Introducing Justin Pletsch ~ Storm Chaser!

I have always had a fascination with weather. If I'd been a little better at my studies I probably would have done something with that, as well as all the other things I wanted to be. At any rate I enjoy watching weather clouds, and the formations during a storm.

Today I want to introduce to you a colleague and friend, Justin Pletsch, who had an interesting summer chasing storms. He sent me pictures and his story of the chase one day, but I told him I think an introduction is in order. Because aside from being a crazy bus driver (as am I), he does something even more crazier than driving around NIU avoiding students who seem to want to walk out in front of a 12 ton bus. He chases storms, and does so for a company. Well, I'll let the introductions begin and get out of the way aside from my questions.

ME: First of all, Justin, where are you from?

JUSTIN: I was born in Sterling, IL, and grew up in Prophetstonw, IL, which is about 50 miles east of the Quad Cities. My family and I eventually moved to Gridley, IL, when I was in 5th grade, and then we moved to Normal, IL, when I was a freshman in high school.

ME: Tell us when you became interested in weather, or what one weather event made you excited and want to study it?

JUSTIN: I was always fascinated with weather, but the event that really kick-started my interest happened when I was 6 years old. It was a perfectly clear day, and then everything took a turn for the worse one summer evening. We saw a tornado a few miles away from our house in the country, and my dad was able to film it. While he was filming, our neighbor's tree across the street was struck by lightning. Of course, I thought this was SO cool! But we all ended up retreating to the basement.

ME: Smart move. Okay, everyone knows what a storm chaser is, or I hope they do, but why are they important? What do they do to help us study weather?

JUSTIN: Storm chasers are important because they are sometimes the only way people know of impending danger. Take my personal experience form April 9, 2011. I went chasing with three other people, and we ended up in Mapleton, IA, to seek shelter under a gas station awning from ping-pong sized hail. Even though it was really dark and the sirens were blaring, the lady attendant at the gas station didn't know what was happening. We explained that she needed to take shelter immediately. Sure enough, the gas station power went out, and a tornado formed 200 yards from our location!!! Luckily, no one was killed in that town (which was demolished in this storm), and the worst injury was a broken leg.

In addition, storm chaser can provide information that Doppler Radar is unable to pick up (i.e. size of hail, rainfall rates, whether or not a tornado is on the ground, etc.). Keep in mind, the radar can only detect rotation and/or hail within a storm, but it can't actually detect if a tornado is on the ground, or the size of the hail.

Also, storm chasers are usually the first people on the scene after a devastating storm plows through. Any storm chaser worth his salt will provide first aid to people who need it until help arrives. Plus, we might be the only ones able to pick up a phone and dial 9-1-1, because storms that leave a path of destruction behind often leave people in shock.

ME: So true. Okay, now tell us a little bit about the people/group who hired you to go out and do such a crazy, dangerous job over the summer, and where are they based, and anything else you wish to tell us about them.

JUSTIN: I went on my first storm chasing trip in 2009 with a company called Tempest Tours (TT). This company was founded in 2000 by Martin Lisius, who is also the president of TT. It is based out of Arlington, TX, and they lead tours from the middle of April to the middle of August. The tours leave from Dallas, Oklahoma City, Denver, and Phoenix.

Anyway, I was completely enthralled with my first chase/trip that I knew I wanted to go back again. My next opportunity to go again came in 2011, when my parents decided to send me on another storm chasing adventure as my graduation gift.

My third trip came this past summer, but this one was different. After much persistence, I was able to score a driving position for my trip this year, and I was paid to do so.

ME: Tell us, do you recommend this to anyone?

JUSTIN: Please keep in mind that storm chasing is EXTREMELY dangerous, and it should not be attempted unless you have the experience or go with someone who is experienced. Also be aware that you will need to do quite a bit of driving, which is the primary hazard with this activity. In fact, it isn't uncommon to be on the road from 9 AM until 1 AM--just to give you an idea.

In addition, you will have to deal with other chasers who may not be following the rules of the road when on the scent of a massive storm. This can post problems, especially if you get caught in torrential rain, very large hail, hurricane force winds, or worse--the tornado itself! Wildlife also poses a threat, such as fire ants, snakes, cows,, and other creatures. Also, a storm chaser's diet is quite unhealthy, considering breakfast is the only good meal you might get the entire day. Otherwise, you will have to settle for fast food, or a questionable sandwich from a gas station in the middle of nowhere.

