Lighthouse (Palo Duro Canyon) Star Trails

Here are a couple photos from last month of the Lighthouse in Palo Duro Canyon (SE of Amarillo) with some star trail action. Been wanting to get some lighthouse shots after dark for years and made it happen. Brady Kendrick came on the 5 mile round trip hike with me, which got delayed because I forgot my corded trigger in Amarillo and had to go get it. We didnt get to start hiking till around 3 am, but still got a couple hours at the lighthouse to take pictures and watch the sunrise. Really was not too cold for January either.

Models are beginning to hint at another taste of severe weather for next weekend, maybe even Southern Plains area. Euro and GFS are in line so far, but is just a wait and see at this point if a big storm really does dig into the southwest. If that does happen, the moisture return will be the key. Always is this time of year.

Also included a photo from a few days before my Palo night trip that I took down at the Sand Drags on the Canadian River off 287 on January 4th.

It is getting close to that time again!

Storm chasing will be back in full swing within the next couple months. Many have already got there first chase in this year. I even ventured out for some lightning last week and it was a bust till I was 5 miles from home and the lightning finally got going. Looking forward to this year for multiple reasons, but the most important is a stable day job that is flexible when you take time off. Being in Amarillo allows me to stay at work on the close days without wasting leave. Last year was hampered dearly by working night shifts at 2 different jobs where either I couldnt use my annual leave that I had or I didn't have any built up. The chases I did get in were ugly and major wastes of money.

2nd reason I am excited is that I got the parts in to add a roof rack to my Saturn Ion. My camera dome I built last year, that I barely got to use because it only attached to my Jeep that was too expensive to chase in, is going to be out on every chase this year on my Saturn. I wont be able to record HD though unless I want to throw a tape up in there from time to time, but I doubt I will. The camera with a hard drive I tried last year shuts off too easy and wont work, so I am using my older Canon HV-20, which allows me to still stream and aleast record my dome footage in standard def to my computer. At somepoint I will definitely need to get an HD camera up there though.

The 3rd reason I am looking forward to this year is that the TX Panhandles have actually been receiving rain and snow here this year, so I am quite hopeful that the storms will be returning to my home turf and will equal some closer chases this year. Would be ok with gas prices staying high and the combination of the cancellation of "storm chasers" to help keep the less dedicated chasers off the roads this year so it wont be so crowded. If anything the prices will get everyone to partner up and reduce the traffic. Not that it really matters to me, because I pick such weird targets the number of chasers around tends to be quite low. I tend to like the risky targets, but that is generally the ones with the highest reward (when it comes to the best possible photos).

June 1st chase

Been a rough season so far, between the limited number of tornadoes west of I-35 and my work schedule, I have yet to bag a tornado this year. First time since 2006 I have gone this far into the season without a tornado (never got one in 2006).

I think today will atleast get me on a storm, which has been hard to do this year. Some ingredients are there that I think might make it a pretty good sleeper day, maybe even a tornado is possible, but i am not planning on that. Should be some slow moving big storms, so atleast it might be enjoyable to get out there again and maybe even get a few good pictures. Only downside is the potential target areas are pretty bad when it comes to roads, but thats why I own a 4x4 Jeep.

Bescor MP-101 Mod/Hack to do 360 Degrees of Rotation

Just got my Bescor MP101 (motorized pan/tilt camera head) and started to hack it right away. Very simple preocess that I figured out on my own for the most part. All you have to do is pellthe rubber mat back, remove 7 screws and cut a plastic tab off. For the more detail instructions, check out this page - http://owlsp.com/mp101mod.html.

This is going to be my camera mount for my streaming dome camera that will also be recording HD video. Will have some test footage in a few weeks once my dome comes in.

Help me win a 3 free nights in Jamaica!

For those of you on Facebook, please "like" my photo. Contest closes the 10th at 9 am and I could win a free 3 night stay in Jamaica. All you have to do is like "Secrets Wild Orchid" at this page:http://www.facebook.com/SecretsWildOrchid and then "like" my photo here: http://on.fb.me/g9H9Yb.

Thanks

Here is the photo you are voting on:

Winter has arrived for the Southern Plains

We had a sorta unexpected snow storm in the Panhandle. Most the models had very little snow or mostly no snow around Amarillo. That was a little off as we recieved nearly 5 inches, which I slept through most. It was a very heavy snow from what I saw for the few minutes I was awake, which aided in such a high total for the barely freezing temps and the short period it snowed. Most of the trees around here were stilled loaded with leaves, when combined with that heavy, wet snow it made the area look like a ice storm had slammed the area. Trees of all sizes were missing limbs all over town, which caused power loses to about 5000 people.

The other side to that storm that is interesting is that it came in a La Nina year. For the Panhandle it normally means warmer temps and less precip, which equals less snow for an area that averages less than 20 inches per year as it is. So not only was it an early snow storm for around here, but it came in a year that we shouldn't expect much as it is. So much for expectations.

Summer has definitely left!

Walked out to a chill in the air this morning in Amarillo and realized fall had finally made its debut. Severe weather does not look likely anytime soon on the GFS, but hopefully the southern plains can get one decent setup this fall before its too late. If not, it is going be a long winter.