Morning Test Flight:CV-22 Osprey

I heard the familiar clatter of rotor blades, grabbed my camera and went out on the balcony a took a few shots of a new CV-22 Osprey heading out t o the West practice area. I was tempted to zoom in, but liked the sky so I kept it wide.

V-22s are fairly common here (because the Textron factory is on the East side of town) but I never miss an opportunity to photograph one of these weird airplane/helicopter hybrids.

-Steve

Conjunction , Venus, Moon, Jupiter

Last night's conjunction as photographed from Amarillo.

Flying Over A Panhandle Sky

Tonight just before 7:30 we had a fly over of the Space Shuttle/International Space Station. I shot some (a bit shaky) video of it as it flew from the SW to the N.

It didn't fly directly over Amarillo (skirted it to the West) so it wasn't the best sighting opportunity. There is another one tomorrow evening and an even better on on Thursday. I'll keep those interested advised.

Although I've seen it several times, every time I see a pass it's a thrill. To most of the populace, space travel seems mundane, but never for me. 

I remember when I was just a wee-sprout Dad taking us to Columbus, Ohio to watch a parade honoring astronaut John Glenn, not to mention watching man first set foot on the moon in July of 1969. I guess I've been bitten by the space bug ever since.

Since then I've intercepted communications (on a regular basis) space shuttle communications and even photographed the tragic demise of Columbia, but I've never seen a shuttle up close.

Needless to say, a year ago, I was extremely irked when the NASA 747 that transports the shuttle (on its back) landed in Amarillo to refuel (with shuttle in tow) and I missed it because I was out of pocket.

When I came home and everyone told me about it and then I saw the news video footage, I was kicking myself for weeks. Me - Mr. Communications, missed it, didn't even hear about it until it was all over.

In any event, to witness a space shuttle launch is on my bucket list - I just hope it keeps flying long enough until I can afford to fly down to Florida and see it.

Panhandle Halloween Sky

While sitting here waiting for the grandkids and trick-or-treaters, I couldn't help notice the lovely sliver of the moon gracing a Halloween sky. All it needs is a witch on a broom!

Enjoy!

-Steve

Gorgeous Clouds Over Africa. From NASA, Expedition 16 [PIC]

Gorgeous Clouds Over Africa. From NASA, Expedition 16 [PIC]: "Photographed by astronauts, part of Int'l Space Station-Earth Observatory program. Here dense, thick rain clouds ('cumulonimbus') shot in early 2008."

(Via digg.com: Stories / Popular.)

Sunrise Ascent

Balloon Glow In Amarillo.

The winds in the Texas Panhandle are rarely calm, so holding a balloon rally here is always problematic, but tonight (and hopefully this weekend) Mother Nature will hold her breath and let us grace the Panhandle skies with hot air balloons.

Tonight they held a balloon glow. The winds were calm, it wasn't too cold for the kiddos and we all had a great time. They launch again at sunrise and in the late afternoon, that is if the winds behave themselves.

Click on the images to enlarge.

Enjoy!



(C) Steve Douglass



Photos (C) Steve Douglass and require permission for reproduction.





(C) Steve Douglass




(C) Steve Douglass

Eat your heart out Batman. TIV 2 is ready to roll this Sunday.

The TIV 2 is proof that beauty is only skin deep - but ugly goes all the way to the storm.

Soar

Even though the fall rain might ground you - your imagination can still soar.
Photo by Steve Douglass

Unexpected October Storm

Some storms that went up in New Mexico actually survived (unexpectedly) and blew into Amarillo just after sunset tonight. Although not severe (they dropped some pea-sized hail) the shelf cloud was impressive. I shot this from the balcony of my apartment looking West.

-Steve Douglass

No, its not a UFO.

What it is - is a NASA high altitude instrument package flying ( as I write this ) somewhere just north east of Plainview. After sunset it will glow bright like a star and undoubtedly (like it does every time) prompt dozens of UFO reports.

Special thanks to Dale Stanton took this photo with his long telephoto lens from SE Amarillo. The balloon is flying above 100,000 feet and at a speed of 22 kts. To track the balloon in real time visit the link to the right.

