Blog | SKYDRAMA

All Social Media Platforms Suck, And None of Them Care About You

I just got back from a nice sunrise, coffee-in-hand, neighborhood dog walk. I love this time of year. There’s a hint of pre-dawn light...

Gibson City, IL "Surprise" Supercell | July 23rd, 2022

It continues to be a dreadful year for observing photogenic storms in central Illinois, and for getting any rain to fall on my garden and...

Narrowly Escaping Nashville

That has to have been the most not in control I've ever felt in a weather situation. I thought we'd left early enough to beat the worst...

New Vlog - "Tornado Outbreak Felt Inevitable"

It's been a good fall. Mild weather lasting into December meant plenty of time outdoors walking in the woods and enjoying the backyard...

Parsons Manufacturing Plant as a Model for Severe Weather Preparedness

This is the Parsons Manufacturing Plant in Roanoke, Illinois before and after it was struck by an F4 tornado on July 13th, 2004. 120-140...

Another Round of December Severe Storms + High Winds

A widespread high-end synoptic (non-thunderstorm) wind event is expected to unfold today and tonight with wind gusts exceeding 50-75 MPH...

Live Coverage of Tornado Outbreak on December 10th, 2021

Here’s an archive of our severe weather coverage on WILL AM 580 last night as tornadoes and high winds swept through central Illinois. We...

SKYDRAMA 2021 | The 2021 Storm Observation Season

Three hours of supercells and tornadoes on the American Great Plains from the 2021 storm observation season. My annual year end storm...

August 12th, 2021 | 1 in 1,000 Year Flood in Gibson City, Illinois

Thunderstorms erupted over the town of Gibson City (about 45 miles northwest of Champaign-Urbana) before sunrise the morning of August...

June 25th, 2021 | Cisco, Illinois Tornadoes

An outflow boundary cooked in the late-June sun and produced several mini-supercells along the Interstate 72 corridor in central...

June 20th, 2021 | Pella, Iowa Tornado

I spent the entire day worshipping an Illinois MCV and talking smack about the cold front play in Iowa, but as the day wore on I was...

May 17th, 2021 | Sterling City, Texas Tornado

We woke up in Lubbock on the 17th. I had a bit of work to do for my job, mostly weather forecast updates for our folks in the Canadian...

May 16th 2021 | Stunning Low-Precipitation Supercell near Lubbock, Texas

We journeyed overnight from Illinois to west Texas in hopes of a late-evening structure show and we were not disappointed. Unfortunately,...

May 3rd, 2021 | Tornadic Supercell in Central Illinois

On Monday May 3rd I chased a supercell along the Interstate 72 corridor as it produced brief tornadoes near Ashland and Mechanicsburg,...

Early Thoughts on the 2021 Storm Observation Season

Some early ideas on 2021 storm season, copied over from social media. La Nina/PDO- combination means we're in for a banger, right? Adding...