In the end, you need to have a health respect for Mother Nature, if you want to live to tell your tale. The best way for someone to experience storm chasing, no matter how much experience you have/don't have, is to go with a company like TT. They are professionals, and they will never intentionally put you in harm's way. For those who want to shop around, I would also suggest looking at Silver Lining Tours, as they are the only other reputable company out there.

ME: Well, thank you Justin for this interview!

And just to reinforce the warning, I wanted to share a photo from one of his companions who was happy to also share his picture and story about it:

"This is a picture of the vehicle I was in on June 20th, 2012 while chasing a storm near Chugwater, WY. We were filming our 3rd tornado of the day from about 2-3 miles away when the storm unexpectedly started heaving bowling balls at us. We got out of there fast, but not before the vehicle took some major hits, including 2 windshield impacts, one baseball-sized and the other 5 inches or more in diameter (we couldn't stick around for exact measurements...lol). Needless to say, this was one of my greatest chases to date. Can't get much better than 3 tornadoes and 5-inch hail in one day!"

REMINDER: my next post up will be Justin's actual storm chasing event from this year. He has some wonderful pictures I want to share with you, so please do watch for it!

You can visit Tempest Tours at http://www.tempesttours.com/

The Storm Chasers by Justin Pletsch

April 9, 2011

A few of my Meteorology friends and I were seriously thinking of going chasing today.  We had been watching the weather models all week long (since Sunday), and they were indicating a big severe weather outbreak in Nebraska (NE) and Iowa (IA).  As the week progressed, the models began agreeing with each other, which does not happen too often.  On Wednesday, we made the decision to go storm chasing on April 9 because everything was looking very promising.  Even from 3 days out, the SPC (Storm Prediction Center), had our target area of W IA/E NE under a “moderate risk” for severe weather.  This was very good for this time of year, but we still had our doubts about what would happen.  Whenever severe weather occurs this early in the season, the storms move extremely fast, and that makes those storms very hard to chase.  Anyway, the set-up for April 9 was very good, as there was a large amount of CAPE (gasoline for storms) available in the atmosphere.  This meant there was plenty of instability to get storms to fire.  In addition, moisture was also readily available, thanks to warm/moist advection from the Gulf of Mexico.  There was also plenty of wind shear, which allows the storms to become tilted and become supercellular.  Finally, we knew a lifting mechanism (something to get the initial clouds to form) would be available because temperatures were fore-casted to be in the upper 80s and low 90s for our target area.  With all these in mind, we had the 4 ingredients necessary for severe weather; instability, moisture, wind shear, and a lifting mechanism.

However, there was another issue that we saw could pose a problem, and that was the “atmospheric cap.”  Think of this term as a bottle of pop.  If the lid is completely screwed on the bottle and you shake it up, what will happen?  With the exception of the pop getting very agitated, it will not leave the bottle.  Now, what happens when you shake up this same bottle and remove the lid?  KABLOOEY!!!  The same can be said for our atmosphere on a day when severe weather is probable.  If the atmospheric cap is too strong, the clouds won’t be able to break through, and severe weather will not happen.  When storms do form, they will die almost instantly.  On the other hand, if the cap is too weak, storms will fire too soon and will die almost instantly.  The key here is to have a strong, but breakable, cap.  This will allow the atmosphere to “cook”, and when it cooks long enough, KABLOOEY!!!

On the morning of April 9, the four of us met at the NIU parking garage, and we left DeKalb around 9:15 AM.  We headed west toward Omaha, NE, as this was our initial target city.  After stopping in Des Moines, IA for lunch about 4 hours later, we continued our trek west to Omaha.   We stopped at a gas station to fill up and for a pit stop.  After we looked at weather data again, we decided to head north toward Blair, NE, where we would once again figure out what we would do.  We noticed cloud towers going up in the distance, which was a sign that the cap was starting to break.  Each tower got higher than the previous one, and it was not until the 5^th tower went up when we knew something big was about to happen.  Needless to say, we started heading East to follow the newest tower, and it certainly took its time to develop into what would eventually be a supercell.  We got very excited when this tower turned into a thunderstorm and was placed under a severe thunderstorm warning for 1” hail.  This cell was eventually placed under a tornado warning, as Doppler radar indicated very strong rotation within the storm.  We passed through Decatur, NE, on our way to Mapleton, IA and the storm produced a tornado near Decatur after we had left.  Being that this storm was moving east, like we were, we did not get too concerned.

