I added this to my section on FLYING as an additional link off that page, as well as my main site page. You can also click the link below to jump right to this new section.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/aeroeng.htm
Monday, December 27, 2010
Aero Engines Section Added (12/26)
I have put together an interesting section on aircraft flight and propulsion principles. It is valuable for any aviation enthusiast, especially students, and has diagrams and illustrations for reference purposes.
I added this to my section on FLYING as an additional link off that page, as well as my main site page. You can also click the link below to jump right to this new section.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/aeroeng.htm
I added this to my section on FLYING as an additional link off that page, as well as my main site page. You can also click the link below to jump right to this new section.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/aeroeng.htm
Lunar Eclipse (12/21)
There was a Lunar eclipse during the overnight hours of December 20-21, 2010 (late night / early morning). In south Florida, the eclipse lasted from roughly 2:30 AM through 3:30 AM EST. Clear and cool conditions made for perfect viewing of the event, where the Earth's shadow is cast on the sun-lit face of the Moon (the opposite of a solar eclipse, where the Moon's shadow is cast on the earth).
Click the link below to see a short video of the event (links to YouTube videos) that has been posted. The video is about 3 minutes.
www.sky-chaser.com/lunevid1.htm
Click the link below to see a short video of the event (links to YouTube videos) that has been posted. The video is about 3 minutes.
www.sky-chaser.com/lunevid1.htm
New 2010 Chase DVD (12/1)
See storm chasing highlights from 2009 AND 2010 in "TWO YEARS OF STORMS" DVD! Nearly two hours of compelling footage starts with two chases in 2009, including June 5th in Nebraska and Wyoming. In 2010 see the devastation and emergency response in Yazoo City, Mississippi, just minutes after a violent tornado struck the town.
Awe at the beautiful storm structure across the Central USA in May 2010. See a mile-wide violent tornado grinding its way across the farmland north of Bowdle, South Dakota, plus many other storms and tornadoes. See Pike's peak in Colorado at over 14,000 feet above sea level, then it's off to Bermuda to chase Hurricane Igor!
For more information and how to order this DVD, please check out the special OFFERS section of my web site, and you can click the link provided for it below to jump right to that section.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/offers12.htm
Awe at the beautiful storm structure across the Central USA in May 2010. See a mile-wide violent tornado grinding its way across the farmland north of Bowdle, South Dakota, plus many other storms and tornadoes. See Pike's peak in Colorado at over 14,000 feet above sea level, then it's off to Bermuda to chase Hurricane Igor!
For more information and how to order this DVD, please check out the special OFFERS section of my web site, and you can click the link provided for it below to jump right to that section.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/offers12.htm
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Hurricane Season Ends (11/30)
The Atlantic hurricane season ended on November 30, 2010. Despite it being the third busiest season in history, NO hurricanes made landfall in the United States. Actually, only weak tropical storms, including Bonnie ever affected the US mainland directly. Anything even worth chasing in the USA was the northern fringes of hurricane Alex (extreme southern Texas in late June), tropical storm Bonnie (near Miami, Florida in late July), and the weak western fringes of hurricane Earl (outer banks of North Carolina in early September).
Major international chases were a bit better, and included hurricanes Alex and Karl in Mexico and hurricane Igor near Bermuda. Other than that, MOST major activity stayed in the far eastern Atlantic with storms recurving out to sea long before reaching any land. My hurricane chasing / tropical weather section is updated each year and is in my STORM CHASING section of my web site, and you can click the link provided for it below to jump right to that section.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/stormc.htm
Major international chases were a bit better, and included hurricanes Alex and Karl in Mexico and hurricane Igor near Bermuda. Other than that, MOST major activity stayed in the far eastern Atlantic with storms recurving out to sea long before reaching any land. My hurricane chasing / tropical weather section is updated each year and is in my STORM CHASING section of my web site, and you can click the link provided for it below to jump right to that section.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/stormc.htm
California For 2-Weeks (11/15)
I just got back from a two week trip to California visiting best friends of mine and enjoying the never-ending outdoor and scenic activities to be had there. I covered all scenic aspects of the state, from Los Angeles to San Francisco, from down to the sea and up to the mountains! If you love the great outdoors, California is the place for you ... Heck, I did so much hiking and outdoor stuff I still lost 10-15 LBs despite drinking lots of wine and eating more!
I posted many pictures in my OUTDOORS section of this web site, and you can click the link provided for it below to jump right to that section.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/outdoors.htm
I posted many pictures in my OUTDOORS section of this web site, and you can click the link provided for it below to jump right to that section.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/outdoors.htm
Skydive From 18,000+ Ft (11/13)
One of the extreme activities I did during my 2-week stay in California was a visit to the Skydive Monterey Bay drop zone. They take jumpers to at least 18,000 feet (supplemental oxygen is available) on many skydives and I have a video of two of them I did.
