Chase2004 by Dave Sills

The following is an account of my first storm chasing trip to the US, complete with photographs, video captures and other goodies. Enjoy but beware – it’s long and full of chaser jargon. If you think you might like to try some storm chasing yourself, that’s great. But please take the time to learn about severe storms and chase safety first. Chuck Doswell’s web essay “Storm Chasing with Safety, Courtesy, and Responsibility“ is a great place to start.

Cast of Characters

Chase Partners: Mark Robinson, Sarah Scriver

Chase Caravan: Dave Lewison and Chris Kridler, Scott McPartland and Pete Ventre, Rich Cenci. Eric Bucsela

Cameo Chaser Appearances: George Kourounis, Charles Edwards, Ron Gravelle, Jack Kertzie, Jim Leonard,

Dave Patrick, Kurt Hulst and David Diehl, Steve Mayne, Bob Berry

Chase2004 Chapters
The Long Wait – run-up to the chase
Day 1 – Off to Iowa 2004 05 08 ON to IA
Day 2 - Up to Minnesota?? 2004 05 09 IA to MN
Day 3 - Scott, Peter and “The Twister”? 2004 05 10 MN to NE
Day 4 - The Big Bust… 2004 05 11 NE to KS
Day 5 - …Then the Big Event in Harper County! 2004 05 12 KS to OK
Day 6 - Disappointment in Oklahoma (again!) 2004 05 13 OK
Day 7 - A Well-Deserved Rest in Norman 2004 05 14 OK
Day 8 - Rocky’s Big BBQ 2004 05 15 OK to KS
Day 9 – The Hunter Becomes the Hunted 2004 05 16 KS to NE
Day 10 – Back on the Road…to Russell 2004 05 17 NE to KS
Day 11 - Even the storms are tired 2004 05 18 NE to IA
Day 12 – Big Bust #2 2004 05 19 IA
Day 13 - Joliet sounds like a nice place… 2004 05 20 IA to IN
Day 14 – Bring It On Home 2004 05 20 IN to ON
Reflections on one helluva road trip
Photography Notes	I use a beat up old Nikon EM with 50 mm, 28 mm and 70-200 mm zoom lenses. For the trip I used Kodak Elite Chrome Extra Color 100 slide film except on Day 1 when I was finishing up a roll of Kodak Royal Gold 200 print film. I’ve used PhotoShop to get the scanned images to appear as close to the slides as possible – not an easy task for high contrast images. In the end, I’m not a fan of the ‘Extra Color’ film. Some of the slides seem to have an unnatural redness to them. Plus, I found out later that the tonal range in high contrast shots is too much for most scanners to handle.
Videography Notes	For video, I use a Sony TRV-350 D8 Camcorder. It’s great value for the money but picture quality is certainly not top notch. I use Sony Hi8 MP tapes - reliable and relatively cheap.

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Last update on November 16, 2004