East Coast Storm Chasing

UPDATE @ 6:56 PM EDT OCTOBER 12, 2009 -- Sadly, Alex has decided to resign from ECSC because he isn't here much.  As of now he will remain a moderator, but he won't do any forecasting.

Ari - Site Director, Raleigh Office Director, Forecaster and Tropical Weather Specialist 

SEVERE WEATHER ALERT @ 6:05 PM EDT SEPTEMBER 28, 2009 -- THIS IS A ECSC WEATHER ALERT.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH #749 has been issued by the SPC, along with an upgrade for the watch area to SLIGHT RISK.  Severe weather is currently ongoing along the Interstate 85 Corridor from Concord to Burlington in North Carolina and from the NC State Line to Petersburg in Virginia.  Please join me in Live Chat as we cover this event.  More info can be found in a blog post that will be issued shortly.

Ari - Lead Forecaster and Tropical Weather Specialist  LOL hahaha

BREAKING NEWS @ 8:12 PM EDT SEPTEMBER 21, 2009 -- We currently have severe weather in Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, MIssouri, and Oklahoma.

Severe Thunderstorm watches are in effect for the areas listed above.

Severe Thunderstorm Watch number 742 expires at 10:00 PM CDT

Severe Thunderstorm Watch number 743 expires at 11:00 PM CDT.

Johnathan - Severe Weather Specialist

Assisted by Ari - Lead Forecaster and Tropical Weather Specialist 

UPDATE @ 10:18 PM EDT SEPTEMBER 19, 2009 -- I have made an agreement with USWN to use their chat room.  It is located on the Live Chat page.  

Additionally, a Tropical Weather Discussion will be published by me tomorrow.

Ari - Lead Forecaster and Tropical Weather Specialist 

UPDATE @ 2:59 PM EDT SEPTEMBER 2, 2009 -- I've added some new graphics to the Tropical Cyclones page, come check it out!

Ari - Lead Forecaster 

UPDATE @ 6:34 PM EDT AUGUST 14, 2009 -- Well so much for "I will run my analysis".  When I said that I didn't know that someone was going to call me and tell me I had to go to a meeting that afternoon.  I also spent yesterday and today out of my home.  By the time I got to sit down and watch TD 2.... it died.  However, Invest 90L is now poised to become TD 3 and likely become a major hurricane threatening.... you guessed it.... the southeast CONUS (CONtinental United States).  I would like to take this time to say that, if you live anywhere from Houston, TX to Virginia Beach you need to make sure your hurricane preparedness plans are functional.  We could be looking at a very dangerous system next week.  I'll try to keep you posted.

 Ari - Lead Forecaster 

BREAKING NEWS @ 9:05 AM EDT AUGUST 11, 2009 -- Tropical Depression Two has formed southwest of the Cape Verde Islands and is on track to become Tropical Storm Ana by tomorrow.  I will run my analysis through the day and write a blog post showing my conclusions by 7 PM EDT.

Ari - Lead Forecaster 

Since I'm going out of town without a computer, Brian is the Acting Lead Forecaster effective immediately and until 6 AM EDT July 18.

Ari - Lead Forecaster 

Monday-Thursday looking like it will be mostly sunny from radar. Storms in central plains developing and will most likely hit Friday-Saturday. Storms possibly will be severe with heavy rain and hail possible.

David-Forecaster

We have added a new staff member to ECSC!  David has a bit of experience with weather forecasting, I worked with him at GLSC earlier this year. 

Welcome to the team David!  You rock dude! LOL

Lead Forecaster Ari

BREAKING NEWS @ 9:00 AM JUNE 27, 2009 -- I have gotten ECSC's11th intercept! It was an intense lightning storm producing baseball  size hail in other locations. Read the blog for the full story.

Brian ~ Forecaster and Lead Technician

BREAKING NEWS @ 2:58 PM JUNE 26, 2009 -- A new severe thunderstorm watch has just been issued for Fredericksburg! Updates will be in the blog!

 Brian ~ Forecaster and Lead Technician

BREAKING NEWS @ 1:37 PM JUNE 26, 2009 -- Severe thunderstorms are exploding across parts of the North East, New England, and even into Canada! 2 severe thunderstorm watches have been issued and the are several severe thunderstorm warnings in Maine! Here is the current regional radar image:

 See the SPC Overview page for current radar and warnings. You can also discuss it in the nowcasting Forum.

Brian ~ Forecaster and Lead Technician

UPDATE @ 10:47 AM JUNE 24, 2009 -- I have finished renovating the home page! Hopefully this will make reading updates and breaking news more easily.

