Tornado Week with no tornadoes

Well, the weather is not going to improve for stormchasers, so if you are bored, it looks like the following week will be a decent week for television. The Weather Channel is having their annual "Tornado Week" which means that every episode about every tornado will be on for a week! All you tornado fans can tune in while we wait to see if Mother Nature will coooperate with the Vortex2 project.
And on that note...Mike bettes, I cannot tell you how bad I feel for you. This has to be so frustrating! You have done an amazing job out there this past two weeks, and our short contacts have been great. We are watching and hoping for success for you and the whole team!
For those of you that are not up on the Vortex2 project, shame on you! Visit www.weather.com/vortex2 and check it out. make sure you tune in for Mike's live streaming each day too!

Bored storm chasers

Well, the episodes on the Chase Team have been really well done. Adam Lefkoe has outdone himself and we have gotten a lot of great comments. It seems that there are some stormchasers out there that are incredibly bored today and so have been badmouthing the videos and the team and the drivers personally all day. Too bad it is so sunny, they have nothing better to do. It is the ugly side of stormchasing; stormchasers are a relatively decent community of folks, but there are some that really feel called to determine how it shuld be done, who should do it, and of course, attack the minute they see someone do it differently or with a different purpose.

Its sad actually, being that we have been the team that has offered so much assistance to so many chasers as they have travelled, broken down, needed a place to stay, etc. Sunny weather always depresses a chaser, but this is probably the worst part of it all- the ignorance of some that really need to check themselves and use caution when they speak.

I wish them all the best of luck chasing this year, but more importantly, I hope that maturity begins to play a role in their lives. To the rest of you I wish to thank you for the kind words, the support and the attendance at our events over the years.

It's a bad day for storm chasers

Nothing but sunny weather and truck repairs. The Vortex2 crew is at the lake sunning themselves and we have a truck torn apart. Maybe a chase in our future in eastern Kansas in a few days? We'll see a few thunderstorms tomorrow night up around the North Dakota border but nothing to blog about I am sure.
If you did not see last night's episode of Chasing4Life, go to http://www.chaseteamfanclub.com/videos.html and check it out before tonight's episode airs! Do not forget...!) 10 PM tonight on KHASTV or visit the fan club site to see Part two in the morning. Part Three airs on Wednesday night!

More pics

More pics

More of Cory's Pics

Cory's out with Vortex2 in Ogallala

Vortex2 in Nebraska

Cory is out tonight in Ogallala with all the Vortex2 vehicles. Kind of exciting to know they are all here in Nebraska. We'll be posting pictures soon.

Next Chase...

Looking good for Wednesday night and Thursday for chasing. Vortex2 team came into Nebraska this afternoon- Mike is GREAT to listen to, if you have not had a chance, make some time at noon tomorrow to watch his live streaming- he is funny and very enjoyable. The team is ready for whatever comes, we will definitely keep you informed. Welcome to Nebraska, Mike, and we wish you guys the VERY best of luck and absolute safety while you are here. Find a steak and enjoy tomorrow...on Wednesday you find out what Nebraska is all about!

Happy Birthday Bill!

May 15 Chase

If you would like to view some footage from our Pete McConnell's May 15th storm chase down in Kansas, go to http://severewxchaser.com/051509ks. Here's some of his notes:

I left Hastings at @ 9 am on Friday to head for an initial target of Newton Kansas. Newton is @ 25 miles north of Wichita. By the time I approached Newton I was advised that the target was closer to Wichita. Waited in Wichita for storm initiation. Storms started firing along the cold front at @ 3:45, so I went west toward New Hope to intercept a supercell which quickly developed a mesocyclone with obvious rotation. Had to move back east a little to a town called Andale. Sat sipping a pop with some locals waiting for the storm. The beautiful part about this day was that the storm motion was very slow, so it was easy to get set up. I was able to see the updraft very clearly as it came toward me. The tornado warning was issued. Myself and every stormchaser in the western hemisphere waited in anticipation, but no tornado. Beautiful storm structure from start to finish. Long drive home and ready for next decent set up. Pete

Safeguarding your home

Jim Cantore was showing the damage to the homes in Missouri where Dan was yesterday and he was pointing out the vulnerability of garage doors and why so many of those homes "failed". During his piece he took us to a great website you should all visit- check out http://www.flash.org/activity.cfm?currentPeril=3 to see how you can safeguard your family and your home. A website really worth visiting!