photo by Justin Pletsch

When we were about 2 miles west of Mapleton, we stopped for a brief moment to see what this storm was going to do.  Obviously, this storm was already a supercell, and it was a beast!!!  There were four areas of rotation inside this storm, and they were all rotating around each other.  It was really neat to see this on radar, as it looked like a miniature hurricane.  At this point, this storm was beginning to drop hail the size of quarters, half-dollars, AND ping pong balls.  We decided to head into Mapleton to seek shelter from the hail, so we found a BP gas station and chose to play the waiting game.  Our position was perfect, and we would soon realize just how perfect it really was.  The sirens were blaring in the town, which was a very good sign.  As we were gawking and taking pictures of the storm, the gas station power went out.  Our initial thought was that lightning must have struck some power lines. 

photos by Justin Pletsch

It was at this point when the rotating part of the storm (the mesocyclone) came right over us, and we noticed a “bulge” protruding from the base of this monster.  This “bulge” was a funnel cloud if you were to view it from a distance.  Soon after this feature was pointed out, we saw dust getting picked up about 200 yards away from us.  THAT, ladies and gentlemen, was the tornado ON THE GROUND!!!  I have never seen 4 people get into a car as fast as we did, and our hearts were beating faster than ever!!  We thought about taking shelter in a car wash that was nearby, but we decided to get out of town as fast as we possibly could.  For a few minutes, WE were the ones being chased by the tornado, which turned out to be an EF-3 monster (3/4 of a mile wide).  We stopped VERY quickly to take pics/video of this before we continued to high-tail it out of harm’s way.  However, we got caught between the hail core (dumping baseballs at this point) and the tornado, so we spent what seemed like an eternity trying to get away.  Yes, it was raining, and we knew we were close to the core when we heard a loud BANG on the car.  This was because we were getting pelted by baseballs, so it made the situation even worse. 

tornado on ground photo by Justin Pletsch

After the tornado dissipated, we started to head toward Fort Dodge, IA, where we would be spending the night.  On our way there, we encountered ANOTHER tornado, and I was fortunate enough to get a very brief video of it.  At this point, darkness had come upon us, so we had to rely on the frequent lightning strikes to see what was happening.  We also noticed what appeared to be a very low hanging wall cloud (hills were obstructing our view).  The next morning, we found out that this “low hanging wall cloud” was actually a 2.5 mile wide tornado that stayed in the fields.  We followed this storm to Sac City, IA, and watched as it went through Pocahontas, IA, and dumped grapefruit sized hailstones on the town.  In fact, before it went through, the storm had 2 tornadoes on the ground at once!!!  After enjoying an amazing display of lighting, we finished our trek west toward Fort Dodge.  All in all, this was a very exhilarating chase, even though we came very close to meeting Death face-to-face.
As for the town of Mapleton, 60% of it was completely destroyed by the tornado that went through (including the car wash we were thinking of taking shelter in).  Despite all that, no one perished because of the 20 minute lead time they had.  The worst injury was a broken leg.  This storm was known as a “cyclic supercell”, which means it produced tornado after tornado after tornado.

Justin Pletsch is a GRADUATE of meteorology at NIU.
(underlines and bolds by the blog mistress)

The Tornado of Yesterday

This was posted at the DeKalb Chronicle facebook page by Rona Hardt. It was seen south of Rout 3o, west of Waterman.

Our house is approximately 1 mile southwest of Waterman, and Rt 30 runs through the town. Dennis told me that when he'd gotten into his truck yesterday to come and pick me up at about 1:45 p.m. all had gone quiet. Not even the birds were singing. It was dead calm. I'm figuring that the tornado was about to make its appearance where this woman lived and bravely took a snap of it over the field.

In some cases we had hail, 2-3" of rain that fell within a half hour. In a town in northern DeKalb county, they had 5", in one area. Nothing in another.

I read no reports of any injuries. Mostly fields, which were just planted, were ruined, and are still under water.

So, this is the day after story, folks. I didn't know there had been a touch-down of a tornado. A little digging around got me this photo. Pretty amazing, and really scary.