-Steve Douglass

Update: Dale Stanton shot additional photos just after sunset showing it glowing after dark.

I hate thieves.

Last week my car was broken into and some low-down good-for-nothing thieves ripped out most of my storm chasing radio gear. I called the police, they found a few fingerprints and they tell me they have a pretty good idea who it was.

I lost my prized ICOM CR-3 wide-band communications receiver, which cannot be replaced because it isn't being manufactured anymore as well as a Radio Shack frequency counter and a Sunpack 500 series photo strobe. All in all the total is about $700 bucks.

As much as I'll have to struggle financially to replace my gear, what really gets me is that the prime suspect is one of my neighbors and the theft occurred in broad daylight during a 45 minute window of opportunity when i was out.

But, in some way, I can't but help blame myself. My car sprouts antennas and practically shouts to the meth addicts (that live in my apartment complex) "come rip me off!

I mean, who am i to think that in this day and age someone might actually respect other peoples property, especially a person who is a volunteer and spends his own money, risking life and limb to provide adequate and accurate storm warnings for the very same community the thief lives in.

I will chalk it up as a lesson learned, never again trust one's neighbors and never again leave anything of value in my car.

My only solace is that I know some day they will eventually be arrested and my stuff will probably be found among a big collection of other stolen items.

I'd wish for a tornado to destroy their home, but unfortunately it would take me out as well, since they are after all my good neighbors.

-Steve Douglass

September Sunset

Sometimes one can get rather good storm photography without wasting a drop of precious gasoline. I shot this (from my apartment balcony) as the sun was setting behind a far-off storm located on the Texas/New Mexico border. The birds sitting and chattering seemed to be enjoying the spectacle. I hope you do too.

-Steve Douglass

Waco mostly spared damage from Ike; evacuees worry about home

By Erin Quinn

Tribune-Herald staff writer

While Waco and most of Central Texas seemed to have dodged major damage from Hurricane Ike, many of the 1,000 or so coastal evacuees who are holed up in local makeshift shelters were not so lucky.

Through fuzzy cellular service and repeated dropped calls, 28-year-old Rainah Hadley, her husband and four children spent Saturday morning at Waco’s Seventh & James Baptist Church, able to hear only bits and pieces of the damage their Conroe home sustained from the massive hurricane.

Something about damage to the carport. And roof. And furniture. Then the harried service would fail. Again.

“I can’t get through to anyone long enough to find anything out,” a frustrated Hadley said late Saturday afternoon.

Juan Maldonado, a 33-year-old forklift driver from Willis, didn’t need to hear details of the damage his trailer home sustained Saturday morning. His neighbor called and told him enough — everything was gone, Maldonado said Saturday afternoon through a translator.

He, his wife and five children said they didn’t know what they would do Saturday, or where they would go.

While coastal areas saw 110 mph winds and widespread power outages and flooding, Waco was calmer, as Ike pushed off further to the east than was originally expected, said Jennifer Dunn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The official rainfall reading at the Waco Regional Airport Saturday was .25 of an inch, Dunn said. Wind speeds averaged 22 to 25 mph with gusts up to 38 mph, Dunn said.

American Airlines and Continental Airlines, Waco Regional Airport’s primary carriers, canceled all flights Saturday, an airport spokesman said.

Both companies are offering free flight changes to some customers whose plans were altered by Ike.

Freestone and Limestone counties reported downed power lines and trees after receiving as much as 2 inches of rain Saturday, Dunn said.

Widespread power outages were reported for Entergy Texas Inc. customers, and service had not been restored late Saturday, the company’s Web site stated.

Up to 500 customers were without power in an area including Tehuacana, Mexia, Groesbeck, Lott, Marlin and Cameron, the site stated. Up to 1,000 were without power in and around Buffalo, and up to 5,000 in Caldwell, Calvert, Franklin and Bremond, the site stated.

Two accidents were reported on Interstate 35 Saturday.

A heavy wind gust around noon lifted the driver’s side front tire of a northbound 18-wheeler over the highway’s concrete median just north of the Hewitt exit, Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper David Murphy said.

