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Me somewhere at the Kansas/Oklahoma state border on May 30, 2006. Yes that is an Eskimo Joe's Oklahoma Storm Chasers t-shirt :-) For questions and inquiries, please email me at laurawx AT laurawx DOT com (this is to prevent spam) Can you use our images on your site, etc.? No, unless it is for storm reports, research or educational training. Obtaining these images costs a lot of money, time and effort. Please seek my permission first as all of my work is copyrighted. My Background My name is Laura Duchesne and I live in Waterloo, Ontario. I've been interested in storms my whole life. My mother has told me that when I was just 6 years old, I drew pictures of tornadoes. That was a year after the May 31, 1985 midwest and Ontario tornado outbreak, and unfortunately I do not recall the event first hand. When I was in grade three, one particular event got me hooked to tornadoes even more. It was during an indoor recess inside our classroom portable. We were having a storm, and then all of a sudden a strong gust of wind rocked the portable. I hid behind my desk because I was afraid. I remember staring out the window... time seemed to go slow motion. This only lasted for a few minutes. The next day our teacher told the class that there was a small tornado. Of course, being in grade three, you're going to believe her. My jaw dropped then, but now that I'm older and know a lot more about storms, it could have just been straight line winds. I tried looking for May 1990 data on this event but could not find anything. As I got older, I would go to the library and read tornado books. I used to be so interested in tornadoes but was afraid of them. When there was a tornado watch, I'd gather my favourite things and be ready to take cover. I have a respect for the storm's power. It can be so fascinating, yet dangerous. My Inspiration So I figure you're going to ask what got me into storm chasing. I will be honest, I never knew storm chasing existed until the (in)famous movie Twister came out in 1996. Now before you pre-Twister era storm chasers call me a wannabe or yahoo, let me say that I have done a lot of reading before I even decided to try chasing. The web has been a wonderful source for such information. The first storm chasers I ever met were Arjen (Ed) and his wife Jerrine Verkiak. I think they helped inspire me to take pictures of anything interesting in the sky, not just storms, but any atmospheric phenomenon. They have thousands of weather photographs that are stunning. The Rookie Chaser Years Given that I am unable to drive, I looked to my uncle Dave Szozda to do the driving while I did the forecasting, map reading, etc. It was not until March 28, 1998 that we went on our first chase on which we ended up seeing a funnel cloud when a tornado watch was issued. I have been storm chasing around southwestern Ontario since then. One of my favourite local chases to date is the June 14, 2004 chase. We saw a barrel-shaped supercell somewhat embedded in a squall line. It produced one heck of a wall cloud... it had such awesome rotation and motion to it. That type of storm structure is usually not that common around here; this was more plains-midwest style. And to think that haze was not an issue that day either! Chasing in Ontario In Ontario, we see mostly squall line and high wind events. Haze is also a problem in the summertime, when the smog from the south and the humidity from the great lakes combine. Southern Ontario has its own convergence zone, where lake breeze fronts develop from the lakes and move inland. If the atmosphere is unstable enough and all other ingredients fall into place, these lake breezes act as a lifting mechanism and storms can fire up within minutes. Many people might think we get little, if any, severe storms, but we do get our share. In Canada, this convergence zone in Southern Ontario is known as a mini tornado alley. The reason I say mini is because it is quite small compared to the more (in)famous tornado alley of the US plains. More Advanced Chasing Since 2006, I have traveled all over tornado alley each spring with my good chase buddy Ron Gravelle. He operates a private storm chase tour and I must say he is good at what he does. Really. My favourite tornado alley chase day to date would be June 5, 2006. We targeted South Dakota, which was outside of the SPC moderate risk area. We intercepted an isolated supercell. As we were watching the wall cloud develop, I heard an unforgettable hail roar sound... it was a constant low roar. We headed to the south end of the storm and witnessed the mesocyclone tighten and really begin to rotate. Tornadogensis was happening right in front of us! We saw three tornadoes form within minutes of each other. I look forward to going down each spring for two weeks of real chasing. We have seen some interesting things. How Do I Chase? Well, since I cannot drive due to several factors, I need to partner up with a friend or two to get out there. Sometimes it can be frustrating for me, but it is something that I cannot overcome over night. I am forever greatful to my friends who have been able to put up with me on the road. I try to help out on the chase in other areas such as helping with driving costs, forecasting, navigating, reading the sky and do the photographing. With the rise in gas prices, I think this is the best way to chase these days, so if you know me in person and are in the area on a chase, give me a shout. Storm Spotting While we are out chasing, we also like to report what we see to the weather office. In Canada, the storm spotting network is called Canwarn and in the US it is called Skywarn. Typically, storm spotting is just staying at home or in one local spot watching the sky for anything to be reported (such hail, shelf clouds, high winds, wall clouds, funnel clouds, tornadoes). It is not chasing storms. If I cannot chase and we have a storm locally, I will do some spotting. The Gear There has been so much emphasis on using gear while chasing these days. Technology advances so fast that it is tough to keep up in today's world of tech. Sometimes I think the use of gear is over rated... a high quality camera will not make you successfull and you cannot fully depend on what's on radar or what the SPC says either. Chasing requires a skill... patience and being able to know when and where storms will develop. Timing is important, and in an area as big as tornado alley, one cannot have much time to mess around. Equipment will not get you to the tornado but it certainly can come in handy. That being said, here is a list of gear I am currently using for my chases. Since I do have my ham ticket, I should look into getting a handheld radio one of these days.
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