Brian ~ Forecaster and Lead Technician

UPDATE @ 9:53 PM JUNE 23, 2009 -- I have just discovered a slight flaw with our homepage so it will get renovated through tonight and tomorrow morning so bear with us!

 Brian ~ Forecaster and Lead Technician

UPDATE @ 11:34 AM JUNE 23, 2009 -- During a dry spell of severe weather for ECSC's Fredericksburg (Washington DC) Office, I have been using Google Earth to it's absolute fullest. I got some very unbelievable, yet heartbreaking photos of Greensburg, Kansas. Here are some.

 Greensburg Before the EF5.

Greensburg After the EF5

 You may not believe me, but this is US 54 (the main road leading to the city) looking into Greensburg from the west.

 This is the intersection of US 54 and the north/south main road in Greensburg. This is looking south.

In other news, Lead Forecaster Ari is back from his absence and is taking his position of lead forecaster back.

 Brian ~ Forecaster and Lead Technician 

UPDATE @ 10:32 PM JUNE 19, 2009-- ECSC got its 10th intercept! There was a Severe Thunderstorm warning, and a tornado watch! There was a thunder and A LOT of lightning, and after i went to bed around 1:00 it started pouring! i would of gone outside to get pictures but i was watching a movie.

Anna - Forecaster

UPDATE @ 6:12 PM EDT JUNE 16, 2009 -- ECSC has intercepted flash flooding associated with today's weather in and around Raleigh.  A Flash Flood Watch was in effect from 6AM to 6PM EDT today 

 Lead Forecaster Ari

UPDATE @ 7:52 PM EDT JUNE 14, 2009 -- Our storm chaser Joseph "Joe" Penty will be going on ECSC's first official chase tonight!!  He will be streaming live right here.

Additionally, I will be away from my home for the majority of the next 5 days, so Brian is once again the Acting Lead Forecaster effective from tomorrow morning at 6 AM EDT to 6 AM EDT June 20.

Lead Forecaster Ari

UPDATE @ 8:32 PM EDT JUNE 12, 2009 -- Well, all chances of myself getting our 10th intercept have failed miserably.  Not much else to say.

Lead Forecaster Ari

UPDATE @ 4:40 PM EDT JUNE 11, 2009 -- Evidently, the first squall line failed to grow long enough to impact Raleigh, and instead affected the northern suburbs of Roxboro, Oxford, and Henderson.  The second system may arrive sooner the previously thought, more towards 8 PM.  I have to leave for an activity in the next 30 minutes, so there likely won't be anymore update until 8:30 or 9 PM tonight.  Keep an eye on the below image to see how it goes.

Lead Forecaster Ari

UPDATE @ 12:35 PM EDT JUNE 11, 2009 -- Well, as you may have seen last night, the approaching squall line failed to reach me before falling apart.  However, I remain in the Slight Risk for severe weather today, and I'm expecting two squall lines, one should move through between 3-6 PM this afternoon, then a second between 9-11 PM this evening.  I'll keep you posted on whether or not I get this intercept.

Lead Forecaster Ari

BREAKING NEWS @ 6:52 PM JUNE 9, 2009 -- ECSC's ninth intercept! There was a severe thunderstorm warned storm that hit me around 6:15. There was a lot of cloud to ground lightning including 2 that shocked me! Video will be posted soon! Here is a radar image of this intense squall line (Fredericksburg is the circled location):

Brian ~ Forecaster and Lead Technician

BREAKING NEWS @ 5:10 PM JUNE 9, 2009 -- Severe weather has affected and continues to affect ECSC's Raleigh Office from about 3:30 PM onward to right now.  I saw a few lightning strikes around Interstate 40 just outside of Raleigh, including a few that struck the complex home to three 2,000 foot TV towers in Auburn, just southeast of Raleigh, which is a somewhat regular occurrence when thunderstorms pass over.  I'll keep you posted.

Additionally, an explosion occurred at 11:27 AM today at the ConAgra food plant (known for making "Slim Jims" at 4851 Jones Sausage Road in Raleigh's southern suburb of Garner, injuring 32 people and leaving 3 still unaccounted for.  The explosion also released some ammonia into the air inside and around the plant.  Portions of the roof collapsed, and two walls even fell over, crushing many cars.  See WRAL-TV 5 and ABC11 (WTVD) for continuing coverage of this disaster.  WRAL streams their newscasts, and they'll be on until 6:30 PM.

Lead Forecaster Ari 

BREAKING NEWS @ 5:40 PM JUNE 9, 2009 -- Severe thunderstorms are exploding across America. But today I will not be posting the watches in the SPC Overview page. Why? Because I dislocated my knee and I am pretty worn out from all that stuff. Details will be in the blog but they are pretty, um, unappealing. Reader discretion is advised.

