August 2006 Blogs

8/31/2006 1:00 PM – Wow, Ernesto is looking a lot better and now I’m pissed that I’m at home in Minneapolis but I’m going to be able to produce this video tropical video project just like old times when I let the stringers do the work and I stayed home. Bill and Matt are on the case so this is going to be a long day.

8/30/2006 11:00 PM – Just working from home today and getting a lot of stuff caught up. Everything needs a plan of attack and I have a war of work on my hands. Just trying to organize everything and get the site finished. Today I was watching Tropical DEPRESSION Ernesto and just laughing my ass off at this storm. This thing is so lame that when I talked to my buddy Brian in Sarasota, he said everyone was just pissed off that they hyped the shit out of this storm. We laughed our asses off at some footage we saw from the NASA video feeds. It was a broken sky and a windy day with some rain as they moved the Space Shuttle back out to the launch pad. Brian said he looked at the data last night and said he has seen better sea breeze setups. This storm is crap, it has always been a shitty storm and that is all it is. For those who are hyping it up trying to make it like Hurricane Katrina and wow the flooding and the winds around Lake Okeechobee, get fn real. Most of Florida will get street flooding even with a sea breeze thunderstorm. That’s like calling a dust devil a tornado you fn losers.

8/29/2006 5:00 PM CDT – A year ago today I was in the middle of the biggest natural disaster in the history of the USA shooting Hurricane Katrina video in New Orleans. Today I’m at home watching the lamest storm on radar called Ernesto or Er-Lamo or maybe Er-Busto…

Tropical storm Ernesto is a joke. I just looked on SwiftWX and the winds suck ass!!!

Here is the current weather: Miami, Miami International Airport: 5:53 PM EDT – Temperature: 81 F – Wind from: East/Northeast (060 deg) – Dewpoint: 75 F – Wind Speed: 13.8 mph (12 kts) Homestead Air Force Base: 5:55 PM EDT – Temperature: 77.0 F Wind from: East/Northeast (070 deg) Dewpoint: 77.0 F Wind Speed: 17.3 mph (15 kts) Gusting To: 27.6 mph (24 kts) Marathon, Marathon Airport: 5:53 PM EDT – Temperature: 78 F Wind from: North/Northwest (340 deg) Dewpoint: 75 F Wind Speed: 13.8 mph (12 kts) Gusting To: 20.7 mph (18 kts) Key West, Key West International Airport: 5:53 PM EDT – Temperature: 78 F Wind from: North (360 deg) Dewpoint: 73 F Wind Speed: 12.7 mph (11 kts) OK, NOW THERE IS A TROPICAL STORM JUST OFF THE COAST OF FLORIDA HERE AND THIS IS THE CURRENT CONDITIONS WHICH SUCK ASS. NOW, LET’S LOOK AT SOMEPLACE ELSE IN THE COUNTRY, OH, LIKE LET’S FROM ONE END OF THE COUNTRY TO THE OTHER END OF THE COUNTRY As we load up our SwiftWX software and bust out the mapping ruler, let’s go directly 3000 miles from Marathon Florida and we end up in… Pendleton Oregon! What is the weather like in Pendleton Oregon right now? Eastern Oregon Regional At Pendleton Airport: 3:53 PM MDT – Temperature: 79 F Wind from: West (270 deg) Dewpoint: 39 F Wind Speed: 39.1 mph (34 kts) Gusting To: 43.7 mph (38 kts) Pendleton Oregon has more Tropical storm like weather then southern Florida!!! Stupid fn media hype ruined this storm!

8/28/2006 9:00 PM – Just like I thought, Ernesto look’s like crap. It is stuck in Cuba and I think it will be stuck in Cuba for the next 24 hours. I’m just watching The Weather Channel and there just wearing out my Hurricane Katrina Video from New Orleans. They must have used a couple minutes of my Hurricane Katrina Footage tonight to feature the one year after New Orleans and Katrina video.

