A Storm Chasers Dream

Well I have been a severe weather enthusiast since I was a toddler. Strangely though, as a child I was scared of thunder and lightning aswel as high winds. The lightning strikes freaked me out whilst the thunder scared the hell out of me. The high winds didnt bother me during the day, but if it was windy at night, it was a different story. I remember the house we used to live in had a tree right infront of the house, the top of it was right infront of my window. A street light sat across the street which shone in my room. When the winds were up, the tree top would move, leaving wierd looking shadows on my bedroom wall and this used to scare me.

My dad is also a severe weather enthusiast and he loves thunderstorms, so as a child he would sit me at the door during a thunderstorm, trying to get me used to them. He would be sat their enjoying himself watching the storm pass, and everytime it lightened he would try and explain to me that I was safe and there was nothing to be worried about. Eventually it paid off and I would happily sit there with him watching the storms and talk and laugh about the times I was scared. When I was a little older we would go out in the car when it thundered and drive to a high location to watch the lightning strikes as they lit up the sky. A few times we would chase the storms into the unknown, this is when I started getting the 'bug', being out on the open road, chasing a thunderstorm with lightning striking all around us, the car getting pounded by the heavy rain and hail. This is what it was all about, I was finally realising why my dad liked storms so much.

As the years passed by, the storm bug took over me. Everytime the weather forecast mentioned thunderstorms, I would feel the blood rush through my veins as my heart started to beat faster due to the excitement, but most of the time the forecast was wrong and we would just get the plain old boring rain. This eventually got to much for me, so I decided enough was enough and that it was time to learn to forecast convective weather myself. I learned what I could through reading on the internet, but I still wasnt satisfied.

I carried on searching the internet for more information, when I eventually came across Martin McKenna's website. This site is full of his amazing storm chases from N.Ireland aswel as all his amazing work in astronomy. I kept reading each image account on there, getting used to the phrases used to describe certain things, this was helping me out big time. I suffer from a bad knee, and every winter it swells up and I cant put any weight on it, and as a big football fan I knew I wouldnt beable to play football anymore, so I decided I needed a new hobby. After going over Martins site over and over I knew that I wanted to get into astronomy, so I emailed him for some information, which he willingly helped me out with. After that we exchanged quite a few emails and he helped me out with things I was struggling with. This I would like to thank him for, so thank you Martin, you are a true star.

After all of Martins help I was much better at reading the charts and I was alot better at guessing when thunder would strike. But I still wasnt happy and as a member of SkywarnUK I got talking to the Lead Forecaster Sean Benneyworth. He then helped me understand the bits I was unsure of and helped me forecast the weather, which I believe I am getting quite good at, so also a big thanks to you to Sean.

These days whenever possible I get out and chase storms, photographing them and reporting the severe side of things to TORRO and SkywarnUK. Then I get a full image account on to this blog. But, a few years ago, back in May 2005, I was at home, with no camera equipment and definatley not ready for what was about to come.

It started as just a normal day with thunderstorms forecast across the region for the afternoon. It was quite a nice morning, the sun was out and it was peasantly warm, with a nice blue sky and the odd whisp of cirrus cloud high in the sky. As the day went on the clouds slowly rolled in and eventually the storm hit. I was sat at home watching it from my bedroom window, the sky was black, and a few suspicious lowerings could be seen. At the time I thought hmmm maybe a tornado is forming, but nothing came of these lowerings. Eventually though a lowering did form in the shape of a wall cloud. I ran onto the street to get a better view as it was starting to get covered by the trees. When I got to the street my jaw dropped and almost hit the floor, my eyes popped out of their sockets and my heart almost exploded. There it was, creeping out of the cloud base, swirling in awesome motion, a decent size wall cloud, with a funnel firmly attached. Well thats what I thought it was. At the same time i was on the street, my mate was riding home from Preston on his motorbike. He came to my house and said 'Danny, there is a tornado in houghton'. We watched in amazement as this thing moved across the sky. My heart was thumping so hard, my whole body was shaking, I couldnt talk properly. Any words I managed to get out were either shakey or slurred. I could feel my knees knocking together, as my whole body was shaking violently. I couldnt believe what I was seeing. A tornado, between 1 and 2 miles from my home. It was truley amazing.

Sadly though I didnt have anything I could get a photo with at the time, so all I have is my memory, and luckily somebody else in another area of Blackburn also saw it, recorded it and uploaded it to youtube.


Video of the tornado I found on youtube by TONPAC40

Up to 30 homes suffered mostly minor damage and there were also unconfirmed reports of sheep being lifted into the air.

It was the best day of my life as far as storms are concerned.

It seems as though 2005 was a major year when it comes to storms, especially for me. As just 2 months later in July I witnessed the Birmingham Tornado.

It was the 28th July and the day started quite nice. I dont fully remember where we was going, but we wasnt to far away from Birmingham. The sky sooned turned black, and a thunderstorm was forming.

Was I going to be in luck and see another belting thunderstorm? Was this beast going to produce a funnel or a tornado?

Well to be honest I wasnt expecting much, but on this day my mind was elsewhere as we were about to go on holiday.

I remember being sat down as the sky darkened and a really heavy shower arrived. The rain drops were huge and the speed in which they were falling to earth was out of this world. Me and my dad kept watching the cell as it grew and grew. Eventually a lowering could be seen, which just seemed to get lower and lower until...you guessed it, a touch down. The 2nd I had witnessed in 2 months.

Only this one was huge. I wasnt close enough to it nor was it close to my home for my emotions to run wild like the one in Blackburn. However I did feel excited by watching it from a distance. I couldnt believe I was witnessing another tornado here in the UK. I know a few storm chasers who are dedicated to storm chasing and have never seen a tornado. I am a dedicated storm chaser but I seemed to have just stumbled upon these two, or rather they came to me.

Anyway, I had lots of things going through my mind, 2 tornadoes in as many months, being just a few miles away from it, and my holiday. My head was all over the place, my heart sped up a tad, and my hands started shaking. Am I really witnessing this I thought. People around us were shocked at the fact tornadoes do occur in the UK, and more so, since they were looking right at one. The distance we was from it meant we couldnt see the damage being caused by it, but we could see how dark this thing was, and we could feel the intense winds coming from the cell.

We only saw the tornado for 2-3 minutes. The whole time it was in view, I was buzzing. As I watched it move across the area my hands shook harder, again my words were jumbled as the adrenaline kicked in. I remember thinking what a beast this was, and how much more defined it was than the one in Blackburn.


Video from youtube by Steve Follows

I was abit gutted we didnt get to see it at its biggest, our location wasnt the best to be in, in order to see it. But atleast I did get to see it.

Sadly I dont really remember everything about the Birmingham Tornado, but I do know I will never forget seeing it. This is something that will be with me forever, afterall it is a storm chasers dream to witness a tornado, and I witnessed 2 in 2 months. For this alone I know I am a very lucky man especially since I witnessed them both here in the UK.

Thanks for reading

http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/content/image_galleries/tornado_gallery_Copy.shtml?1