefront in Chicago, battered by large waves from the storm. However, this was away (a mere 20 miles) from the snow swath, and notice there is not even a dusting of snow there! Meanwhile, back in the northwest suburbs (right picture), a bench is deeply covered in the "white stuff" after the storm.

Last Storm Chase Of 2015 (11/11)

The last chase of 2015 for me was a local chase in Iowa southeast of Des Moines on November 11, 2015. This was a small chase with a possible rain wrapped tornado observed near Hiteman, Iowa. You can see more details about this chase in my STORM CHASING section of my website under MIDWEST 2015.



You can also click the link below to jump right to the section for storm chasing in 2015 in the central USA...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/mwcl2015.htm

Hurricane Season 2015 Winding Down (11/10)

The Atlantic season will end on November 30, 2015 on a rather quiet note (with no activity as of 11/10). Once again, no major hurricanes affected the mainland USA, with Florida (as well as the rest of the USA) going over a FULL DECADE since a major hurricane strike (winds 111 MPH and higher). The strongest storm in the Atlantic was Joaquin (left image), reaching strong category 4 status in early October 2015, but did not affect any land. The Pacific basin painted a much more grim and violent picture.



With hurricane Patricia (center) in late October being the most powerful tropical system ever observed in the W Hemisphere with sustained winds over 205 MPH (later weakening to 160 MPH before hitting a sparsely populated area of the Mexican coast). A barrage of typhoons also affected the Asian / western Pacific region, such as the near annular storm pictured to the right off Taiwan in late September 2015.

Independence Boogie Near Rochelle IL (7/3)

The annual Independence Boogie is held each year near Rochelle, Illinois at the Chicago Skydiving Center. This year was the first time I attended the event, and it was a blast. Many people attended and aircraft to skydive from ranged from a Skyvan and Otter to a helicopter and hot air balloon.



Be sure to check out my section on SKYDIVING on this web site, as some video of both the raft and balloon jump is featured for this event! You can also jump to the skydiving section by clicking the link for it below...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/skydive.htm

Storm Chasing In Illinois (6/22)

Storm chase season for Spring of 2015 is slowly winding down as we are now officially into Summer 2015. The storm chasing operations led to a successful chase season for the most part (especially in the very start and very end of the season)! The image below was taken near Illinois City, IL on June 22, 2015 and shows a cyclic HP supercell storm producing its second tornado.



Keep up with storm chasing 2015 and many other chases by checking out the STORM CHASING section of my website under MIDWEST 2015. You can also click the link below to jump right to the section for storm chasing in 2015 in the central USA...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/mwcl2015.htm

Violent-Start To 2015 Chase Season (4/9)

Storm chase season is upon us as we are officially in spring 2015. A major tornado intercept was done in Illinois on April 9 at the conclusion of a mini chase trip in Kansas on April 8. The image below is from the deadly and violent (EF-4 strength on the enhanced Fujita scale with winds near 200 MPH) wedge tornado that struck two small towns north of Rochelle, Illinois late on April 9, 2015, killing two people and injuring dozens others.



A full chase log is available for this chase and others to come for 2015 in the STORM CHASING section of my website under MIDWEST 2015. You can also click the link below to jump right to the section for this chase trip to the central USA...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/mwcl2015.htm

New Year 2015 And Storm Chaser Convention (2/15/2015)

It's a new year and I have been extremely busy working up here in the Chicago area for over a year now. I apologize for the lack of updates. The storm chaser convention in Denver, or "ChaserCon", was attended in February 13th until the 15th this year.



More information on this yearly event can be seen in the STORM CHASING EVENTS section of my web site. You can also clicking the link provided for it below...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/picnic15.htm

Jim Leonard Passes Away (11/3)

On November 3, 2014 at the age of 64. He passed away peacefully (with his sister and best friend / chase partner Mike Theiss beside him) after a long battle with cancer and ataxia (a degenerative neurological condition). Jim was one of the most influential and inspiring people known to the chasing community. He has pioneered typhoon and hurricane chasing, as well as mastering tornado alley's storms for many years.



Many of us storm chasers knew about him, and many of us were lucky enough to meet him. In the images above, you can see him hosting his annual storm / hurricane chasing get-together and BBQ in the Florida keys in 2009 and 2010 among many other times (mastering the "grill" as well)! He will not be forgotten and certainly has inspired many ... And now he can be on EVERY storm!

Please take some time to visit my STORM CHASING EVENTS section of my web site, as you can see him in many of those areas. You can jump to these sections by clicking the link for 2009 below...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/picnic09.htm

Or by visiting the link for events in 2010 below as well......

http://www.sky-chaser.com/picnic10.htm

Hurricane Gonzalo Hits Bermuda (10/17)

Hurricane "Gonzalo" was a powerful hurricane that reached category-4 strength over the tropical north Atlantic in mid October 2014, with sustained winds of 145 MPH. The rather quiet Atlantic season came to life with this storm, which affected Antigua and eventually Bermuda, with the storm eye passing right over the island during the night of October 17 as a strong category 2 storm.



I did NOT chase this storm, but watched the amazing path, with the two images above (IR satellite to the left, and Bermuda radar reflectivity to the right) showing the island of Bermuda (also circled) in the core / eye of the hurricane for some time. Damage was mainly to power poles, signs, and trees on the island - With no deaths, which was very fortunate.

Aerobatics In Extra 300L (10/5)

See a real interesting flight I took on an Extra 300L aerobatic plane at Gauntlet Warbirds in Sugar Grove, IL in early October 2014. This is one of the premiere aerobatic aircraft introduced into this country from Germany in the 1990's.



More about this flight and many others can be seen in the FLYING section of my web site. You can jump right to a video of this flight via the link for it below.

http://www.sky-chaser.com/flygwvid.htm