I just wanted to update this as there has been no new activity on the blog for a couple weeks. As you already know, I packed up my entire life and moved it across country to Norman, Oklahoma. I arrived in Oklahoma on my birthday, the 28th.

After signing the lease and getting the keys to my apartment, my parents and I got my stuff moved in within a couple hours. Caruso, my cat, was also very happy the long journey back to Oklahoma (for him) was over.

I started work last Monday at my new job. The company I am working for is Weather Decision Technologies, based in Norman. They are on the campus of OU (Oklahoma University) across the street from the National Weather Center which houses the Storm Prediction Center, National Severe Storms Lab, National Weather Service Norman office, and the Warning Decision Training Branch along with the OU School of Meteorology. This is my view when I walk in each morning -

My cube is nearby a large window which is on the side of the building that faces the National Weather Center along with the OUN Sounding site, the OU/NWC Doppler, and the Mesonet & ASOS stations which are right outside. Definitely the center of all things weather.

I am working in the IT department, which is what I truly like to do for work. It's the best of all worlds for me - Living in Norman, OK for a weather company doing what I am good at - IT work.

A new video is up today from yesterday near Battle Creek, MI. Heavy thunderstorms training along the warm frontal boundary near I-94 caused significant flooding near the new Firekeepers Casino.

Well as the title of this blog says, I am making a move to the heart of Tornado Alley - Norman, Oklahoma. I have accepted a job with a weather data company based in Norman, OK, and will be doing IT SysAdmin work with them. It's an absolutely incredible opportunity that I'd have been a fool to pass up, and I will now be living where I want to live.

As my tweets have mentioned, I am currently at Steve Miller OK's house in Moore, OK. I came down for a couple days to get my apartment situation worked out and start getting things ready for my full move, which should be on or around July 26-28.

I have to admit, it will be strange leaving my current employer, Liquid Web, after almost 5 years. I loved my job to death, and it's probably one of the main reasons I stuck around Michigan as long as I did. The desire to live in another state a lot closer to my passion is what fueled this move, however. Now I'm going to be at ground zero for storm chasing.

I start my new job on August 2nd, and it seems like I will fit right into the group of people I will be working with. I know there is going to be a lot of cultural changes that I will have to get used to living down here. I am looking forward to it, however!

If any of you are passing through the Oklahoma City area, feel free to give me a shout!

The forecast details are still right on target from yesterday, with a significant severe weather day on tap for Michigan. The Storm Prediction Center has kept the Moderate Risk in their 06Z outlook today, with a 10% risk of Tornadoes in Michigan.

The current weather map shows a surface low centered over Southern Minnesota with the warm front to the west of Michigan. The morning MCS/crapvection that was forecast to be ongoing is currently crossing from Eastern Iowa into Western Illinois at 5am EDT. More crapvection stretches from Milwaukee west to about LaCrosse, WI. All of this activity is moving to the ENE and should be in Michigan mid morning and out of here by late morning/early afternoon.

The Storm Prediction Center has placed the southern half of Lower Michigan under a Moderate Risk for Severe Weather tomorrow. All modes of severe weather seem likely, including the possibility of supercells in the afternoon and evening hours. Forecasted NAM soundings would definitely suggest that, especially in the eastern half of the state (East of US 127).

The likely scenario to play out tomorrow is a morning MCS/Derecho from todays leftovers. That is expected to clear out by mid day, setting the stage for redevelopment of showers and thunderstorms in it's wake. Judging by the NAM, CAPE values of around 3000 J/KG are not out of the question, along with some very high EHI values due to the close proximity of the Warm Front.

This appears to be one of the better setups in the Michigan area in quite a while, warranting the MDT risk. I plan on being out for both rounds of severe weather, with a live stream up on the Live ChaseCam Page!

Here are a couple forecast maps for 18Z tomorrow per the 12Z NAM today. (Click the map to enlarge them)

The updates have yet again been sparse as I've been trying to catch up. I've still been actively chasing, with 3 chases logged this past week.

I felt like the worst bust of my chase career happened on June 5th when I stupidly went west into Iowa and missed one of the bigger Tornado outbreaks in Illinois in recent memory. L.B. LaForce, Kurt Hulst, Bob Hartig and others had amazing tornadoes that day near Elmwood, IL while I could only try and play catch up and watch from behind with that horrible sinking feeling in my gut that I had pulled off yet another bust.

I didn't think that I could top that bust. How could I screw up a day so royally? Surely I couldn't do it again.

Fast forward a little less than 2 weeks to June 17th. I targeted Grand Forks the night before, stopping at Black River Falls, WI. I woke up in the morning and targeted Tracy, MN, so I had to head south to I-90 and west. As I was heading North on US 71 we decided to go after the cells blowing up to our northwest.

Unfortunately they sped away faster than I could keep up with safely (I drove within the legal speed limits.) and I missed the big tornado near Wadena. This also put me 300 miles north of the monster stuff that blew up near my target area.

I was still insisting that June 5th was a worst bust, but after seeing video today, I have to say June 17th was far worse.

Here is the video that Reed Timmer's crew captured on the Wadena cell, the one I missed by about 24 miles.

Yesterday was an incredible day for tornadoes in the midwest and great lakes region! 5 were left dead including 3 in a tornado near Toledo. Major damage was reported in Illinois, Ohio and Michigan.

The town of Dundee, MI was hit by a Tornado which has been rated an EF-2.

A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STORM SURVEY TEAM HAS CONFIRMED THAT A
TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AT 211 AM AT COUNTY LINE ROAD AND RANKIN ROAD
IN MONROE COUNTY. THIS TORNADO THEN TRACKED EAST SOUTHEAST...MOVING
THROUGH DUNDEE AT 217 AM. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS OF 130 TO 135 MPH
WHERE ESTIMATED JUST WEST OF DUNDEE...WHICH IS CLASSIFIED AT A HIGH
END EF2. THE WIDTH OF THE TORNADO AT THAT TIME WAS 800 YARDS. AS IT
PASSED THROUGH DUNDEE...THE TORNADO WAS STILL CLASSIFIED A LOW END
EF2 WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 115 MPH. THE TORNADO THEN TRACKED ANOTHER
7 MILES ALONG HIGHWAY 50 BEFORE LIFTING AT 227 AM AT THE DIXON ROAD
INTERSECTION...CAUSING GENERALLY EF0 DAMAGE TO THE EAST OF DUNDEE.
THE TOTAL PATH OF THIS TORNADO REACHED 13.5 MILES.

It also appears tornadoes went across Cass County Indiana and near Three Rivers, MI.

I was out chasing, with an initial target of Monmouth, IL. I wish I had stuck to the target, but I got suckered west to Iowa by the Mesoscale Discussion and the Tornado Watch from the SPC. I ended up too far west to make it back to the beast of a tornado which was dropped west of Peoria. It's possible that tornado was on the ground for almost 80 miles. It appears the towns of Dwight, Streator and Elmwood sustained direct hits by these tornadoes.

I spent the holiday weekend at Adam Lucio's summer trailer near Sturgis, MI. Today, Monday May 31, we had some storms roll through in the morning. One of these storms produced a close lightning strike.

I had a camera running, because, well that is what us storm chasers do.