MovingPictures

Shadows of Barns Gone Bye...

Shot this photo of what looks to be a shadow of an attached outbuilding on a barn just West of Fremont, Ohio.

The New Face of Liberty...

A Liberty Tax waver in Ypsilanti, Michigan...

Cool Old Looking Photo Shot Today...

Shot along SR 269 South of Bellevue, Ohio...

Some Nice Shots from the Cleveland Indians Game...

A young boy waves his Rally Cap as the Indians come to bat in the bottom of the 9th, down 2-1, they rallied to win 1-5 over Kansas City...

The Tribe celebrates a victory...

Incredible Lightning Video by Stephen Locke...

Very Nice Work by Stephen Locke...

MESO Storm Chase 2011 - Multi-Media Piece...

A very cool multi-media piece my brother Matt Detrich of the Indianapolis Star shot of our storm chase group MESO this spring on his first ever storm chase, although we did not score a tornado this year he, and we, got some amazing photos. Also a side note, my blog has gone over the 100,000 unique clicks in the past week, thanks to all of you that have visited in the past and keep coming back...

John Pinette - The Buffet, Funniest Comedy Ever...

Spirit is Alive and Well in Joplin, Missouri...

Caught this photo of a teen helping re-raise the flag at a demolished home in Joplin, Mo. after a brisk wind caused the flag to fall. The spirit of the people in Joplin is pretty high and all seem to be coping well after the EF 5 tornado tore through their town leveling a great deal of the city. Click HERE to see my Flickr photos of the devastation. 

Photo of Wood Through Concrete from Joplin, MO...

This photo from @mdrache on Twitter from a friend of his from Joplin, MO. It is AMAZING the power of an EF 5 tornado...

At Least 89 Dead in Joplin, Missouri Monster Tornado...

A massive tornado that tore through the southwest Missouri city of Joplin killed at least 89 people, but authorities warned that the death toll could climb Monday as search and rescuers continued their work at sunrise.

City manager Mark Rohr announced the number of known dead at a pre-dawn news conference outside the wreckage of a hospital that took a direct hit from Sunday's storm. Rohr said the twister cut a path nearly six miles long and more than a half-mile wide through the center of town.

Much of the city's south side was leveled, with churches, schools, businesses and homes reduced to ruins.

Fire chief Mitch Randles estimated that 25 to 30 percent of the city was damaged, and said his own home was among the buildings destroyed as the twister swept through this city of about 50,000 people some 160 miles south of Kansas City.

"It cut the city in half," Randles said.

A Down Day BBQ, Recharged for Tomorrow's Chase...

Niccolo Ubalducci from the Italian Storm Chasers enjoys his steak.

We drove South from our overnight stay in Valentine, Nebraska to the small Kansas town of Colby. We found a cheap but nice motel and executed our BBQ plan flawlessly. My brother Matt manned the grills along with the help of Chris Howell and Niccolo Ubalducci from Italy. The beef was quickly consumed and some adult beverages consumed. As of right now the SPC day 1 outlook shows a 10% hatched chance for tornadoes and a whole lot of chase fun...

Chris Howell and Matt Kassawara look at forecast pages for the chase.

Nicollo Ubalducci looks at the forecast.

Bust Day in South Dakota, now on to Kansas Toto...

Jim Leonard in his chase van.

We had a long day of playing hurry-up and wait with almost every major name in storm chasing in the country. Reed Timmer, Joel Taylor, Tony Laubach, Tim Samaras, Jim Leonard, Roger Hill, Verene Carlson, Mike Umschied, Adam Lucio and many more were there waiting with no less than 100 other storm chasers from all over the world. The day did not produce what was expected, but it was a nice social day for all of the chasers. I met one of my FaceBook friends from England, Vicki Redwood, and many others for the first time. We caught some night time structure, lightning and a wall cloud north of Pine Ridge, South Dakota. We will be taking tomorrow to drive to Kansas after overnighting in Valentine, Nebraska to set up for Wednesday and a already forecast moderate risk.

North of Pine Ridge, South Dakota.

Nice Surprise Structure After Dark...

