April 2011 Record Tornadoes (4/29)

April 2011 went down as the busiest April in history for the sheer number of tornadoes in the United States for that month. The last week in April 2011 also brought one of the deadliest and devastating tornado / severe weather outbreaks in US history. The below diagram is a composite of all the storm reports during a mere one-week period from April 22nd through the 29th. A total of 2,793 severe storm reports were posted by the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) with a staggering 403 tornadoes (red dots), 1,074 hail reports (green dots if 1" or more and black triangles if over 2"), and 1,316 high wind reports (blue dot if 58 MPH or more, black square if 74 MPH or more)!



Unfortunately, this event took a heavy toll on human life and property, including around 300 people killed. The intercept done on April 24, 2011 by myself (see the STORM CHASING section of this web site for details) in Texas was the START of this horrific outbreak. May God be with the families and people affected by this recent disaster.

For my April 24, 2011 chase (also in my STORM CHASING section of my web site), please click the link below to go right to it...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/mwcl2011.htm

First 2011 Central USA Chase (4/24)

Storm chase season 2011 has BEGUN ... So check back often to see my storm chasing plans for 2011. I have finished a short chase trip to Texas as of late April (with the main chase April 24, one chase day out of an extremely active tornado pattern for April of this year).



This first April (weekend) chase yielded at least three tornadoes near Baird and Abilene, Texas ... Hopefully the start of a fantastic chase year. Storm chase 2011 was AMAZONG ... So check my section for storm chasing in 2011 that can be seen by clicking the link that is provided below.

http://www.sky-chaser.com/mwcl2011.htm

For a documentary video of the April 24, 2011 trip storm chasing in Texas, click the link below!

http://www.sky-chaser.com/m12vid1.htm

Saint Patrick's Day (3/17)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to all (March 17) ... Ever wonder what Chicago, Illinois does on Saint Patrick's day? They dye there river a bright GREEN to celebrate!



See these events and much more in my OUTDOORS section of my web site, or jump right to that section by clicking the link for it below...

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

Japan Earthquake & Tsunami (3/11)

What is today's world coming to - 2012 (for real)? A massive (yes another) earthquake series (the strongest one officially measuring at a staggering 9.0) rattled central Japan (near Honshu) on March 10-11.

Since the earthquake was offshore, it also generated a destructive tsumami that struck the Japanese coast only 10 minutes after the offshore quake. The tsunami also propogated across much of the Pacific ocean with the speed of a jet airliner, affecting many islands (including Hawaii) and eventually the west coasts of North and South America.



The quake and tsunami caused MANY thousands of deaths and even a nuclear disaster as well. Some disturbing video of the Japan Tsumami can be seen by clicking the link below ... Note: video is courtesy of Russia Today media and is an external link to YouTube and might be time-sensitive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY2HPT7obWE

It's Still Winter Up North (3/5)

Despite it being quite warm down here in Florida and the south, winter is still in full force in the northern part of the country / Canada.



In the images above, the differences in Horseshoe Falls in Canada can be seen between summer (left) and winter (right). See more winter weather photography and subjects in my WINTER section of my web site. You can also check out the link for it below ...

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

Site Video Upgrades (2/22)

Most of the videos for this site has been re-done and upgraded via links to YouTube for a MUCH better resolution and claraity. Basically, the video sections on this site work the same, but should be much better in quality. You still should see an embedded video on the screen. If some video links do not work, please let me know.



The video hosting is on YouTube to releive some load off this site, and offer a far greater resolution than the less-compatible (former) RealMedia format. If you want to jump directly to my channel on YouTube, you can follow the link provided below ...

http://www.YouTube.com/cdcollura

ChaserCon 2011 (2/20)

The National Storm Chaser Convention, or "ChaserCon", takes place in mid-late February each year in the Denver, Colorado area. I attended the convention this year for February 18-20, 2011. This exciting event offers a large storm chaser and scientific collaberation with guest speakers, presentations, vendor area, banquet dinner, and video presentation night. Over 300 storm chasers showed up at this event.



You can also jump right to the area for storm chasing events in 2011, including the storm chaser convention, by clicking the link provided for it below ...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/picnic11.htm

For official information on this event, you can also visit their site at the link below ...

http://www.ChaserCon.com

2011 Everglades Boogie (1/30)

The annual 2011 Everglades Skydiving Boogie took place during the weekend of January 28-30 in Clewiston, Florida. This boogie continues to be a fantastic skydiving event, with multiple aircraft (including a helicopter and "specialty" aircraft), the rare opportunity to ride in an L-39 fighter jet, and a great crowd of skydivers to boot!



Year after year, it continues to be an awesome event, put together by the great folks at Air Adventures! You can check out this event, along with many others, in my SKYDIVING section of my web site. You can also jump right to the link by clicking link provided below ...

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

FL Tornadic Supercell (1/25)

The first major chase of 2011 was on January 25, 2011 with the interception of a tornadic supercell storm to the south of Sebring, FL in Highlands County. The storm was developing ahead of a squall line of severe storms and quite possibly produced the first tornado to be observed in 2011!



I have pictures posted in my local chase log in the STORM CHASING section of my site, and you can click the link provided for it below to jump right to that section.

http://www.sky-chaser.com/stplog4.htm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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