The driver hauling the empty trailer complained of a leg injury, Murphy said, but a DPS spokesman later said the driver was not taken to the hospital.

Just minutes after the 18-wheeler accident, Murphy was sent south to Bruceville-Eddy, where two Federal Emergency Management Agency employees headed to Waco’s evacuee shelters were involved in a wreck on northbound I-35.

Murphy said the two FEMA workers spotted a vehicle spin out of control on the roadway, and they pulled off to the side of the interstate to see whether its occupants needed help. While that vehicle’s driver corrected its steering and continued to head northbound, the Chevrolet sedan in which the FEMA workers were traveling was struck from behind by a man driving a Mazda sedan, Murphy said.

Both Austin-based FEMA workers were treated by paramedics at the scene. One was taken to the hospital as a precaution, said Mike Jones, a FEMA community relations field officer who was traveling in the vehicle ahead of the Chevrolet.

No one was ticketed, Murphy said.

Hurricane Chasers

(CNN) -- With at least three video cameras trained on the Gulf of Mexico and floodwaters rising around him in Galveston, Texas, Mark Sudduth prepared Friday to ride out Hurricane Ike from a hotel room on the city's wind-whipped oceanfront.

"Most of the north end of Galveston near the bay is now going underwater," Sudduth told CNN Friday afternoon. "The island is filling up like a bathtub."

Despite that, and the fact that hundreds of thousands of anxious Texas residents have fled inland, Sudduth and partner Mike Watkins had no plans to leave Galveston. Their only concern was the safety of their Chevy Tahoe -- and the fate of their equipment that will stream live video of Ike's fury to Internet users around the world.

The two men are part of a small fraternity of storm chasers who plant themselves in the paths of hurricanes to gather photos, video and meteorological data they hope will help scientists better understand these natural disasters.

What sets Sudduth apart, however, is his pioneering use of remote, battery-powered video cameras, packed in watertight cases, to train unblinking eyes on lethal storm surges that are too hazardous to film by hand.

"The stronger the hurricane and the more [news] reporters have to leave, the more important these cameras become," said Sudduth, who lives in Wilmington, North Carolina. "There's absolutely zero risk to human life. Plus they can stay there for 15 hours and never have to go to the bathroom."

For decades, journalists with shaky video cameras have shot footage of approaching storms, only to retreat when the winds, and danger, grew too great. Thanks to his remote-camera system, developed around the time of 2005's Hurricane Katrina, Sudduth may be the first storm chaser to capture live streaming video from inside a hurricane as it blows ashore. His footage has appeared on CNN and numerous local TV broadcasts.

Read the full story at CNN.com

What the?

In For The Night: V-22 Osprey heading for the barn.

I see a lot of V-22 Ospreys ( they build them here) and every time I hear one zooming by, I grab my camera. When i heard one (on my aero-band scanner) coming in from a test hop, and i saw what a great sunset was shaping up, I hoped the two would come together. the Osprey is a little blurred ( I was shooting at 1/30 th of a second) but I think it helps the shot.

Enjoy!

Photo by Steve Douglass

Tonight's Stormy Sunset 8-28-08

"Popcorn storms" meteorologists call them. They pop up fast and then die just as fast. Not sever, but they sure are pretty at sunset.




Click to enlarge.