Tonight we got a little after dark surprise shelf cloud which was being lit up by lightning near Mitchell, South Dakota. See my other photos from today, CLICK HERE. 

Some Photos of the St. Louis Tornado Damage...

Members of Disaster Relief Service International clean up the property of the Temple Christian Fellowship Church in Bridgeton, MO.

Today my chase partner Chris Howell and my brother Matt Detrich traveled through the damage path of the 04/22/11 tornado that did significant damage to the town of Bridgeton, MO and the St. Louis Lambert Field airport. Click HERE to see a slideshow of the photos. We are overnighting in Kansas City, MO and will meet up with the rest of the MESO group tomorrow and then head out to Kansas to get into position for some possible weather on Sunday. We are also joined by three Italian storm chasers, (yes from Italy), and will once again enjoy the company of Niccolo Ubalducci and Valentina Abinanti and their friend Michael. We will be picking up Nancy Bose and Joe Falci at the KC airport tomorrow and Matt Kassawara will be driving in from Lawrence, KS.

Chris Howell looks at a twisted I-beam in the damage path of the EF-4 tornado in Bridgeton, MO.

G-Form Extreme iPad Case, in my Hands, in Time...

The G-Form Extreme iPad Sleeve on my desk today.

With the help of Cathy from G-Form, I now have in my hot little hands one of their newest products to protect my iPad for my upcoming storm chase into the plains, before its official release. The G-Form iPad Extreme Sleeve™ protects your iPad or iPad2 from impact by utilizing RPT-Reactive Protection Technology, a combination of PORON® XRD™ material and proprietary G-Form design and manufacturing. The Extreme Sleeve™ is water-resistant, soft, flexible, lightweight and changes its molecular structure on impact. Cathy tells me it is a bit of miracle molecular manipulation that makes the sleeve so impact resistant. They have a bunch of great products and I recommend a visit to their website.

Sad, Amazing, Devastating, How to Describe Yesterday?

I have seen four major tornado outbreaks that stand out in my mind, 1974 Super Outbreak, where I saw my first tornado, May 3rd 1999, November 10, 2002, and yesterday, April 27th, 2011.

The 1974 Super Outbreak, raised my awareness of tornadoes as I got my first glimpse of the power of Mother Nature as I watched my first tornado. May 3rd, 1999 I drove overnight to Oklahoma City, OK to cover the aftermath of the outbreak for the news agency I was working for at the time. I was one of the first photojournalists let into the Moore and Midwest City area, and the city of Bridge Creek, OK, as I entered with the Pegasus Project, an animal search and rescue team. The F-5 tornado wiped most of those cities off the map, literally. I spent several days shooting the totally destructive force of the twisters that hit the area.

On November 10, 2002, I had the day off from my job, and was celebrating my 40th birthday by watching the weather during the outbreak, we were under a tornado watch here in Ohio. I saw a huge cell heading NE towards Findlay, Ohio. I knew it would track towards, Tiffin, Ohio and I live just 15 miles from Tiffin. I jumped in my truck, and drove through the most intense thunderstorm I have ever witnessed. The rain stopped as I entered Tiffin, but was running into some quarter sized hail, I turned West down Second Street and then South on Nelson St., that is when I saw a white funnel cloud drop from the clouds and immediately turn black, I stopped in the middle of the street and threw my truck into park, threw open the door and fired off several shots with my 20-35mm lens. Little did I know that my photo would be named one of Time/Life Picture of the Year for 2002.

Yesterday I sat at my desk, glued to the TV watching the Weather Channel live coverage as the tornado worked its way from Tuscaloosa through Birmingham LIVE on TV, had Radar Scope running on my iPad, live streaming of chasers on my laptop, and streaming radio from Birmingham on my iPhone. I don't see how people can claim they had "No Warning" of the impending disaster. I could see it in 1974 maybe, but today with 24/7 coverage on TV, FaceBook, Twitter, e-mail, cell phones, iPads, I just can't understand. 

