Pecos Hank

MY NEW BOOK & Today's Storm Chase

Hello Patrons,

I'm super-excited to announce my new book "Storm." Some of you may have noticed I haven't been uploading much content the last 7 months. The reason is, from December - May I worked every waking hour trying to complete this book by the May 1st deadline. I was still a month late. Published by DK books, Its loaded thick with my most precious storm photos from around the globe. It's got storm stories and chasing tips, but ultimately it's a science book about how these sto...

Storm Chase June 8 & Yesterday’s Surprise!

Good Afternoon Patrons,

Today appears to be largely an extreme wind and large hail event. There might be a window for some mesocyclonic tornadoes the first hour or two storms go up before congealing into a QLCS / squall line… and of course there always seems to be a mesoscale accident. By that we mean storms interacting with each other in a chaotic way and providing the juice for a tornado. Guidance is suggesting a likely derecho will surge through the Red River Valley toward Dallas ...

Storm Chase, June 7 & Yesterday’s Noodle-Nado

Good afternoon Patrons,

After a night of good rest, Daniel and I are heading to the panhandle for the 2% risk there. We’re not expecting tornadoes, but perhaps a pretty supercell and who knows what.

Yesterday we intercepted the pretty supercell West of Lubbock and was treated to a nice rope tornado. I got a great time lapse of it doing the squiggly wiggles and bre...

June 6 Storm chase (re-run?) & Yesterday’s Burrito Supreme

Good Afternoon Patrons,

Heads or Tails? SE Colorado / OK Panhandle or Texas again? It’s a tough call but for some reason I’m going with my home field advantage in Texas. I was up until 7am editing yesterday’s footage and am currently getting kicked out of the hotel by the overly generous room service. In other words, I did a very quick forecast and I’m not sure I’m making the right decision. So let’s divide and conquer.

Yesterday was a classic. I scored at least 5 to...

Chase Party - June 5

Good Day Patrons,

Today looks like a chase party in west TX. Anticipating thick conga lines / mosh pits. Those investing in windshield repair on the NY stock exchange might see a nice bump in capital gains. Rental car stock might take a hit as hail damage costs spike for some strange reason.

The next 4 days + look like consistent supercell potential. I’ve got 12 tornadoes so far this year and need 5.5 more to meet my average / quota. I’ll chime in with any worthy updates. G...

Live Chat Tonight 8PM Central / in minutes

New link! here... I messed up. Good luck

https://www.youtube.com/live/egMCIa4zlog?si=qABBRY3wwEjUnGa5

Live Chat / QnA Tonight + Big News!

Hello Patrons,

I've got a window to squeeze in a live chat tonight before likely heading out into the Plains tomorrow. Let's talk about 2025, discuss the long term forecast for tornadic storms in early June and I'd like to share some very big news about the secret project I have been working on and completed yesterday.

I'll send another reminder an hour or so before the talk with directions how you can participate.

See you tonight

-h

Good afternoon Patrons,

Today my forecast appears to be a trace of the SPCs 5% risk outlook. Agreement = more confidence. For those looking for a wiley away from the chaser hoard target, perhaps consider New Mexico though low level parameters (and others) don’t look as good out there today as yesterday.

SPEAKING OF YESTERDAY

It was comically astonishing how many storm chasers were in Matador Texas. Everyone w...

Storm Chase May 25

Good afternoon Patrons,

Current plans today is to head toward Childress, Texas, ASAP and reforecast. Parameters in New Mexico caught my eye this morning as a viable tornado target. In Texas, I’m expecting an enormous amount of chasers based on HRRR runs. If this verifies around Paducah or Silverton, where there are very limited roads, it could lead to pointless chasing conditions similar to last night near Arnett Oklahoma. It seems there is an extra level of desperation in the conga ...

Storm Chase May 24 - OK

Good afternoon Patrons,

Today the Oklahoma target looks pretty obvious. My mesoanalysis is in complete alignment with the SPCs 10% tornado risk outlook (Always a confidence builder). Models have been trending with a mature supercell or two popping at 7 or 8 PM. The Cap is pretty strong here but appears breakable. I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a flashy show this evening, but I’m often surprised out here. I’ll try to post worthy updates.

Happy Dodge Day ‘16 chasers! <...

Big Week & Big Secret News

Good evening Patrons,

Hopefully some of you were out in Colorado today. I saw Daniel & Anton scored a neat-o tornado there. I'm in Houston slackin' but I'll be headed out for tomorrow and beyond indefinitely. It's looking like there will be some supercell parameters Saturday through at least Wednesday.