Photo By Steve Douglass

747 Struck by Lightning. Unharmed!

747 Struck By Lightning - Watch more free videos

If the passengers on that airplane felt their collective hearts stop for a moment, it wasn't due to the electric current from the lightning strike running through their bodies. In fact, airplanes getting struck by lightning is a fairly common occurrence -- more common than you might realize.
Because the aluminum hull of an aircraft is highly conductive, an electrically charged storm cloud will tend to induce a charge separation (or polarization) on the outer surface of any airplane in the vicinity. This creates a difference in potential -- a.k.a. voltage -- between the cloud and the plane, resulting in a discharge of electric current between them. Since there is also a potential difference between the airplane and the tarmac, the lightning discharges right through the airplane and into the ground.
But why doesn't the gigantic amount of current, which is in the neighborhood of 20,000 amps for a typical lightning bolt, harm the passengers inside the aircraft? Because the hull of the plane forms a Faraday cage! A Faraday cage is a hollow shell made of conducting material. A strong electric field outside the cage will force the charge in the material of the cage to redistribute itself, but the interior space inside the cage remains uncharged. As long as you're inside the airplane, not on its surface, it can get struck by lightning all day and you'll be fine -- physically, at least, although you may feel a bit freaked out.
What's much more dangerous for airplanes than lightning is the turbulent weather that usually accompanies an electrical storm. For the same reason, you don't get electrocuted when lightning strikes your car (provided your car is made of metal and not fiberglass, you don't have a cloth convertible roof, and you're not touching the outside surface). It's a common misconception that the insulating rubber tires protect you. Not true. It's the Faraday cage.

Texas Weather News - chuckle.

Hurricane Bound For Texas Slowed By Large Land Mass To The South

Storm Vectored

We had a few "bubblies" pop up around town today - turned into nothing but they were enough to briefly cause the local air traffic control to route approaching airliners over my apartment.

Snapped this as Southwest flew over rattling the windows. Welcome to Amarillo!

Even on fair-weather days our skies provide good photo opportunities .

=Steve

Colorado Tornado video

Very pretty - and very dusty - but this twister looks like a rather weak low energy tornado. Doesn't even seem to damage the trees or homes, thank goodness!

Goodbye Summer ...

Click to enlarge.

Another severe weather season has come and gone, and unlike the wild weather that plagued the country during the early weeks of Spring, our severe weather season was quite (unfortunately for us storm chasers) less than spectacular.

Sure we had some great and photogenic storms and i got some amazing shots this season, but this year we had a unusually cool summer.

We still have plenty of warm weather ahead and our secondary severe storm season ( as powerhouse cold fronts begin to sweep down from Canada and collide with moist Gulf air) and is something I always look forward to every year ( once I went storm chasing on Halloween) but for the most part our severe weather season is all but over.

Overt the next few weeks I will be posting some of my photos i took this severe season, so check back often. Once that has been done, look for fall foliage and then snow scenes, if we have any this year.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog and will visit it often.

-Steve Douglass

Photographed at 9:15 PM on 8-24-08.

A small but beautiful thunderhead popped up just before dusk north of Amarillo, almost a wave goodbye to summer.

It was a good one.

2008 West Texas Weather Rhapsody

I just completed my weather video for this year. Since it wasn't exactly a banner year, I was forced to add a few images from my archives to flesh the thing out.

Crank up the volume, I worked hard on the sound as well.

Keep in mind, this is not meant to be storm chaser video diary, but rather an emotional expression on how it feels to be an insignificant human humbled by the beauty of our immense Panhandle skies.

The music is from August Rush - it fit just perfectly what I had in mind, which was to capture the majesty and reverence i have for our amazing weather vistas.

Please leave a comment.

-Steve Douglass

Polish Bus Slammed By Tornado.

Hereford Buried In Hail

More Arcus Farcus/Mammatus!

Photos by Dale Stanton

Arcus Cloud

Photographer Shelley Sparks shot this "Arcus" cloud photograph of tonight's approaching storm. The ragged leading edge and layered appearance is due to a wave of moist air being pushed out ahead of the storm.

It was severe before it came into Amarillo but turned to rain once it hit the city.

Looking West - By Shelley Sparks

Click to enlarge.

On The Wing

One from tonight's storm. Kind of artsy-fartsy but you take what you get - and then Photoshop the heck out of it!

-Steve

PS: The (cranes?) were there. They weren't shopped in.

Free Electricity

I shot this just NW of Amarillo this evening on Loop 335 , just north of I-40. Xcel energy was saying today because of an equipment failure they may have to initiate rolling blackouts across the city. Why can't they just capture some lightning?

I did.

-Steve Douglass

P.S. Thanks Dale for toting me out there with ya tonight!

Amazing Slow Motion Lightning Video

Roger Hill's Ultimate Tornados.

Outrunning An F-4!

Pale Panhandle Moon

One of the great things about living in the Texas Panhandle during the Spring is our great mountainous cloudscapes.