Tropical Storm Ernesto
Tropical Storm Ernesto

8/28/2006 5:00 AM – Wow, this storm looks like crap. Here is the latest radar from Cuba. Look at all of the mountains that Ernesto will have to deal with before making it into the Gulf Of Mexico. This storm is HYPE HYPE HYPE. And again the NHC forecast is saying “THE INTENSITY FORECAST REMAINS QUITE COMPLICATED DUE TO POSSIBLE LAND INTERACTIONS WITH CUBA. ” But I know they have to over hype this some because look what happened in the past with rapid development with Andrew and Katrina. But they did not have the mountains to deal with and that is what is really making me say, Hmmmmmmmm?

Also if you look at the NHC forecast track, now they have it hitting Miami. Tomorrow it may be going to the islands off the east coast of Florida. Honestly, if this storm misses Florida, I won’t cry about it because they have been hit way too many times and if it falls apart, it is a good wake up call for everyone that it could happen still. I still think this will be tropical storm El-Busto.

Tropical Storm Ernesto
Tropical Storm Ernesto on Cuba Radar

8/28/2006 2:00 AM CST – A year ago today I was out filming the Hurricane Katrina video. It was 24 hours until Katrina hit and pretty much changed my life forever. Now tropical storm Ernesto has formed southeast of Cuba and southwest of Haiti. What are my plans for chasing, I’m considering it but you also have to consider the hype factor.

  1. It is the anniversary of Katrina, anything tropical is going to by hyped for ratings. OH MY GOD, ANOTHER STORM!!!
  2. The forecasts earlier in the season were for serious death and destruction. This is going to be an above average hurricane season was what just about EVERYONE (except for me) was saying. They said that so many storms were going to hit, it was going to be just like last year, were all going to die, global warming is going to kill us all…
  3. This year’s history of storms. Um yeah right but what happened to Alberto, oh yeah, Alberto sucked ass. Then we had tropical storm Beryl or as I liked to call it Tropical Storm Barely that hit pretty much nothing off the coast of Massachusetts. I was all hyped up for a possible Hurricane Chris or Tropical Storm Chris and guess what, oh yeah, Tropical System Chris died. Then Debbie was suppose to be the next big one to hit the east coast and it became a fish storm which means it only hit out at sea and hit the fish.

Now we have Ernesto and I personally think Ernesto will be El-Busto. Why? I was reading Dr. Jeff Masters blog on Weather Underground tonight and he had some great images from Google Earth of the west coast of Haiti. Western Haiti is Mountains and it is going to kill Ernesto. The Hurricane Center upgraded Ernesto to a Hurricane then they downgraded it back to a Tropical Storm. I personally think this will hit Florida as a Tropical Depression at best.

Here was what the 11:00 PM NHC forecast said. THE INTENSITY FORECAST IS GREATLY COMPLICATED BY LAND INTERACTIONS WITH CUBA. SHOULD ERNESTO NOT REGAIN MUCH ORGANIZATION BEFORE REACHING CUBA…IT IS POSSIBLE THAT NOT A LOT WILL BE LEFT OF THE CYCLONE WHEN IT EMERGES INTO THE FLORIDA STRAITS. In English, this storm is dead. HOWEVER…THE UPPER-LEVEL WINDS REMAIN CONDUCIVE FOR DEVELOPMENT…AND THE OFFICIAL FORECAST WILL ASSUME A VIGOROUS RESTRENGTHENING OVERNIGHT TONIGHT AND A SUBSTANTIAL CYCLONE SURVIVING THE PASSAGE OVER CUBA. IN THIS THE OFFICIAL FORECAST IS CLOSE TO THE GFDL GUIDANCE…BUT WELL ABOVE THE SHIPS MODEL. In English, they are covering their ass in case the storm re fires after it comes off of Cuba. I really don’t think it is going to be much of anything now because as I write this, it is 3:00 AM Eastern which is well past the overnight hours that NHC talks about and the storm looks like crap. The storm, it is pretty much the red and yellow on the IR Satellite image below. Where is the eye? Where is the well formed spiral bands? Where is the storm?