You can see video of this skydive by clicking the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/skygpv3.htm
You can see video of this skydive by clicking the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/skygpv3.htm
Storm Chase Vehicles (10/25)
You have seen them on the Discovery Channel and may have seen them on the road while chasing in tornado alley. Myself being a storm chaser, I see them nearly every day when I am chasing during tornado / hurricane season. These are the storm chase vehicles, and they range from privately owned cars, to exotic scientific machines, and even aircraft.
Check out this special new section in my STORM CHASING part of this web site, or click the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/chasev.htm
Check out this special new section in my STORM CHASING part of this web site, or click the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/chasev.htm
Wow - Typhoon "Megi" (10/17)
The true violence of a tropical cyclone at maximum intensity is a sight to behold when typhoon "Megi" affected the Phillipines and China a half a world away from the US in the western Pacific basin in mid October 2010. Typhoons are the same systems as hurricanes, just the name if different in that part of the world.
In the image above, typhoon "Megi" reaches maximum intensity as it bears down on the NE coast of the Philippines (Luzon), with insane core winds exceeding 180 MPH with higher gusts. Chasing something like this is like driving into an EF-5 tornado that's 40 miles wide! A handful of chasers intercepted the storm, including James Reynolds (Hong Kong) and Geoff Mackley (Australia). Fortunatly, the landfall area near Davilican Bay was rural and mountainous. This made it hard for any intercepts of the typhoon core there.
In the image above, typhoon "Megi" reaches maximum intensity as it bears down on the NE coast of the Philippines (Luzon), with insane core winds exceeding 180 MPH with higher gusts. Chasing something like this is like driving into an EF-5 tornado that's 40 miles wide! A handful of chasers intercepted the storm, including James Reynolds (Hong Kong) and Geoff Mackley (Australia). Fortunatly, the landfall area near Davilican Bay was rural and mountainous. This made it hard for any intercepts of the typhoon core there.
Hurricane Paule (10/14)
The "good luck" streak for a non-hurricane landfall in 2010 continues with a very small hurricane Paula weaking to a tropical storm over western Cuba around October 14, 2010. Although "good luck" for most people in the USA, this is very "bad luck" for storm chasers seeking hurricanes to intercept. Paula seemed to be a rather promising prospect as the W Carribbean / Gulf of Mexico is normally active in October. Paula was a very small storm with a core flow barely 50 miles wide, even at maximum intensity when it had 100-MPH winds (the hurricane forced winds barely exceeded 15 miles from the center).
In the images above, note that the storm center (depicted by the red "X" in the satellite images) is on the SW side of the central overcast as strong vertical wind shear / mid-level dry air causes Paula to weaken rapidly over western Cuba.
In the images above, note that the storm center (depicted by the red "X" in the satellite images) is on the SW side of the central overcast as strong vertical wind shear / mid-level dry air causes Paula to weaken rapidly over western Cuba.
Skydiving Past Clouds Video (10/2)
Here is another video of a skydive I made using the GoPro "Hero" HD camera. This video shows what it's like to fall through / past a cloud deck (altocumulus undulatus) at speed.
You can see video of this skydive by clicking the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/skygpv2.htm
You can see video of this skydive by clicking the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/skygpv2.htm
Monday, September 27, 2010
Skydiving HD Video (9/26)
With last week's chase of hurricane "Igor" in Bermuda, my new GoPro "Hero" HD camera was indispensible for getting some of the amazing shots. With such a rugged waterproof and stable enclosure, it can be mounted just about anywhere. This time I did one of my "regular" skydives with this tiny tapeless camera affixed to my left wrist. The HD video it captured was awesome, and all extreme sports (skydiving included) are taking advantage of this.
The images above were captured during one of my skydives with the camera on my wrist, offering a unique perspective. You can see video of this skydive by clicking the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/skygpv1.htm
The images above were captured during one of my skydives with the camera on my wrist, offering a unique perspective. You can see video of this skydive by clicking the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/skygpv1.htm
Hurricane Igor Chase (9/21)
I am finished with a pretty successful hurricane Igor interception in the tiny island of Bermuda. The hurricane chase was from Saturday, September 19 through Tuesday, September 21, 2010. I am back in Florida in the United States and I have prepared a chase-log for the storm.
