Photo of the (every other) Month - The LP

Here's the Low Precipitation supercell  / perfect storm that occurred on May 16th, 2021 near Sudan Texas.  After dropping the ball on the first 25 minutes of this event, Mother Nature had mercy on me and kept the storm going another couple hours... Ample time for redemption.  

DOWNLOAD EXPIRED

FIRST DRONE FLIGHT

Though completely unprepared on drone basics and operation, I couldn't resist flying mine for the first time toward that storm. I learned that failing to remove the camera gimbal protector completely messes it up. The resulting footage is the goofiest storm video you could possibly imagine AND should debut tonight in a new video scored with "Curb Your Enthusiasm" frolics.  

JUNE 2021

I've been home for two weeks now waiting for June to show a short wave of tornado potential. In Huntington Beach California, I often waited for the perfect wave of the set only to miss out on a ride all together.  So far I've made the right call by not making the 25 hour drive to northern Montana however today's event (that I forecast to be clusters and linear two days ago) could make me regret.   

MY JUNE STORM SEASON HISTORY

In the 2000's and prior, June put on some fantastic shows.  I recall veteran chasers speak of the June dry line tornado outbreaks IN TEXAS.  In 2009 I documented photogenic tornadoes 3 days in a row in Kansas and Nebraska. In 2011 I bagged 3 tornado days in a row in KS & NE, and in 2014 I scored the mother-load 3 days in a row (6-16 Pilger NE, 6-17 Coleridge NE, 6-18 Alpena SD.  That was the end of that.  I have not seen a decent tornado in June since the 18th of 2014!  Hot, high pressure death ridges have been the way of things with sneaky 2% cappy days producing on upslopes and mesoscale boundaries.

So with that, perhaps I should scoop up all the clustered unorganized storms June has been offering rather than wait for real tornado parameters to justify a long, long drive from South Texas. 

Good luck today chasers in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.  (and maybe even Wyoming / Nebraska)   

New Video slated for upload tonight...