-Steve Douglass

Wind Power

A weathered but iconic symbol of West Texas stands tall against a towering storm.

Last Gasp

We've had some good old fashion-non-severe rainfall over the last few days, which has also kept us unusually cool (for July) with highs only in the low 80s.

Since it was such a lovely night, my sister, her beau and moi set out to take a few cloud photos.

As the sun was setting I spotted this dying rainstorm off on the horizon. it struck me as reaching up into the atmosphere to try and catch some of the last rays of the Sun.

-Steve Douglass

Ken Hanson's Cowboy & Christian Poetry Blog

Check out my good friend Ken Hanson's poetry blog!


It's filled with humor, heart and home-spun country wisdom.

Van gets struck by lightning. Must see video!

Goodbye Sunshine; By Dale Stanton

A tree seemingly points to a partially obscured sun. This photo was taken last last night as some dying storms moved into the western and northern parts of the Texas Panhandle.

See more of Dale's photography by clicking on the title.

Getting Lucky on the Front Porch.

Fellow photog and good friend ( and adopted child) Dale Stanton e-mailed this photo of tonight's storm. Dale says he "got lucky" but I beg to differ. His camera was aimed in the right direction at the right time and set on the right exposure setting. Luck is not a factor!

Dale says he shot it while standing on the front porch.

Who says you have to use expensive gasoline to get good shots?

Photo by Dale Stanton

Extreme Instability

We had a line of strong thunderstorms roll into Amarillo tonight, and although they dropped a lot of much needed rain, they were more photogenic than destructive.

This shot was taken looking straight up as the swirling clouds passed overhead. Impressive motion and interesting shapes, but rather tame none-the-less.

-Steve Douglass

It's Lightning Awareness Week!

Did you know it is Lightning Awareness Week?

Did you know that lightning has killed over sixty people this year?

It is also very pretty, comes with its own amazing surround sound and is something I love to photograph!

Just make sure if you do decide to try your hand at photographing lightning, you do so safely.

Lightning photography safety tips.

1. Stay in your car when it is very close.
2. Use a remote control if you have one.
3. Window mounts work well and will keep you and your camera dry.
4. If you can hear thunder, you can be hit by lightning.
5. Don't park under power poles, cell phone towers or under trees.

Read more official lightning safety tips by clicking on the title of this post.

-Steve Douglass

Wind Damage in Amarillo From Yesterday's Storm

Click on the title to read the full story.

Storm Summary/Amarillo Globe News

Heavy storms rumble through the Panhandle
Chris Ramirez and Josh Burton

Heavy thunderstorms rumbled through the Texas Panhandle this afternoon and early evening, prompting residents to seek shelter in restaurants and truck stops from hail and tornado-force winds.
Video
Funnel clouds churned precariously over the Amarillo area just after 4 p.m. and pushed into Armstrong, Donley and Carson counties by nightfall.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or a tornado touching down.

Wind gusts, some as fast as 81 mph, pitched nickel to quarter size hail into car windows and buildings and snapped tree branches all over northeast Amarillo.

Hangar No. 10 at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport was leveled in the storm, its roof and three walls stripped down by wind.

As many as 1,500 customers in "far northeast Amarillo," near state Highway 136 and Loop 335, were without power, Xcel Energy spokesman Wes Reeves said. Power was restored for most of them by 6:30 p.m.

Electric poles were reported down near Farmers Avenue and Eastern Street, as well as near the William P. Clements Jr. Unit.

Jail officials had to run the center on generator power.

Several flights into and out of the airport were grounded. At least two were diverted to Lubbock temporarily until the storm moved out of the area.

About 40 people took cover inside the Flying J Travel Plaza, on Interstate 40 East, not far from the airport. Customers and truckers huddled in hallways as winds kicked up outside.

"We're getting slammed," said Joe Kindrick, a manager for the truck stop.

In Claude, large, fist-sized hail busted the windshield of a vehicle on Farm-to-Market 1151 and County Road 9. Officials there opened the basement of the Armstrong County Courthouse for truck drivers, residents and vacationers to seek shelter from the storm.