Tropical Storm Ernesto
Tropical Storm Ernesto

I see Ernesto as being a rain event only. But then again, Katrina was a shitty little storm when it started out off the east coast of Florida. Why am I so negative about this storm? When I was out in San Francisco, this system was on track to hit Mexico and southern Texas. Then the computer models had it going into Houston and then into the New Orleans area. Yesterday morning, they had it going up the same path as Ivan and Dennis into the panhandle of Florida. Yesterday afternoon all the computer models had it hitting Tampa. Now it is barely going to make Fort Myers and by tonight, it might just be dead in 24 hours because of Cuba. The computer models just keep moving around and nothing looks good from model run to model run. Think I’m talking out of my ass? Well look at the forecast history on NHC. Click Here For NHC Forecast Archive Page About Ernesto

If this was on the western edge of Cuba where it is pretty flat, I would say Florida and the Gulf Coast is screwed but honestly, I like the hype to remind people that it is hurricane season and that people have to pay attention to the weather but the over hype, well, that is a little much but as a TV Producer, I have to remember that it was one year ago today I was setting up for Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Update, it is 3:30 AM and here is another sat image. Still looks like crap to me. That brownish stuff to the north is dry air. Um yeah, this thing may die in the next 48 hours.

8/28/2006 Tropical Storm Ernesto sat image
8/28/2006 Tropical Storm Ernesto sat image

8/27/2006 6:00 AM CST – Just going to bed here, Current TV network is running the Katrina footage and the 5 part series today. Damn this looks freaking cool and I can’t wait to see what the view feed back is going to be like. In other media news, it looks like every Katrina special on the planet in the next three days is going to be using my footage in it. From all the shows on Discovery Network, The Weather Channel, HBO, NHK, and so on will be using the footage. Now I just have to get a few of the people to start paying me for the footage… Monday I will be playing bill collector.

8/25/2006 It’s 7:00 AM and I’m now back in Minneapolis. It’s time to get some sleep and take it easy for the day. It was interesting sitting next to what was left of the band Soul Asylum on the flight. I thought those guys broke up years ago.

8/24/2006 11:00 PM Pacific Time – The Weather Paparazzi series about Hurricane Katrina is now almost done. I finished up the last of the post production stuff today at the network and oh boy does it kick ass!!! They reedited everything and now I look like the freaking Jack Bauer of severe weather!!! Note to self, loose 40 pounds ASAP to look better on camera… And speaking of on camera, here is me on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge. I had a few hours to kill after we wrapped up everything before I drove back to the airport so I went out and played rapid tourist. See as much as I could in 2 hour’s then go back to the airport. I just could not get over how cold this town is because when I think of California, I think of it being warm and sunny, but not San Francisco. The cold Pacific waters keep this town chilly but it is all good. The fog was a trip too, if I ever want to shoot a lo of fog video, I know just where to go.

8/24/2006 Me being a goof in San Francisco
8/24/2006 Me being a goof in San Francisco
8/24/2005 San Francisco
8/24/2005 San Francisco Skyline

I might have missed the storm’s back home today but I got the chance and the trip of a life time to launch the Weather Paparazzi series. Chase one storm and catch a tornado or chase my dream’s and make them come true.

8/23/2006 11:15 PM Pacific Time. – Well, I had fun today working on a ton of stuff for the tv show project and spent most of the day locked up in a audio booth doing voice over’s for the 5 different parts. Just got back to the hotel after a 12 hour day but it was cool. I took this shot of the Bay Bridge tonight. My hotel is right on the water and the view is pretty cool.

San Francisco Bay Bridge
San Francisco Bay Bridge

I’m really liking this town since it is pretty laid back and the people are pretty friendly. It sure beats the hell out of New York City and how rude everyone was when I was out checking out the city last year.

8/23/2006 2:00 AM Pacific Time. I’m in the city by the bay, so close to the bay I can be in it in 2 minutes. Staying in Downtown San Francisco and right down the road is the Bay Bridge just outside my hotel window. Going to get some sleep before I stop by the office in the morning.