Brian ~ Forecaster and Lead Technician

BREAKING NEWS @7:00 AM JUNE 3, 2009 -- I got ECSC's 6th intercept! Last night around midnight there was an incredible amount of lightning and thunder. So much that I couldn't even stay in my room, because it amplifies the thunder and I have 5 windows that let in the light. So I moved downstairs and there was still lightning going after 1! I was woken up again at 2 and then the power quickly went off after a very bright flash of lightning. I got some videos of it and will be uploading them. They will give you an idea of how much lightning there was. It went on the whole night. And by the way, because I got like 5 hours of sleep because of that I feel like some very unpublishable words.

Brian ~ Forecaster and Lead Technician

BREAKING NEWS @ 7:14 PM JUNE 2, 2009 -- Around 5 PM today I encountered ECSC's 5th intercept! It was severe thunderstorm warned. See the full story in the blog.  Here's the link! WOOHOO!

Brian ~ Forecaster and Lead Technician

UPDATE @ 5:32 PM JUNE 1, 2009 -- Our storm chaser Joe is streaming severe weather coverage from his website right now.  Here's the link:  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/project-twist.  Enjoy!

Lead Forecaster Ari

UPDATE @ 5:07 PM JUNE 1, 2009 -- As the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season begins, and models begin to forecast a minimal hurricane to affect the Gulf Coast (don't panic, blog update coming by the end of the day), we have added two new staff members to our site: 1, Alex, a good friend of Brian's, is now a forecaster and moderator, slotting below Anna and just above Joe; 2, Joe, someone who I met while working for GLSC earlier this year, is now a storm chaser (less than a forecaster) for this site, slotting below Alex.  We look forward to working with these great people!  Congrats, guys!

Additionally, we have finished Phase 2 of site construction, we are now in Phase 3. 

Lead Forecaster Ari

BREAKING NEWS @ 5:54 AM MAY 31, 2009 -- Very early this morning I got my third intercept. It was around 5:39. It was just an average thunderstorm so I wasn't going to count it as an intercept when: CRACK! A bolt of lightning struck just outside my room. Afterwords I yelled some unpublishable words and grabbed the camera but that was pretty much it. By the way, it was the same storm system that hit Anna last night.

Brian ~ Forecaster and Lead Technician

BREAKING NEWS @ 9:06 PM MAY 30, 2009 -- After my intercept yesterday bombed, and Brian received a second, it appears ECSC has received it's third intercept.  Our forecaster Anna intercepted a tornadic thunderstorm at her home in Noblesville, Indiana, USA, that briefly knocked out her power.  A nowcasting thread in the forum will follow shortly.

Lead Forecaster Ari

BREAKING NEWS @ 10:35 AM MAY 30, 2009 -- I have gotten my second intercept! I am not sure if Ari got an intercept but I got one yesterday around 5 PM. I was able to get pictures of the thunderstorm. Later at night I also got pictures of the funky orange sky. Pictures will be posted soon!

Brian ~ Forecaster and Lead Technician

BREAKING NEWS @ 4:32 PM MAY 29, 2009 -- ECSC appears to be up for it's second intercept as Raleigh, North Carolina remains under Severe Thunderstorm Watch #315 until 10PM EDT.  Also, it appears I'm about to get my internet back, so I will provide updates as often as I can.

 BREAKING NEWS @ 4:43 PM MAY 28, 2009 -- East Coast Storm Chasing has gotten its first intercept! A severe thunderstorm hit Fredericksburg around 4:10. Very unfortunately I was not at my house so I was not able to take any pictures. The thunderstorm brought very heavy rain and because the streets downtown are all on a hill, there was a very steady current going down the street. Lightning was flashing and there was some very loud thunder. Although I was not able to take pictures or video, at least ECSC got our first intercept!

 BREAKING NEWS @ 8:23 PM MAY 26, 2009 -- Severe thunderstorms are popping up in north central Texas, especially the Dallas/Fort Worth area. See the nowcasting in the Forum.

Brian ~ Forecaster and Lead Technician

UPDATE @ 12:30 PM MAY 22, 2009 -- My internet connection has failed, and I'm not supposed to get it back until May 26, so for the time being Brian Cameron is now the Acting Lead Forecaster.

-Forecaster Ari

UPDATE @ 08:40 AM MAY 20, 2009 -- We are currently experiencing a variety of technical difficulties, so certain pages may not load and certain site functions may not operate.  We have filed two reports with Webs.com over these issues and hope to have these issues fixed soon.  Thanks for your patience, we apologize for any inconveniences this may have caused.

UPDATE @ 11:05 PM MAY 15, 2009 -- Phase 1 of site construction has been completed, we are now in Phase 2.

-Forecaster Ari