You can see my intercept of hurricane Igor (my chase log for it) by clicking the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/igor10.htm
You can see my intercept of hurricane Igor (my chase log for it) by clicking the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/igor10.htm
Hurricanes 2010 (9/15)
The Atlantic hurricane season of 2010 has been a very active season so far (as of mid September 2010); however, none of the most violent storms have affected land. The above-normal sea surface temperature anomaly in the far eastern Atlantic is producing more hurricanes, but fortunately the development so-far-out east is actually causing the Eastern US to be spared, with hurricane Earl being the closest shave of one of these missing-the-US storms.
In the image above, two powerful hurricanes (Igor and Julia) are raging in the far tropical Atlantic, far from any land. The image to the right is a close-up of the eye of Hurricane Igor at maximum intensity on September 13. None of these storms were affecting anyone at this time; with fish, birds, and whales most likely the only "beings" experiencing the fury of these hurricanes! Even ships do not travel through that part of the ocean very often.
During the Cape Verde season (September), tropical waves normally move off Africa and do not develop into a close circulation until making their way across the ocean (near the Windward Islands). An "open" tropical wave, like a wave in a river going across the current, can propagate THROUGH a trough / weakness in the steering flow (still move WEST although the trade wind flow is SE). Tropical cyclones that develop RIGHT OFF the African coast, often gain latitude (they do NOT move due WEST, but more WNW). This is because a CLOSED low always moves with the flow it’s embedded in (if the trade winds are SE nearing a trough, the low moves NW, not WEST like an "open" tropical wave would).
By the time these systems reach the western Atlantic (near longitude 60 to 65 west or so), they have already missed the northern Antilles / Puerto Rico, and are more susceptible to be picked up by a stronger trough and re-curve into the westerlies and into the North Atlantic. Sometimes the tiny island of Bermuda is affected by these, but a DIRECT hit there is rare.
You can also check my area on tropical weather and any associated activity / chase plans by clicking the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/tropics.htm
In the image above, two powerful hurricanes (Igor and Julia) are raging in the far tropical Atlantic, far from any land. The image to the right is a close-up of the eye of Hurricane Igor at maximum intensity on September 13. None of these storms were affecting anyone at this time; with fish, birds, and whales most likely the only "beings" experiencing the fury of these hurricanes! Even ships do not travel through that part of the ocean very often.
During the Cape Verde season (September), tropical waves normally move off Africa and do not develop into a close circulation until making their way across the ocean (near the Windward Islands). An "open" tropical wave, like a wave in a river going across the current, can propagate THROUGH a trough / weakness in the steering flow (still move WEST although the trade wind flow is SE). Tropical cyclones that develop RIGHT OFF the African coast, often gain latitude (they do NOT move due WEST, but more WNW). This is because a CLOSED low always moves with the flow it’s embedded in (if the trade winds are SE nearing a trough, the low moves NW, not WEST like an "open" tropical wave would).
By the time these systems reach the western Atlantic (near longitude 60 to 65 west or so), they have already missed the northern Antilles / Puerto Rico, and are more susceptible to be picked up by a stronger trough and re-curve into the westerlies and into the North Atlantic. Sometimes the tiny island of Bermuda is affected by these, but a DIRECT hit there is rare.
You can also check my area on tropical weather and any associated activity / chase plans by clicking the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/tropics.htm
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Why No EARL Chase? (9/2)
Hurricane Earl is passing to the east of the outer banks of North Carolina giving folks (and many chasers) there the WEAKER side of the storm (left side), a night-time event, and a weakening system due to shear (strong winds aloft). I was a go for this storm just a day ago, packed up and ready to head to North Carolina from south Florida.
The chase was cancelled at the last minute with both careful consideration and great deliberation. As good as the storm looked early on Thursday, September 2, increasing wind shear caused steady weakening of the system, as well as a jog OFF the coast (no landfall). Storm chasers there, even on Cape Hattaras, should only experience hurricane forced gusts (at best) and big waves, and in total darkness.
You can also check my area on tropical weather and any associated activity / chase plans by clicking the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/tropics.htm
The chase was cancelled at the last minute with both careful consideration and great deliberation. As good as the storm looked early on Thursday, September 2, increasing wind shear caused steady weakening of the system, as well as a jog OFF the coast (no landfall). Storm chasers there, even on Cape Hattaras, should only experience hurricane forced gusts (at best) and big waves, and in total darkness.
You can also check my area on tropical weather and any associated activity / chase plans by clicking the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/tropics.htm
Monday, August 30, 2010
Remembering Katrina (8/28)
August 28 marks the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in the Northern Gulf Coast in 2005. This storm was a devastating storm, with a record storm surge approaching thirty feet in height, that caused massive devastation and loss of life from New Orleans and eastward to Mobile, Alabama.