BIG SECRET NEWS

Due to the NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) I've signed, I haven't been able to tell you guys or anybody about a big project I've been working on the l...

Storm Chase May 19 & Yesterday’s Burrito Supremes!

Good afternoon Patrons,

Today there’s a 15% risk of tornadoes in the heart of the Alley. As I was up until 7am this morning (editing) and have 7400 miles since the last oil change, I’m just HRRRing it. Once they’re done with my car I’m going to head to the dryline in OKC and catch the first storm I can. Apologies for the lack of guidance today. I haven’t had time to look.

...

BIG Storm Chase May 18 & Yesterday’s Burrito

Good morning Patrons,

Today has all the makings of historic tornado footage. Many of us already have butterflies in our stomachs. Over the last two decades i can recall numerous similar patterns that resulted in 2 or 3 dominant supercells producing tornadoes, but only one of them, for whatever reasons, produced the ones we remember today. Many times, I was not on that storm. A few times I was. Sometimes it was the northern storm, sometimes the middle, sometimes the southern. Good luck ...

Storm chase May 17 - TX or OK? And Yesterday’s Burrito

Good afternoon Patrons,

I’ve been bouncing back-and-forth on my target today but it now seems that I’m targeting Oklahoma somewhere between the two purple circles . We’ve got some crazy parameters as well as some not so great parameters. So I’m just gonna drive into the middle of it all and keep a sharp eye on observations within striking distance.

YESTERDAY WAS FAST! I was able to stay with the tornadic storm in Missouri thanks too a high speed highway that the storm was...

Storm Chase May 16 - IL or MO or KY or TN or AR ???

Good morning Patrons,

Today is looking nasty, scary and fast in shady chase country… Excellent parameters to sit out and survive. Above are significant tornado parameters (STP) for that vicinity where twenty states all come together. My plan is to just get in the middle of the parameters and hope for the best.

YESTERDAY it seemed like Illinois was too capped so I targeted southern Wisconsin and was able to surf with the tornado warned cell near Milwaukee. Nasty storm in beaut...

May 15 Storm Chase WI/IL - Here we go!

Good morning Patrons,

Today I’ll be targeting either north or south of the Chicago area. Traffic and a big pond will likely force us to make early commitments which cell we choose.

THE NEXT SIX DAYS all appear to be good chasing opportunities. As most of us are well rested from the last lull, I’m going to attempt to capture them all. You hear that Richard? (He hinted I was getting old and slowing down) 😎.

Here we go chasers! Stay safe and courteous out there! 2025-05-15 15:01:35 +0000 UTC View Post

What Happened to MAY? & Free Chasing Music

Happy Mothers Day Patron Moms!

Mother Nature has blessed storm chaser Moms with fair weather so that we can be home celebrating Mother's Day. Not such a great thing if you're a mom who was looking forward to chasing on your special holiday.

So what the heck happened to May? It seems 2 out of 3 Mays have a week or two of fair weather followed be a week or two of nonstop supercell chasing (in the Alley). Recalling 2013 when the first two weeks of May were cold with scoured dew...

May 6 Home Field Storm Chase

Good Morning Patrons,

Yesterday nothing of interest occurred in front of my lenses. The nice thing about this is that when I got to the hotel I didn’t have to download footage from 9 cameras and recharge 18 batteries.

TODAY it appears messy, high precipitation supercells with potential for significant tornadoes will threaten my little hometown Houston. I’m not expecting anything photogenic, but you never know. If I leave San Angelo now, I should make it in time.

Good ...

Cinco De Mayo Chase - TX

Hola Patrons,

Gotta move quick… today I’ll be targeting the NM/ west TX 5% risk. Interesting question is how long supercells can remain Tornadic as cells appear to fire up and then track toward cold air. Later, Target 2 appears to explode in the warm sector / no road sector. Let’s see what happens.

Good luck everyone!

April 29 - TX Storm Chase

G’day Patrons

Today looks like another good day for supercells and perhaps tornadoes in Texas. It might be a wack-a-mole chase bouncing around to different storms trying to smack the right one, but we never really know.

YESTERDAY began with serious flashbacks of big tornado days. A storm exploded right on target near Crowell Texas and started twisting right off the bat. It did the splits as expected, turned right and died. Cue Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown.

