Storm Chasing for TV 8: Taking It to the Next Level

I met this afternoon with WOOD TV 8 meteorologists Kyle Underwood and Matt Kirkwood to discuss chasing storms for TV 8. I’m excited about the prospect of taking what has hitherto been a longstanding hobby of mine, albeit one of passionate focus, and upgrading it to the semi-professional level.

When Ben Holcomb left Michigan last year for the grand storm chaser’s Mecca of Oklahoma, he offered to hook up several of his Troll compatriots with TV 8 to fill his vacancy. One of those chasers was me. At the time, gracious as Ben’s offer was, I nevertheless felt I had to decline due to a pathetic lack of equipment. But the thought of the opportunity kept nagging at me, so I finally decided to take a chance and purchase some stuff I really can’t afford out of the sense that I can’t afford NOT to do so. My gut instinct, which I hope is right, is that my investment will pay for itself over the storm season. Thus, motivated by the possibility of having my avocation become self-sustaining, with tax writeoffs on mileage and expenses as an added incentive, I dropped a healthy chunk of cash on the following items:

• ♦ Panasonic HDC-TM700 video camera with 32 gig internal memory
• ♦ 32 gig HDSC memory card
• ♦ Logitech Pro 9000 webcam for live streaming video

The cash outlay is not one I take lightly at a time when my money is tight. It’s a good barometer of how seriously I take storm chasing. But after speaking with Kyle, I’m impressed that WOOD TV appears, on its part, to be equally serious about developing a topnotch crew of local chasers. Commitment matched with commitment is a good thing.

Besides my purchase of equipment, over the past few weeks I’ve also invested a good amount of my time and a bit more cash studying for my HAM radio test, which I took and passed last Friday. Today I finally found my new call letters in the FCC list, so I’m now officially good to go as a HAM operator.

Additionally, per Lisa’s recommendation, I’ve registered with Vimeo, and after giving it an introductory look-over, I feel good about that resource as an online video repository. Vimeo should allow me to start embedding my footage in future Stormhorn.com blog posts, and it may also serve as an easy way to make my material accessible to WOOD TV.

All that now remains to be done is to sign up with Chaser TV and start getting familiar with the live streaming video. That and familiarize myself with Vimeo and its capabilities. I’ve got a bit of a learning curve ahead of me between now and April 1, when WOOD TV hopes to begin tapping into its chaser pool.

Since all the chasers in that pool know each other–it’s a small, connected community, as I’m sure storm chasers anywhere will understand–there’s the potential for some decent synergy on a chase day. What one man misses, another is likely to catch.

So…a new experience lies ahead for 2011. No way am I missing big weather when it shapes up out west in Tornado Alley. But if statistics mean anything, this year’s La Nina could bring a bonanza of severe weather closer to home, even to my back door of West Michigan. When it does, I’ll be on it, dashcam streaming and camcorder a-blazin’.