Storms

[MissSimba]

I'm a storm chaser. In other words, I spend a lot of time and a LOOOOOT of money roaming around the Plains all spring in search of interesting weather. Typically, the monetary return on my investment is little to nothing. Seeing Mother Nature at her best (or should I say worst?), however, is more than enough for me. I bring my camera along to capture the breathtaking scenes I witness out in the middle of nowhere.


Henrietta, Texas. May 7, 2014. My timelapse of this storm can be viewed here: Click here


Bray, Oklahoma. May 30, 2013.


Edmond, Oklahoma. May 19, 2013.


Willow, Oklahoma. March 18, 2012.


I actually kind of cheated with this one and didn't chase it. Instead, I took it from right outside my apartment. Also, these all didn't strike at once; this is a composite of six images combined into one.
Norman, Oklahoma. July 11, 2013.

Hope you guys like these shots!

 

[PrincessRuby]

I love the last one! Being a storm chaser would scare me!

Btw, I have family from OK :P

 

[Cat]

Wow!! These are stunning! Really unique and interesting hobby, I absolutely adore these pictures. I think the first and second ones are my favorites, I love the contrast of the turquoise sky with the dark clouds. I'm really envious that you've been there in person, wow. Keep up the great work!

 

[MissSimba]

Thanks PrincessRuby and Cat! It's a pretty fun hobby. Rarely dull in the spring, though the rest of the year gets pretty boring and I count down the days until March rolls around again! But man is it expensive. At least gas is pretty cheap in Oklahoma!

 

[PrincessRuby]

Did you get any pictures of the big tornado that hit OK city?

 

[MissSimba]

Which one? I assume you're talking about last year. I wasn't around for the EF5 that hit Moore on May 20th, but I did see the 2.5-mile-wide El Reno tornado on May 31st. I didn't get any good pictures of the tornado itself, though, because we were basically running for our lives from that storm.

I do have a picture of the storm just minutes after it first dropped the tornado. You couldn't see the tornado through the rain at this time. We later saw the tornado headed our way as we were stuck in a traffic jam trying to get south of the Canadian River to escape, but I was much more focused on getting us out of there than I was on taking pictures.

 

[PrincessRuby]

Wow, yeah, it's some scary stuff. Glad you made it okay. And yes, I was talking about last year. I don't remember where exactly it hit, but I know it destroyed a chunk of the city.

 

[MissSimba]

There were a couple of minor ones that impacted Oklahoma City on May 31st, but I don't recall any particularly devastating ones in the city itself. Moore, El Reno, and Shawnee were the big ones in Oklahoma last year. Moore got the most publicity.

 

[philitup]

Those are awesome! I could never be a storm chaser haha!

 

[MissSimba]

Thank you! It takes a bit of insanity to go out there in pursuit of what most people run away from, haha.

 

[Fotogirl]

Awesome shots. Living in the rolling hills of PA there is not much opportunity for wide open spaces shots like this ... good job. I can't imagine trying to focus on getting the shot when you are staring down something like that headed in your direction.

 

[AlphaTheEdge]

Are you gonna see that movie either out or coming soon that's about the like extreme storm??

 

[MissSimba]

Thank you, Fotogirl! When I look at my earlier shots (such as the ones from the day with the white tornado), I notice that most of them really are blurry and poorly shot. I've only been doing this since late 2011, so I'm not the most experienced storm chaser by far, but I have gotten much better in that short time. The most important thing I learned to use was a tripod; fiddling with a tripod can waste precious seconds you may not have on a storm chase, but it's still a necessary evil because the adrenaline can introduce motion blur that has ruined many a shot. Most of my shots from the Edmond tornado (sewage treatment plant foreground) were blurry because 2013 had been a relatively slow tornado year thus far and I was excited to finally be getting pictures of tornadoes again. My excitement to get tornado pictures ruined my tornado pictures. Fail.

AlphaTheEdge: I was actually invited to a private screening of Into The Storm back on July 10th, the first screening in the country! But I'm sure I'll be seeing it again as soon as it's out this weekend!

 

[Myth]

These are so cool. I've never seen a tornado in my entire life.

 

[Azimuth]

Wow I'm absolutely terrified of tornadoes/hurricanes, but these pictures are amazing! I'd never be able to get anywhere close to a tornado like that. Awesome pictures!

 

[MissSimba]

Thank you, Myth and Azimuth! The pictures do make them seem deceptively close, but I very rarely get closer than my own personal safe zone. I try not to get closer than a quarter of a mile if I can help it. There have been times when I got closer, such as when I accidentally drove through a brief tornado that dropped down right on top of me (oops!) or when I put myself where very weak ones cross the road about 100-200 feet ahead.

 

[Captain-Heather]

This is why I have nightmares about tornadoes and I live in California...heh.

But seriously, some super awesome pictures! Seems like you have had some interesting close calls, too.

 

[MissSimba]

Thank you! There have been plenty of close calls, and a few times where it was just plain luck that nothing bad happened. I'm much more content to sit back and capture the entire storm structure these days rather than getting up close and personal with tornadoes. But hail is a different story. I love hail. Something satisfying about the thunk of a baseball-sized chunk of ice on the roof. Not so satisfying having to replace the windshield (and a headlight once), though.

 

[Captain-Heather]

Lol, what's funny is where I live we get more hail than snow. It "snows" maybe once a year at most. Tiny little flakes you aren't sure are really snow, lasts about 5 minutes and doesn't stick at all. Hail, though...that actually will come more frequently and are as big as peas! Scary I know...hehe.

 

[MissSimba]

For California, that's pretty decent, though! My dad lives northwest of Los Angeles and they had a storm move through during the first week he lived there. There was pea-sized hail, which he figured was normal until talking to the neighbors, who said they hadn't seen hail in at least five years. Around here, we get all kinds of craziness. Terrible floods and droughts within months of each other, blizzards and heat waves in the same year, sometimes snow as late as May, and of course the storms Oklahoma is known for. Hail, tornadoes, strong winds, the works. We're even the new "earthquake capitol of the Lower 48", with over twice as many 3.0+ earthquakes as California. I moved here for the interesting atmosphere and it's certainly not disappointing!