Randy Wright did the same at his business, the Claude Pharmacy on the downtown square.

"They've been sounding the alarms," he said. "It's real turquoise."

The clouds made Tracy Gillis' nervous.

A customer ran into the Crazy Little Cafe, the Claude eatery Gillis has owned the last two years, warning a funnel cloud was forming overhead. Tornado sirens blared as the descending funnel moved southward.

She couldn't help but fear a repeat of last year when two storms in three weeks ripped off awnings and parts of the business' roof.

"I was thinking 'Lord, please not again,'" she said.

Staff writers Karen Smith Welch, Matthew Hutchison, David Pittman, Dan Packard and Brenda Bernet contributed to this report.

The Emergency Operations Center was activated during Thursday's severe storms to address damage and other issues.

Xcel Energy spokesman Wes Reeves reported an estimated 1,500 customers experienced power outages during the storms.

Xcel reported the following electrical line issues:

One power pole down on Whitaker Road a half-mile north of State Highway 136.

Damaged electrical lines at Southeast 10th Avenue and Tudor Street.

Lines down at East Farmers Avenue and South Eastern Street.

Lines down at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice William P. Clements Jr. Unit, 9601 Spur 591.

Lines down on Mirror Street between 15th and 24th avenues.

Low-hanging power lines at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport.

Numerous residential power outages in east Amarillo.

Other reported damage in the Amarillo:

Tree damage and debris along Airport Boulevard.

Roof damage to homes, tree damage and an overturned mobile home near The intersection of Amarillo Boulevard and Lakeside Drive.

A hangar destroyed by high winds at the airport.

Sources: Xcel Energy, City of Amarillo

Cruel Blue

Here's another view of the storm we had this afternoon from McCormick Road and the tracks. Amazing coloring due to the mountains of suspended hail and the red earth being sucked up into the storm. Amarillo dodged another bullet!

-Steve Douglass

Green & Mean

Today we had a big bad mean and green severe thunderstorm (complete with tornado warnings) tear through the east side of Amarillo. Although no confirmed tornados were spotted, it did do some damage, especially on the NE side near the airport.

(Click on the photo to enlarge)

I shot this photo from N. Western Street as I was racing to go pick up the daughter and grandkids. They live in a mobile home, and knowing what tornado magnets they are, i decided that it was best if I took them along on the chase.

The kids had fun, we were all a bit scared by the green monster bearing down on us, but all in all it turned out to be much meaner looking than it was - which was a good thing.

All post more pix later.

-Steve

New weather blog you should check out!

You have to visit Steve Miller's weather blog. Great photos, great WX info and be prepared for a rant or two. Click on the title of this post to visit Steve's blog.

Severe Weather Pounds Panhandle/Lightning Sparks Fire

Web-posted Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Lightning, hail pound Panhandle
Tyson wastewater plant partly burns
By Josh Burton
josh.burton@amarillo.com

Thunderstorms dumped hail across the Panhandle, while lightning may have sparked a large chemical fire at the Tyson Foods Inc. plant east of Amarillo.
The fire began about 6:50 p.m. at a Tyson wastewater plant east of the main facility. Potter County and Amarillo fire crews battled flames shooting from the concrete structure.

Amarillo Fire Department Capt. Bob Johnson said plant workers told him they were inside when they heard a loud crash of thunder. A few minutes later workers noticed the building was on fire.

Hydrogen sulfide, solid sulfur and possibly fiberglass tanks burned in the fire, Johnson said.

Amarillo Emergency Management crews also responded to the fire.

Firefighters exited the burning building to avoid exposure to hazardous chemicals around 8 p.m. and returned about an hour later, Johnson said.

"Luckily, it burned itself out," Johnson said.

Crews were inspecting the building to ensure the fire was out late Tuesday, Johnson said.

At 8 p.m., the Potter County Sheriff's Office closed St. Francis Avenue between Farm-to-Market 1912 and Farm-to-Market 683.

The Tyson plant was not evacuated because the fire was isolated at the water-treatment facility, Johnson said.

The thunderstorms also produced hail, and funnel clouds were reported in the area.

Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport received 0.03 inches of rain as of 10 p.m., said Chris Nuttall, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Hen egg-size hail was reported west and northwest of Vega, and golf ball-size hail was reported west and northwest of Channing and southwest of Adrian, Nuttall said.

There were reports of funnel clouds near Friona and reports of quarter-size hail throughout the area, Nuttall said.

The NWS expected scattered showers overnight across the area, but nothing severe.

About 9,000 Xcel Energy customers in southwest Amarillo, Dumas and Pampa lost power, spokesman Wes Reeves said.

Reeves said crews were still investigating the cause of the problem late Tuesday night.

Join in on the chase - live!

Here's a great new site that lets you ride along (virtually) with storm chasers via live streaming webcams. Check it out it is totally cool. Just click on the title of this post to go to the LiveChase page at severestudios.com.

Vote for me!

Friends and family.

I've entered a photography contest online and part of it is based on viewer ratings.

So please go to this link: http://www.artistwanted.org/webbfeat .. and give me 5 stars so I can win $500!

-Steve

As the wind blows the storm grows.

Moonrise Over A Thunderstorm

I shot this looking southeast at a series of severe storms located near Matador, Texas. Sometimes secenes like this look better in black and white.

-Steve Douglass

Storm Panorama: Claude Texas 6-14-08

Hitler Goes Storm Chasing

Boiling

I shot this last week as the setting sun lit up a thunderhead south of Amarillo. Since then it has been hot,hot, hot. I think these clouds were trying to tell us something.

Atomic Test?

No not nuclear - just a normal everyday severe thunderstorm tower off to the East of Amarillo last night. I love photographing these giants, especially at sunset when the light up like jack-o-lanterns. This one dropped a few tornados and some baseball sized hail in the town of Wellington.

-Steve Douglass

Midwest Tornado Video Compilation:

Courtesy The Weather Channel

Downburst

Thunderstorm downburst that hit Amarillo with 75 MPH+ winds.

-Steve Douglass

The Big Swirl

I shot this looking due south of Bushland, Texas tonight as severe storms moved through the city dropping golf-ball sized hail, and packing hurricane strength winds.

Tornados were reported north of the city and I thought the way this one was swirling it would drop one too, but it turned into a very powerful straight-line wind events that caused trees to be uprooted, signs knocked down and bus benches tipped over.
I'll post more photos soon.

-Steve Douglass

Video: When Pigs Fly.

Better video of a tornado hitting a hog farm near Hennessey, Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Tornado Video Fox News Coverage

Video report on today's tornados in North-Central Oklahoma.

Amazing Oklahoma Tornado Caught on Live TV

Recorded from Fox News feed of a strong storm in Oklahoma that had already dropped 8 tornados.
Man I wish I was there!

Update: The video you see here was shot near Hennessey, Oklahoma, northwest of Oklahoma City.

-Steve

Conspiracy Of Nature

We had a few thunderstorms pop up late this afternoon which helped set the stage for a glorious sunset.
The two horses ran when the thunder began and separated but rejoined just at the right time. I call these "conspiracies of nature" and amazingly seem to happen when a photographer is around to capture it.

A little tweaking in Aperture helped as well.

Enjoy!

-Steve

Still waiting ...

Looks like this weekend (most likely Saturday) will be our best chance of having severe weather. Check back often for updates. I'll keep you advised.

-Steve

Weather photo of the day: May Moon

Hole In The Donut!

My wife (downstate taking care of her elderly parents and the family farm near Waco) called me last night and said they had tornados nearby. I fired up Weather Tap and watched (via their excellent HD radar) storm after storm dropping "hook echoes" the unmistakeable radar-signature of a tornadic storm.

Although hook echoes are common, the following radar frame capture is not. It shows the "hole in the donut" or the eye of a tornado (with all of the usual radar reflecting water vapor and debris literally spun out) creating an almost perfect vacuum!

In that perfect hole there is basically nothing for the radar to bounce off of, hence the hole.

Usually you don't see this unless the tornado is very close to the radar (like a Doppler on Wheels image) or the tornado is very big and unusually organized in the center.

Cool indeed!

-Steve