April 28 - Storm Chase TX to Wisconsin

Good afternoon Patrons,

I’m targeting the southern end of the risk today near the TX/OK border. Special shout out to the SPC for yanking the 10% risk out from underneath us. Here’s the 8am risk outlook…

I have high confidence explosive storms will occur in my target area. Perhaps the SPC is seeing too many storms exploding and interacting /becoming a cluster r...

April 27 - CHANGE OF PLANS

Heads up Patrons,

After further pondering, and pondering and pondering it appears I have subconsciously sabotaged my attempt to chase the big 15% in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin tomorrow.

Staying in north Texas offers 3 consecutive days of good supercell potential. Good chance I might miss something epic tomorrow. If I can score something epic in one of these three days it will have been the right call.

Good luck everyone pushing the 15 hour drive to tomorrow’s target (...

April 27 Chase? And Yesterdays Tornadoes

Howdy Patrons,

Today the SPC has a 5% risk of tornadoes up the spine of the dryline. The HRRR is currently largely saying “blue skies” and the NAM is saying “burritos can happen” in Kansas and perhaps west Texas. This is where I often get in trouble with birds in the bush. If we exhaust ourselves today, we may be out of range for the potentially much bigger event tomorrow…

CURRENT PLANS is to drive into Kansas and see what’s what. It’s hard for me to pass up a cha...

April 26 Storm Chase TX/NM

Good afternoon Patrons,

Today I’ll be targeting a southern supercell or two expected in west Texas and shouldn’t have any problems getting there on time.

Yesterday storms fired up an hour or so earlier than I had expected. After a 10 hour drive I missed the first tornado by 10 minutes. 🤗 I was able to scrounge a large weak occluded funnel cloud with whirling curtains of rain underneath. I’m hesitant to call it a tornado though. Lots of gustnadoes as well.

Potenti...

Storm chase April 25 & Beyond

Greetings Patrons,

I’m currently blazing a trail into the center of the risk area and don’t have time to do a proper forecast. The plan is to just get into the target on time and hopefully pick the right storm. Here is a recent HRRR forecast.

The next five days and beyond look like good Chase days. I’ll chime in with any worthy updates today when I can. Here...

Free Digital Photo

Good Evening Patrons,

Attached below is a high res digital photo for you to use as a screen saver, print, hang up, use as a dart board or make paper airplanes. In 2006 I was touring the East Coast and Midwest with the band. We played over 100 shows that year. I was only able to storm chase 2 days that year and scored this big burrito on Cinco de Mayo. I'm pretty sure this was shot on Fujichrome provia 35mm film judging by how magenta it is. The black framing is the original slide c...

April 19 - TX storm chase

Good morning Patrons (afternoon in Europe)

Today the SPC currently has a 5% risk of burritos across TX and parts of OK. I’m currently targeting the southern end of the risk but may change depending on the character of the cold front.

If it can stall. Then it might be a good corridor for Tornadic supercells tracking northeast along it toward Dallas. If it surges, then I’d expect those storms to be undercut with cold outflow.

2025-04-19 12:48:57 +0000 UTC View Post

April 18 Storm Chase?

The WindBreaker is loaded up and ready to roll. BUT, the latest guidance has talked me out of it. Despite the SPC saying storms should occur around 5-7pm, the Hrrr and the Nam Nest don't really resolve any storms until after 9pm. What does resolve appears to be in a messy-mode environment. The updated runs should trickle in soon. I've still got another 1-2 window to make the scene should conditions improve for photogenic supercells.

2025-04-18 13:17:47 +0000 UTC View Post

Stormy Weekend - Thursday - Sunday

Hello Patrons,

I hope you guys got a little quiet time before the chaos. I cant believe it's already here again. What crazy wonders are we going to see in the weeks to come?

Tomorrow is interesting... My initial forecasts were elevated hailers in Nebraska and Iowa. Now that I've missed my window of opportunity I might regret being a slacker. The SPC is currently giving tomorrow a 2% (I suspect an upgrade to 5), but look at this NAM forecast south of Lincoln Nebraska...

...

Arklatex Chase - April 4

Good morning Patrons,

Today’s tornado threat appears to be the largest in the northeast Texas, Arkansas and vicinity. It could be an HP mess-fest overall. Perhaps not. After several days of white knuckle chasing and nothing to show for this trail, the sunk-cost will be whispering “punch into the rain and see the beast.” I shall try my best to ignore the voices. I hope you guys do the same.

Regardless, good luck chasers!