Kirksville...

The day started early yesterday and ran late. With the chase beginning in Litchfield, Dan followed the set up and ended up just east of the Kirksville tornado site. Our sympathies and prayers are with the Kirksville community and surrounding communities that were hit so hard yesterday.

CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENLARGE

Pics and film

It has been a busy several days. On Friday night the team began a long and grueling photo shoot with Chicago photographer Robert Pears. The team gathered in Ravenna, Nebraska in a field backing up to the bluffs and spent a very long Saturday morning getting sunburned but getting the best photos we have ever had! You can check the Chase Team page on the site and the Press page on the site for some of the new pics!

From pictures we went to film as the team was joined by KHAS TV's reporter Adam Lefkoe who went on a storm chase with us Tuesday night after an afternoon of interviews for "Sweeps".

We had a great time with Adam, heading out to Custer County, Nebraska where a tornado did some damage south of Mullen and created a lot of lightning for us to film in the dark.

Late last night brought large hail through Buffalo County for us after we had gotten dried out so we were out again taking pics until about 2:30 am when it was time for Dan to leave for Illinois to catch the storms there.

Whew!

Possibly a good day...

It's fun watching $11.9 Million dollar Vortex2 leaving Norman a few hours before the storm hits there. Don't get me wrong, I feel bad for Mike and the gang sitting in Custer Country Oklahoma knowing they left where the storm was coming, but it makes me feel good to know that their budget vs. our budget seems to make no difference sometimes. Now I don't think I am so stupid. Man, it is frustrating when you leave an area to find you made the wrong decision!
Today I hope we do better. Gonna head to Lexington later this afternoon and then start watching the cap hoping it breaks for us. If not, we are gonna be up around Broken Bow late in the afternoon and looking toward a muddy gravel road night!
We are Twittering now, so watch for the new fan club site and you can get to it from there or check Twitter for Chasing4Life today and start following!

A year has gone by. Please stop by CheyenneNight.com and hit the blog today. We are never guaranteed tomorrow, so do what you can today.

According to the latest reports, Kent Boughton is doing better and listed in serious condition. You can follow his progress at www.nebraska.tv

Kent Boughton

(NTV Photo)


"The other weather guy is right over there!"

We heard that all day yesterday. The Chasing4Life Team was out at the Eustis-Farnum School in Eustis, Nebraska all day yesterday at their annual "Sod-House Days" showing off the trucks and talking about severe weather safety.

What the kids were referring to was that Nebraska NTV Weatherman Kent Boughton was also at the event. Kent is a well-respected weather personality in these parts and kind of an "icon" now in Nebraska television. The kids were so excited to see Kent and talked about him all day as they visited by our trucks.


After the event, we packed it up and headed west to an evening event, but on the way, heard reports of a serious accident to the east toward Axtell, Nebraska. We were shocked to find out this morning that Kent had been in a serious accident.


According to NTV News, the station's Chief Forecaster is still hospitalized with injuries from an accident occured around 3 p.m. on Highway 6 and 34, about a mile west of Axtell.
Kent's vehicle collided with a semi-trailer truck.


An Air Care Helicopter transported Boughton from the accident scene to Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. He underwent surgery on the hip that last late into the night. Boughton is currently in intensive care and cannot receive visitors. However, he is expected to make a full recovery.


Kent, the team is praying for your quick recovery.

To find out more about Kent, visit http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/story.asp?S=6910584