Today reality sets in, the Associated Press reports that at least 307 people are dead, 210 in Alabama. This will no doubt go down in history as one of the largest, if not the largest outbreak in history. There were 32 deaths in Mississippi, 34 in Tennessee, 14 in Georgia, 12 in Arkansas, five in Virginia and one in Kentucky. Hundreds if not thousands of people were injured - 600 in Tuscaloosa alone. All I can say is that people need to be more aware of weather forecasts and maybe sign up for mobile alerts to their cell phones. A simple move like this may save your life.

The storm prediction center received 164 tornado reports around the region, but some tornadoes were probably reported multiple times and it could take days to get a final count.

As I watched the monster tornado move from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham, just a small parcel of it almost 300 mile track, I could not help but to be reminded of the day I watched 911. I had a deep down feeling of dread in my gut knowing hundreds of people might be getting killed, as I watched live on TV. Through all my years of storm chasing, I have seen many bad tornadoes and deaths, but it sure does not get any easier to see things like this happen.

 

1974 Super Outbreak - Xenia, Ohio

The 1974 Xenia tornado that wiped out half of the town in Greene, Co Ohio.

 

May 3rd, 1999 Outbreak - Oklahoma F-5

Sylvia Andrews, a resident of Mulhall, OK, begs a rescue worker to help find her dog which had wandered off. Later the rescuers found her dog and she finished her trip to the post office. Behind her is the water tower which was knocked over by the tornado and washed her home off its base with her inside.

Paula Sanders sifts through the rubble of what used to be her home in Del City, OK. This is the area President Clinton toured on Saturday.

A 2 x 4 is stuck in the windsheild of a truck in Midwest City, OK.

 

November 10th, 2002 Outbreak - Tiffin, Ohio

View of the Tiffin, Ohio tornado looking South down Nelson Street.

A resident of Port Clinton, Ohio in front of whats left of his home.

An inspector for the gas company in Port Clinton looks at a destroyed home.

 

April 27th, 2011 Outbreak - Alabama

SPC Tornado report graphic.

Amazing Photo from Twitter

Yesterday's SPC Tornado Watch graphic.

Photo of the Tuscaloosa tornado by the Dusty Compton via AP.

...SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK ONGOING...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
636 PM CDT WED APR 27 2011

A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION IS CURRENTLY UNFOLDING ACROSS CENTRAL
ALABAMA...AND SUPERCELLS HAVE ERUPTED ACROSS THE NORTHERN AND
WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE CWA THIS AFTERNOON. A FEW TORNADOES HAVE
ALREADY TOUCHED DOWN...AND REPORTS OF MAJOR DAMAGE ARE STARTING TO
COME IN. THE 18Z SPECIAL SOUNDING THAT WAS PERFORMED PRESENTS A
DESTRUCTIVE SETUP...WITH 2700J/KG OF CAPE...EXTREMELY STEEP LAPSE
RATES...AND DRY AIR ALOFT. 0-3 KM HELICITY VALUES ARE ALMOST 700.
THE PARAMETERS WILL ONLY WORSEN AS WE GO THROUGHOUT THE REST OF
THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE TIME FRAME FOR THE WORST SEVERE
WEATHER WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS FOR
NORTHWEST SECTIONS OF THE STATE...ROUGHLY FROM 2PM TO
8PM...CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE STATE...INCLUDING THE BIRMINGHAM
METRO AREA...FROM 4PM TO 10PM...AND THE SOUTHEAST SECTIONS FROM
6PM TO 2AM. I CANNOT STRESS HOW SERIOUS THIS SITUATION IS. DO
WHATEVER YOU CAN TO PROTECT YOUR LIFE AND PROPERTY NOW...YOUR LIFE
MAY DEPEND ON IT! ALL WEATHER WILL CLEAR THE AREA AFTER 6Z
TONIGHT...SO THE CLEANUP PROCESS CAN BEGIN.

 

4-27-11 Tornado Tuscaloosa, Al from Crimson Tide Productions on Vimeo.

May everyone's thoughts and prayers be with the victims of yesterdays tornado outbreak in the South...

Amazing Images on a Stellar Chase Day in Indiana...

