Dear Journal~

It's starting to look nasty towards the north:  lightning, frequent, jagged streaks of bright white-blue light, rips the dark of the nighttime sky, and the wind is picking up fast. 

There is currently a severe thunderstorm warning north of us; the storms are coming our way, at 25-30 mph, with sixty-mile-an-hour mph winds, extremely heavy rains, vivid lightning (no kidding there, folks!), and hail up to the size of nickels to quarters.

Batten down the hatches!  Best get to shelter, quick, before the storms start pounding on your back door!!

These storms mean business!

Jake, my bud, is currently trying to get the radar working:  for some reason, it's on the fritz.  Not good.  He's cursing up a blue streak; I'm starting to get worried.  What if the storm catches us (or those in its path) off guard?  Not good, not good at all!

Later, roughly around 10: 45 p.m., M.T.:

Our storm has passed on through; a stiff, northerly wind is blowing, and the rains are lessening, even as I type this.  No real damage except for shattered nerves, small cracks in the windshield, soaked chasers, and small twigs, leaves, etc.  A small blessing in disquise:  it could have been a much worse scenario than it was; I thank God for His protecting hand on us as we chased this storm.

Who knows what the Lord (or mother nature) has in store tomorrow?  Will have to check in to the convective outlooks at www.noaa.gov in the a.m. and find out.  We shall see what we shall see.

Well, since the storm is overwith and done, I will write in here again.  Pray for a good storm, replete with tornadoes, high, damaging, downburst winds, extremely heavy rains, large hailstones, and above all, plenty of good old ripsnorting lightning; we could use some excitement here in storm chaser land! 

Considering this year was mainly a "bust" (due to a "death ridge" that's gripped a good part of the Plains states for much of the spring and summer), we welcome these storms with open arms.

Thanks in advance; we storm chasers hunger for the "perfect storm":  it's our livlihood.

If there's no storm, we don't chase.  Pure and simple.  Can't be any plainer than that!

~Sincerely, "Tornado Joe"  (Joe Dorman).

*To be continued.*