8/22/2006 9:30 AM – Went to the dentist this morning and got the last of the worked I needed done. From now one I’m avoiding drinking soda and eating junk food on the road without having a tooth brush handy. All in all it was not bad but there was this really cute dental assistant working on me so it was all good 🙂 Time to get packing and get everything ready to be torn apart by airport security for the flight to San Francisco.

8/21/2006 11:30 PM – Wow, what an insane day. I was expecting to be able to relax and take it easy but nope, this afternoon everything went from relaxing at home to crazy. First a producer for a huge national talk radio show got back to me after several of my friends kept bugging me to contact the show about my Katrina footage. I was surprised how fast they got back to me. I sent them the Katrina DVD’s to check out. Not sure if anything will happen with them but who knows. I just got done working out and I sat down to start working on the website again tonight when the TV producers in San Francisco called and want me to fly out tomorrow to do a bunch of stuff in studio for a couple of day’s for the Weather Paparazzi series about Katrina. So I will be leaving for California tomorrow, this should be pretty cool. So I’ll be updating from San Francisco next. I just hope Tropical Depression 4 or anything else explode while I’m on the other side of the country. But I did joke with Bill tonight and he said I could always drive south into Mexico and chase the Pacific storms if the move back towards the Baja Mexico area.

8/20/2006 6:00 AM – Yesterday I went out working on an underwater video project. I got in almost three hours of dive time up at the old mine pits in Crosby, MN. This place is great for diving because the water is crystal clear. It was almost like diving in the tropics, except for the COLD water below 25 feet. If you have ever watched South Park and saw the show where they go to the Veal Farm… Yeah I was like Cartman scuba diving with all the Small Mouth Bass. “Ohhhh, this one looks delicious with some lemon and butter… Can I have a free sample ” Scuba diving at Crosby was a blast. I want to go back up and get some more stock footage.

Diving in the Crosby, MN mine pits
Diving in the Crosby, MN mine pits

8/18/2006 2:00 PM – I know I said I was going to take a break but the creative mo jo is flowing for the new TV series. I just started working on the next project “The Forgotten Hurricane Of 2005, Hurricane Dennis, Rita, and Wilma”. I got so much footage from those storms that it’s going to be another bad ass project once I edit it all together. I really want to tell everyone more about the TV project but I can’t until it is set for broadcast since my loser competition reads this blog for ideas since they don’t have a creative bone in their body as well as not knowing how to shoot video. I just was reading on line about the new movie coming out on HBO. Spike Lee produced a film about Hurricane Katrina for HBO and it came out this week. He used a bunch of my footage in his project and I have to order up HBO to check it out.

Click here to read the review of Spike Lee’s Katrina Project.

To read more about Spike Lee’s project, here is the page on HBO.com Click here to read about the project on HBO’s website.

8/17/2006 9PM – After several weeks of work, the five part series about Hurricane Katrina is finished. Editing video is easy, editing audio into a video is a total pain in the ass. The response back from the beta testing team from SwiftWX who previewed the different parts was wow.

Now the hard drive is shipped off to San Francisco and it is time to get back to working on the web site before I start the next project about Hurricane Rita. Oh, and for good audio in a video project. For every minute of audio, plan on a half hour of video editing to balance out the audio channels… Also today, I showed a friend at The Weather Channel the project and the first thing that she asked, “Whose Truck Were You Driving?” it was pretty funny that was the first thing she asked me. We also talked about the over forecasted Hurricane Season. At least it is over forecasted right now since not much has happened but Hurricane Katrina was not until August 29th and between Dennis and Katrina, not much happened in the USA for the hurricanes so there is still time.

I must say that I think all the forecasts about this season being a killer to make last season look like nothing is pretty funny since nothing is happening in the Atlantic. Everything is in the Pacific. I think if a major hurricane hits this season, it might be going to our 50th state because this is my forecast for this season. THE POTENTIAL FOR THIS SEASONS STORMS IN THE ATLANTIC TO DEVELOP INTO A TROPICAL DEPRESSION HAS DIMINISHED CONSIDERABLY…

8/15/2006 6AM – It was another all nighter as I have been busting ass to get the last of the different parts of the TV show project done. I’m doing so much on this thing solo that it’s not even funny but oh man, this thing is going to be bad ass!!! I’m still watching the tropics but right now I think it is all going to be junk for the next 2 weeks.

