3 days to go

All eyes on the charts now as the day of reckoning looms. Here's the latest from the SPC: SOME SVR POTENTIAL MAY DEVELOP INVOF ASSOCIATED COLD FRONTAL ZONE FROM IL/INDIANA AREA SWWD ACROSS SE TX DAY-4...SHIFTING EWD TOWARD SRN APPALACHIANS/SERN CONUS DAY-5/3RD-4TH. HOWEVER...WITH LIKELIHOOD OF PARALLEL FLOW ALOFT TO FRONT...AND RELATED QUESTIONS ABOUT STORM MODE AND DESTABILIZATION...SVR PROBABILITIES STILL APPEAR TOO CONDITIONAL AND UNCERTAIN IN COVERAGE/INTENSITY FOR CATEGORICAL OUTLOOK FOR THOSE PERIODS. ANOTHER STG SHORTWAVE TROUGH AND POSSIBLE UPPER LOW MAY DIGG SEWD FROM NERN PACIFIC ACROSS SWRN CONUS DAYS 7-8/5TH-7TH...BUT THERE IS CONSIDERABLE SPREAD IN GUIDANCE REGARDING TRACK/INTENSITY OF THIS SYSTEM AND ITS SFC RESPONSE. In english it basically means we may miss some action on the 3rd but an upper low may shake things up again come next Monday/Tuesday. At the moment we will probably be heading east and south from Dallas to start our quest for the ultmate weather experience.

Met Sam at a pub in Stockcross near Newbury today for lunch. Very productive discussion over a nice cod and chips. Seven days from now we will be somewhere over the Atlantic. Do I need to tell you how exciting it all is? Thought not. Picture attached is Sam and I in the carpark.

Ben has now transferred his blog to blogspot so all three of us are now blogged-up! www.benstormchase.blogspot.com

Final preparations

Only 12 days to go now and Sam and I are meeting this Saturday at a pub near Newbury to discuss final arrangements, etc. I have been having problems with registering wrxlevel3 radar software so that's something I need to sort out. I have extended the leads on the 12V invertor (thanks Pete) so we can run the unit from inside the cabin, and the makeshift camcorder rain hood works a treat so really looking forward to giving it a trial in the field.

Chasing The Dream - Stormchasing USA May 2008

Just over two weeks now before we travel to Dallas, Texas to fulfill a lifelong dream of chasing and experiencing some of the most awe-inspiring weather on the planet - the huge thunderstorms and tornados that occur in springtime across the high-plains of the American Midwest. Myself, Sam Adams and Ben Howard (members of TheWeatherOutlook internet weather discussion forum http://www.theweatheroutlook.com/) fly from Heathrow to Dallas, Fort Worth on May 3rd where we pick-up a 7-seater Chevy Uplander and with laptops, cameras, on board wi-fi internet and all kinds of gear and gizmos we'll set-out to chase and film the worst the weather can throw at us. Nothing is guaranteed. If the weather doesn't deliver then so be it but whatever happens, and especially if we do encounter any storms, you'll read about it, and see it all, here. You can see Sam's blog here: http://www.supercellsam.blogspot.com/