The secret to successful "Storm Chasing" is that you must realize early on that you ARE NOT going to get to see a tornado or get a photo of one every time you go out chasing. Once you realize that, chasing becomes more pleasureable. Last night Chris Howell and I shot over to North central Indiana on the middle of a 5% tornado risk. We got a couple of nice cells that tracked NE right to us near Legonier, Indiana. It made for some nice photos, our equipment was put to its first test, a good practice run for the chase in 9 days in the plains. As we drove home, I noticed some wonderful cells drenched in golden evening light, we quickly stopped and found a pictorial little lake and shot some of the prettiest sunset photos I have seen in a long time. Here is a link to my 04/26/11 Gallery on Flickr. One thing for sure, Mother Nature always gives us something to make us come back one more time...

Awesome Panoramic Sunset Tonight...

Shot on the way home from Michigan, near the intersection of SR 20 and I-420.

Girard, Illinois Tornado - 04/19/11 - Just Rated EF-3...

Here is a video from a chase with Dave Marshall and I. We bagged this monster around 4:50 p.m. as it crossed SR 4, just outside Girard, Illinois. Not bad for the first chase of the year, as I prepare to leave for chasing in the plains in two weeks. Here is a link to my Flickr site where I will be parking my stills from the day's shoot. It was quite a day!! I made many friends this day also, at the pre-chase convergence at the McDonalds in Effingham, Il.

Photo of tornado as it crosses SR 4, just North of Girard, Illinois.

 

Girard, Illinois tornado - 04/19/11 from Allan Detrich on Vimeo.

 

This is an image from GRL 2 from the time of the tornado.

 

Here is a photo of me (bottom right by the truck) taken by Milwaukee photographer Jennifer Brindley as I am out shooting the tornado and trying to keep people from driving into the tornado at the same time...

Extreme Protection for Your iPad...

Photo of the Day - Viva Las Vegas...

 

Photo of the Day - Panama...

A guard stands watch over the Panamanian Presidential Palace.

Photo of the Day - Checking out the Trees...

 

Photo of the Day - Welcome to America...

 

Photo of the Day - Amazing Sunset...

I used this photo on the opening page of my new iPhone/iPad app Weather ABC's, it is one of the most amazing sunsets I have photographed in my 13 years of storm chasing.

Photo of the Day - Church Custodian...

Photo of the Day - Stairway...

Keena Miller stands on the steps of her apartement building just south of the French Quarter in New Orleans.

Packing, Stuffing, to get Ready for Storm Chase 2009...

I have been spending the last week gathering things into the dining room getting for this years MESO storm chase in the plains. I have moved all the camera and video equipment in, just got a new tripod bag from B & H Video this morning as well as a little flip video camera for fun. The biggest hassle is all of the chargers and cords I need for all of the things I am bringing. Slowly but surely everything has found a place and I am down to three bags plus my camera belt and clothes bag. This, besides my cooler is as about as compact as I have been for years. Oh, how could I forget the computer bag, ha, and the EMS medical kit, and my still camera tripod, so much for compact. I guess this is why the list I made comes in handy...

I will be blogging and posting photos from the chase at allandetrich.com under the stormchase 2009 page.

New Flickr Tornado Chaser Group...

I recently joined Flickr to archive my enormous amount of photos and have been working on organizing them. I began to explore the groups and found none dedicated to storm chasing, so I created one. Any of you storm chasers out there that would like to join, I would love to have you, and help me spread the word. Click HERE to go to the site and Join, see you there and in the plains in a few months!! You can also go HERE to see my Flickr photostream, enjoy!

A White I Don't Like While Driving...

I drove to Tennessee today to spend a couple of days with my daughter Katrina because she will not be able to make it home for the holidays. The drive was horrible, most of the way was in a driving rain, and the rest was in a thick fog. I got word today my new Canon 5D Mark II is in, (see posts below) so I will get to pick it up on Monday. I wish I had it this weekend, but as they say, "Good things come to those who wait". I filled up with gas for $1.34 today at SR 30 and I-75 on the way down.

Latest Gas Price Here in Ohio...

Just filled up tonight on the way home from Cleveland, Ohio for $1.87/gallon at a BP station in Westlake. I am loving the price, and crude dropped nearly $4 barrel today with gas futures down 7%. Looks like we might see the lowering trend continue. Here in Fremont, Ohio gas is down to 1.98/gallon.