CHASE ACCOUNTS OF 2005 SEASON Storm Photography by Martin Kucera www.FloridaLightning.com |
| December 12th, 2005 - The 05 storm season is a recent history now. It was a great and unforgettable season full of great chases. The tornado alley trip this year was an unbelievable success with 16 tornadoes intercepted and I can only hope that the 2006 season is going to be quite similar if not better. We chase for the beauty of it, beauty of the nature and to explore the nature's awesome power first hand. Unfortunately some of this inevitably brings the negative side of things like destruction and loss of life. My heart and thoughts are with all those who suffered during the 2005 active hurricane season. I'd also like to take my time here and express the hope that every storm chaser out there is chasing storms for the right reasons and not only to get that decent shot or video to try to sell it later. I regret to say this but we again experienced the "yahoo" behavior during the past season on several occasions including the tornado alley trip and also later while intercepting hurricanes (what is the point of having a buddy stand close to a crashing surf during the hurricane only to have him knocked down by a large wave seconds later to provide for a false and fake "great" footage). Lets hope this is not an upward trend and that majority of the folks chasing out there are doing it for the right reasons and not only to create a sensation of some kind. Lets also hope the 2006 is going to be just as great as this one has been. There is going to be a decrease in storm activity for at least a couple months now except for an occasional cold front passing through. Things should pick up again in March or April. Till then - Merry Christmas and A Happy New Storm chasing Year ! Martin Kucera |
>>> Hurricane Wilma Intercept Completed Click Below for the Chase Account <<<
| October 23th - It`s 3pm and the outer bands of Hurricane Wilma are almost beginning to whip Key West. It`s been a long wait. I guess tonight is gonna be quite busy and tomorrow morning it is a show time. I am at home now finalizing all the preparations, charging and cleaning the equipment just to be ready to go when I need to. For more info and progress of Wilma please click above... |
| October 19th - Hurricane Wilma was born and is headed in general direction of South Florida. Maximum sustained winds are now about 175mph/h which makes it extremely dangerous category 5 hurricane. Click above for the latest on Hurricane Wilma |
| October 16th - Closely monitoring Tropical Depression 24 - it is going to become a hurricane sometime mid next week with it`s track close to the Keys |
| October 14th - Gentle NE flow brought several days of persistent cloud lines all over the Keys. I have seen a couple of brief funnel clouds today. Rainy season is over in two weeks here in Florida Keys. Pretty soon we are going to be getting the cold fronts through here just about every week....with a greater threat for severe weather and tornadic waterspouts. |
| October 11th - Everglades N.P. - one of the last trips of this year`s rainy season brought me real close to some of the locals |
| September 30th - Intercepted twin waterspouts just offshore the Upper Keys around 7pm. |
| September 29th, 2005 - Several new photos added to the Everglades N.P section from today's trip |
| Early morning left-over thunderstorm over Florida Bay |
| A short lived thunderstorm in a mature stage over Florida Bay |
| Single cell thunderstorm /Cumulonimbus/ affecting portions of southern Florida |
| A white heron on the ocean side of the Florida Keys during calm morning |
| Updraft base of an afternoon thunderstorm passing over Lower Matecumbe Key |
| A Key Deer trying to look all pretty for the camera in No Name Key |
| A photograph of some not so positive human interaction with weather patterns and our nature I`ve taken near Port Everglades, FL |
| September 20th, 2005 - Documented Hurricane Rita both in Key West and later in the Upper Keys as well. Storm surge brought some destruction to low lying areas even in the Upper Keys especially around Plantation Key and Lower Matecumbe Key. Parts of the US1 around mile marker 74 had to be closed due to extensive flooding and debris on the road. Click above for more images. |
| September 10th - Two large waterspouts just off Layton, FL Video coming soon... |
August 6th, 2005 - Intercepted a waterspout at about 9 am several miles south of Duck Key.
| July 25th, 2005 - Last several nights were just amazing with a great lightning show...tomorrow there is a High risk for waterspouts for Keys near shore waters so I hope I`ll be updating this page tomorrow again. |
| July 15th, 2005 - Intercepted a waterspout just south of the Upper Keys yesterday. Then later in the afternoon I filmed another - smaller one that got quickly overtaken by rain. |
| June 17th, 2004 - Positive lightning strike over Florida Bay (c)2005 Martin Kucera |
| June 12th - An absolute TORNADOFEST today. Filmed ten tornadoes in south-east Texas panhandle. Again some incredible close lightning encounters but it nicely paid off since this was probably the last active day of my storm chasing expedition this year. What a great ending to it all - could not ask for more. Already getting ready for flying back to Florida and the upcoming active hurricane season....and lightning, of course. |
| June 11th - Missed a tornado near Happy, TX by ten minutes but later intercepted two tornadoes near Wayside, TX. I guess everybody in storm chasing business was out there tonight including two Doppler-On-Wheels trucks. Later at night had to core punch a couple supercells with nearly insane lightning and completely flooded roads. |
| June 7th - Just south of Kadoka, SD - another tornado /though rope one/ and later an unbelievable LP supercell we followed for hours till sunset. Tomorow another round of severe weather down south so probably drop down to Kansas. |
| June 4th - intercepted a large cone tornado in NW Kansas today. What a great chase. Sitting in a High Risk area for an hour - filmed a wall cloud half a mile away and followed it till it produced this beautiful cone. Seeing houses destroyed, power lines down were the bad part of today... |
| Well, just finished three days of some great storm chasing and it seems the pattern is going to be quiet in the Plains for couple days or so. Some valuable time to rest and maybe do a little sightseeing. |
June 3rd - Quick update since I am very busy with tomorrow`s chase. SPC
already posted a moderate risk area for the most of the Iowa, Kansas and
Oklahoma with a significant severe weather event likely.
Today intercepted a great supercell right over Denver, CO - almost got struck
by lightning again....some unbelievable structure shots to be posted later. A
rotating wall cloud came close to dropping a tornado but a cold outflow
undercut the whole thing.
Yesterday another supercell - that was in far SE Colorado - got almost too
close for comfort but the same scenario - very close to producing a tornado.
already posted a moderate risk area for the most of the Iowa, Kansas and
Oklahoma with a significant severe weather event likely.
Today intercepted a great supercell right over Denver, CO - almost got struck
by lightning again....some unbelievable structure shots to be posted later. A
rotating wall cloud came close to dropping a tornado but a cold outflow
undercut the whole thing.
Yesterday another supercell - that was in far SE Colorado - got almost too
close for comfort but the same scenario - very close to producing a tornado.
| Second Annual Tornado Alley Expedition coming May 31st - June 16th May 24th - Just finishing my packing list and awaiting the satellite weather system delivery tomorrow. This year is going to be great. The Plains have been relatively quiet so far and I expect a pretty busy pattern the first two weeks in June. |
| May 18th, 2005 - Filmed four waterspouts including some great close-up footage where one spout passes right over the top of my car !!! For video (19.1MB) click above... |
| May 17th, 2005 - waterspout outbreak - intercepted nine waterspouts and many more funnels just north of Key West, FL. |
| May 1st, 2005 - The stormy season officially started yesterday and keeps me quite busy. It`s been a two day non-stop chase so far and I plan to continue till at least Wednesday. Today I intercepted some great storms over Miami skyline which I have been wanting to do for quite some time now. Please check back for a complete update.... |
- January 10th, 2005 Waterspout and Funnel Clouds
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| Nov 29th, 30th - A cold front moved through south Florida bringing foggy weather, a waterspout, several large funnel clouds and an unbelievable rainbow. |