An overall very exciting year for my exploration of storms and nature across the country. I decided to let storms decide where I went and made an effort to get to multiple tropical systems (Hurricane Idalia, Cat 4, Florida & Tropical Storm Ophelia at the NC coast) along with a large amount (50+) tornado warned storms. Overall I caught 12 tornadoes in May and a number of “possible-nadoes”, and positioned myself in large hail, and purposely in the middle of multiple severe and heavily damaging microbursts.
Also notable was the mid Atlantic severe weather conference, where I was invited to present on one of my better microburst captures of the year from North Carolina. I made a number of new friends while out chasing, some that I met at the conference, and some that I met on barren dirt roads in the middle of nowhere!
My personal notable moments were:
Capturing a large tornado via drone
Time lapsing multiple tornadoes using individual picture capture in RAW mode on a DSLR
Filming a tornado below a large mesocyclone structure
First tornado caught in Colorado
Spending a week in Clovis New Mexico while chasing huge storms every day
Waterfall in western NC Star trails above lightning illuminated storms in New Mexico from earlier this year. The trails form around the north star when taking a long picture or stacked picture, which helps show the rotation of the earth! May 11 2023 tornado behind windmills near Colby, Kansas. We came upon a couple of tornadoes not long after filming different tornadoes about 60 miles away in eastern Colorado! This day was my first time clearly seeing tornadoes along with windmills! May 18, 2023 tornado warned storm, north of amarillo texasFirewheel wildflowers in peak bloom in front of a sunset lit storm in TexasMammatus clouds above a line of trees in TexasOne of the wildest looking spinning-top storms that I chased this year. This severe storm kept spinning and spinning above the field in front of me! May 23, 2023 north of Farwell, Texas.Mammatus clouds light up at sunset following a severe storm in IowaTexas sunsetShelf cloud from a supercell near Pratt KansasOld house in the middle of the MidwestCloud to ground lightning strike in KansasMy storm chasing vehicle in front of a shelf cloudColorado supercell with tornado belowLightning storm near Tucumcari, New MexicoColorado elephant trunk tornadoLone supercell in an expansive area south of Tucumcari, New Mexico. The scale of the Tucumcari Mountain (4,976’) below really shows the size of this severe warned and rotating stormCrepuscular rays shine from behind a developing storm in the open roads of New MexicoMammatus clouds lit by sunset in IowaShelf cloud near Farwell, TexasLightning show near central TexasTexas supercell and windmills Tornado warned storm in NebraskaDouble rainbow in front of my chase vehicleMesa views near Tucumcari, New MexicoNew Mexico tornado warned storm and windmillsNew Mexico supercell lit my the setting sunTornado over Stratford, Texas 5-28-23Tornado roping out in Stratford, Texas 5-28-23Shelf cloud of a tornado warned storm near Stratford, TexasFishing in front of a sunset-lit storm over Jordan Lake in North CarolinaCypress trees at Phelps Lake in eastern NCWildfire on Sauratown Mountain in NCWildfire near a house on Sauratown Mountain in NCThe entire Sauratown Mountain during a wildfire in NCIncoming snow storm on Snowshoe Mountain, WVSnowy scene following blizzard conditions in West VirginiaSupercell and lightning near central KansasLightning strikes in front of a storm in KansasWaterfall in western NCA storm moves by as lightning illuminates the clouds in central TexasSunset after a storm in TexasErupting storm in KansasAmarillo, Texas tornado warned supercell Spinning storm near Farwell TexasLightning illuminated supercell in New MexicoLarge lightning lit storm above a mesa in New MexicoFlooded backroad during a wild storm chase south of Santa Rosa New Mexico, 5-27-23.Supercell in Texas Flooded backroad during a wild storm chase south of Santa Rosa New Mexico, 5-27-23.
Exploring NC 