8/09/2006 9pm – I went out today, way out, into western MN where I was in the sun and away from any kind of back ground noise that would mess up the audio for the stuff I had to redo for the TV show.

On my way back home on Highway 12, when I stopped by my grandparents graves to see them in the small town of Murdock. I drove around the town that I have not been in for years but remember it when I was a child. I saw a sign that sent chills down my spine.

It was a road sign that said Orleans and Kenner. Um, Hello…

Kenner Avenue and Orleans Street.

Yeah so, it’s just a road sign, why is that so shocking. Okay, um yeah. The house in the back ground… That was my Grandparents home before they passed away. Now I know who told me to stay in Kenner and go to New Orleans for Katrina.

8/06/2006 – I went and chased yesterday in the Mod Risk or I should call it Mod Bust. Yesterday was a total waste of time and none of the forecasts were on target. I chased the mod risk pretty much on the slight chance of something but this is the season of lame weather.

8/03/2006 11:00 PM – Back home after a busy day goofing off. Looks like Tropical Storm Chris is not going to hit Florida and I’m already planning on going to South Texas next week or maybe even Mexico. I will have to talk to the Mexican Consulate in St. Paul tomorrow to get the scoop on the chase. The track is going over Cuba and that should kill it off but once in the warm Gulf of Mexico Waters, it could explode into a major storm.

Tropical Storm Chris Forecast.
Tropical Storm Chris Forecast.

8/2/2006 10:30 AM – Well, that teaches me for not chasing every storm near me. Last evening there was a tornado in Southern MN. After the last 3 months of failed storms and hype about all the big tornado watches that end up being duds where nothing happens, a major tornado hits in southern MN.

It was not even forecasted for tornadoes, just a flood watch. I swear, someone has messed with the computer models for the weather this year and everything is way off.

In other news, I did get a lot done yesterday with the video editing and plan on spending all day today now editing the TV project together. I am planning on doing the last of the interview and voice over stuff today and tomorrow then getting the rough cut to the network by Monday.

Why Monday, well Katrina Anniversary is at the end of this month and that is the opening piece for this project and I need to get it wrapped up NOW, because I may be on the ground on Saturday in Florida chasing Hurricane Chris video.

Right now Tropical Storm Chris could go just about anywhere and do anything. My fear is that it does the same thing as Hurricane Rita and just grows into a monster in the Gulf. If you follow my blog a lot, you will know that I was diving down in the Gulf last month and the water temps were 85F at 85 Feet Under Water. Last year Katrina hit Florida as a minor Cat One but still did a lot of damage. Then Katrina hit the Gulf and exploded into history.

Right now, my plans for chasing Chris are on hold until I know more about the projected track and then get into the area a couple days before. The storm is still 5 days from maybe hitting the Florida Keys and one computer model which had it going to south Florida now shows it falling apart over Cuba. The bottom line, nobody knows where any storm will go.

If I could predict the future I would not be doing freelance video for a living, I would be on Wall Street. So, I can only wait and see what happens while getting a lot of work done on the TV project and just ignoring the phone and not turning on the TV and just focusing on the work. Because one thing is for sure. As soon as I get this project done, I will have a lot more coin in my pocket. And if everyone likes the project, hopefully a whole lot more of these projects for the network down the road.

8/1/2006 1:00 PM – Last night I stayed up late waiting for the storms but they were iffy at best but I was able to chase from my bedroom deck and living room deck. I got a couple decent bolts for stock but nothing I felt like staying up to feed to TWC. Plus, I had to see the dentist again this morning to finish up some stuff.

In Other News… Tropical Storm Chris formed overnight and may hit South Florida. I’m already gearing up for a Tropical Storm Chris video chase. Maybe it will end up being a Hurricane Chris Video chase.