You can read more about Hurricane "Katrina" in 2005 and see a full chase log / story in the STORM CHASING section of this site. The link to this incredible chase log has also been provided at the link below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/kat05.htm
You can read more about Hurricane "Katrina" in 2005 and see a full chase log / story in the STORM CHASING section of this site. The link to this incredible chase log has also been provided at the link below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/kat05.htm
US Protection? (8/26)
Tropical activity in the far Atlantic basin is picking up quite a bit as of late-August / early-September 2010, however, a persistant trough off the US East coast may deflect any intense activity out to sea for the time-being. Bermuda may offer some very remote chase prospects, but happens to be a very small (and unlucky) target if hit directly.
Right now, the US East coast will remain "vaccinated" from anything coming across the Atlantic. Intense hurricane Danielle and MOST storms behind it may actually follow the same path by recurving out to sea (hurricane chasers call these "fish storms". This pattern is good news for most people, but HORRIBLE news for hurricane chasers, who intercept / study tropical cyclones. But, it "is what it is".
You can also check my area on tropical weather and any associated activity / chase plans by clicking the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/tropics.htm
Right now, the US East coast will remain "vaccinated" from anything coming across the Atlantic. Intense hurricane Danielle and MOST storms behind it may actually follow the same path by recurving out to sea (hurricane chasers call these "fish storms". This pattern is good news for most people, but HORRIBLE news for hurricane chasers, who intercept / study tropical cyclones. But, it "is what it is".
You can also check my area on tropical weather and any associated activity / chase plans by clicking the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/tropics.htm
Remembering Charley (8/13)
Friday the 13th in 2010 marks the 6th anniversary of Hurricane Charley in Punta Gorda, Florida (2004). Hurricane names are re-used every 6 years for the Atlantic basin, unless a storm causes devastation and / or deaths. Hurricane "Charley" was a strong and devastating category 4 storm with 145-150 MPH sustained winds at landfall.
The name "Charley" has been retired and THIS (2010) year's replacement was "Colin", which occurred in early August as a weak and minimal tropical storm and was barely noticed by most. You can read more about Hurricane "Charley" in 2004 and see a full chase log / story in the STORM CHASING section of this site, or click the link to go right to it below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/char04.htm
The name "Charley" has been retired and THIS (2010) year's replacement was "Colin", which occurred in early August as a weak and minimal tropical storm and was barely noticed by most. You can read more about Hurricane "Charley" in 2004 and see a full chase log / story in the STORM CHASING section of this site, or click the link to go right to it below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/char04.htm
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Tropical Storm Bonnie (7/23)
The tropics will continue to get more active as we move into late July and early August. As of July 23, tropical storm Bonnie has formed and hit south Florida as a weak tropical storm. The storm crossed Florida and weakened in the northern Gulf of Mexico a day later.
This system was also my first tropical cyclone intercept of 2010. A chase log for tropical storm Bonnie in July 2010 can be seen by clicking the link provided for it below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/bonn10.htm
You can also check my area on tropical weather and any associated activity / chase plans by clicking the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/tropics.htm
This system was also my first tropical cyclone intercept of 2010. A chase log for tropical storm Bonnie in July 2010 can be seen by clicking the link provided for it below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/bonn10.htm
You can also check my area on tropical weather and any associated activity / chase plans by clicking the link for that area on my web site provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/tropics.htm
Canada Trip (6/20)
With storm chasing done as of the start of June 2010 and hurricane season for the Atlantic basin just around the corner, a trip to Canada was a great get away from Florida. I finished a great trip with a best friend of mine and visited the Niagara Falls / Toronto area for a few days.
You can check out details on my trips to Canada as well as MANY other places by clicking on the link provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/outdoors.htm
You can check out details on my trips to Canada as well as MANY other places by clicking on the link provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/outdoors.htm
Monday, June 14, 2010
Main Central US Chase (6/5)
The third and MAIN storm chase trip to the central USA in 2010 (May 18 through June 1) is completed and a full chase log is finished and available. This trip also boasted some high-risk chasing as well as at least 20 (yes, TWENTY) tornadoes and numerous supercells, some with large hail and / or incredible storm structure.
You can also visit my chase logs for this main chase, as well as others in 2010, in my STORM CHASING area on my web site. The link to jump right to the are for this main chase trip for May 18 through June 1, 2010 is also provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/mwcl2010.htm
You can also visit my chase logs for this main chase, as well as others in 2010, in my STORM CHASING area on my web site. The link to jump right to the are for this main chase trip for May 18 through June 1, 2010 is also provided below.
http://www.sky-chaser.com/mwcl2010.htm
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