Storm Chase 2013, Day 3 - around Vidor and playing golf...

Still in a holding pattern, waiting to head out of Vidor on Monday morning to drive into the Plains for the first shot of thunderstorms on Tuesday afternoon. So in the mean-time with another nice day in store, plenty of sunshine and a cool breeze, we chilled out around my parents house in the morning (nursing a small hangover), before heading out to play some golf at the golf course where my brother is the pro. (the first picture is of the first cumulus clouds we've seen since we have been in Texas, ha)

The golf was followed by a lovely mix of cajun food cooked up by my dad...

(last pic is me with one of my bros, Daryl and my niece and nephew)...

Finally it was time for bed to get some rest for a mammoth driving day to Amarillo on Monday morning - and enter Phase 2 the weather part of the trip...(but never fear, I'm sure we'll find more food too).

Storm Chase 2013, Day 2 - around Vidor and Beaumont Texas

A chill-out day was in store to get over the jet-lag, unfortunately, I woke up at 4am feeling like it was almost midday, and was up the rest of the day.

We went and saw my niece's soccer game in the morning, and it was an absolutely beautiful morning in southeast Texas, cool with a nice breeze and not a cloud in the sky (not the best of weather for a storm chase, but a good chance to relax)...

After that we ate with my parents at "Fuzzy Taco" in Beaumont, my second straight day to devour some Tex Mex...woohoo.

We then went back to the house and chilled out with one of my brothers and played some pool and somehow 1 beer turned into about 10-12 each...oops!

Sleeping in was in store for the next morning...

Storm Chase 2013, Day 1 - LHR to IAH

Travel day...while I'm not a huge fan of being stuck in a small seat in a metal tube for 10 hours about 7 miles above the Earth, I don't mind flying that much, especially if I have a window seat. As a meteorologist it's hard not to look out the window try to work out what's causing all the cloud formations and turbulence you see and feel.  I always have a look at the forecast before I fly and try to see if what I am looking at matches up with what the forecast was. Geek moment over.

Anyway, the day started off on the wrong foot with me checking my emails at 5am British time only to realise our flight had been delayed for 3 hours (because apparently some dude at Houston airport shot himself, subsequently delaying flights). We decided to still get to the airport early, and we were rewarded by United with a free breakfast voucher/coupon, so that was a result. Therefore, this happened:

The flight was fortunately uneventful and relatively smooth, but it did offer up one gem out of the window...Either a 747 or an A380 was "overtaking us" over the Atlantic and producing the most beautiful contrail contrast with the dark skies above and the cloud below:

After landing and going through customs (Chris S bust'n up in Texas)...

We ate at our traditional post-landing spot, Pappasito's mexican restuarant, and I was not on my game and forgot to get pictures of the place and our food, so here are some shots ripped off from the internet: Either way, Chris S defeated quite a large plate of food, an impressive first show...(is he quietly preparing for the 72 oz Big Texan steak in Amarillo??? Only he knows, stay tuned...)

Finally arrived in Vidor long enough to have a drink, chill for a few mins and go to bed.

Weather-wise, we are still on course to head westwards early next week. Hopefully a few isolated storms somewhere in the TX panhandle / w OK or w KS on Tuesday, and then the weather appears to become more active for a few day after that!

Storm Chase 2013, Day 0 - It's that time of year again!

Day 0 - So here we are, me and Chris Steele at a Heathrow Airport hotel, for a night's rest before catching a flight from London to Houston tomorrow.

Look forward to seeing the family, eating tex-mex and drinking some sweet iced tea tomorrow...

Weather-wise we arrive into something that resembles more of a late winter pattern than mid-spring in SE Texas, where they are expecting much colder than average temps, in the 40s F for the first few nights after our arrival. Typical - bringing the weather with us.

As far as the storm chasing prospects - there won't be many until at least the middle of the coming week, but the pattern does appear to be a little more favourable for storms to develop across parts of west-central Texas by Wed the 8th, with the pattern looking slightly more active for a few days after that date. No large scale severe weather pattern is showing up in the models during the chase period, but hopefully there will be few things to go after from the 8th onward.

Don't expect much from a cloud/weather pictures perspective for a few days, but I'll keep you posted on the calorie intake which should eclipse the daily recommended amount quite easily.

Bedtime calls, alarm for 445am.