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The days are getting longer. More time to heat the ground. The jet stream is beginning to change. Indeed, springtime is coming...
Storm chasers are driven by passion. Most of you are experiencing a rather funny feeling inside. It is January, and in most places it's very cold out, or dry if you're located in the southern plains. One looks to the sky searching for the first sign of a cumulous cloud. We turn to websites looking for guidance that shows the first surge of warm, moist air from the gulf. We feel the first SE breeze of the season. Digging our camera equipment out, we charge the batteries, check the supplies of tape/film. We email our friends, chase partners, other storm addicts to help build the anticipation. The days are getting longer. More time to heat the ground. The jet stream is beginning to change. Indeed, springtime is coming.
For me, by the time January comes around, I go crazy. I watch tornado video...DARK TIMES...LOVE...WEATHER PERMITTING I-XXX...TAKEN BY STORM...HARPER COUNTY PDS....STORMS OF 2004...STORMWATCHER...but dammit...its NOT enough!
Long ago, I invited a few friends over to my home for beer -n- pizza on a cold January evening to talk....remember. We watched videos 'till the wee hours of the morning. We peek outside. Light snow continues to fall. Rats. That wonderful night was 7 years ago. It was just enough to feed the passion while the wait continues 'till spring.
Alas, this strange convergence of passion continued through the years. It grew. The next year, a man and his son joined our gathering. It only took a few seconds, and we became friends. This man also shared this burning passion. His name was Roger Hill. The next year, we decided to make T-shirts for those who wanted to attend.Holy cow.  We held it in my home. There were people that attended from neighboring states. Nebraska. Kansas. Oklahoma. They completely filled the house. In the basement. Kitchen. Living room. All these people are driven by passion. A passion to feel the warm breeze...the passion to watch something astounding. Something that can never be captured completely on film or video. They come to learn. Al Pietrycha tape his mobile mesonet findings on my living room wall, and gave a dissertation of what he found on a convergence zone one spring day in Colorado. This wild passion also burns within others. Something had to be done. No longer was it acceptable to hold these gatherings in my home. The National Storm Chasers Convention was born. It survives to feed the hungry passion of storm chasers that want to learn. To be entertained. To enjoy the company of other walks of life who feel the same. You can't describe it. Roger, and I with the kind assist of Dave Drummond make no money doing these. In fact, we cross our fingers hoping to break even. We do this for the love and passion of our great hobby.
Roger and I welcome you to the best, biggest convention in the world that is entirely focused on you. The storm chaser. Nothing else.
We welcome you to our convention in 2007! ~Tim Samaras |
