 |
 |
 |
|
|
A
Day in the Life of |
 |
Mark Robinson |
|
| Mark Robinson |
Well, the day started off less than perfect (for
chasing). My ex was having her kitchen redone so I was looking after
our daughter. Kayleigh (my little one) was kind of cranky
because she had a bit of cold, and it didn't help that Daddy was moaning
that severe storms were passing right overhead. The grandparents (my dad
and he wife) had just experienced the dreaded car break down, so I was
left to stare out at the wall of water landing in Mississauga.
Unfortunately, 1 year-olds just aren't that interested in weather so I
couldn't even convince her to come outside and enjoy the rain. She been on
the planet for less time than I've been chasing and she already
understands that her father is completely off his rocker. *sigh* I'm going
to get stuck in old age home (for the crazy) by her, I can just
feel it.
Well, finally Grandma and Grandpa came home and informed me that I was
take my dad downtown to pick up some papers for his business. I was
horrified! Downtown TO on a chase day!? Nooooooo!
As it turned out, I raced downtown (I'm not allowed to drive my dad
anywhere now) and back out to Mississauga in record time. This was
despite the fact that a truck had flipped over on the QEW and blocked all
the lanes. Damn, I'm good!
Now began the chase day. I roared out of Mississauga and raced along
the 401 towards Guelph, determined to pick up my chase partner. Halfway
there I get a call from Dave Patrick informing me that I'm going the
wrong way. North of Toronto was looking very good. In fact, ten
minutes after I got off the phone there was a tornado warning for
York-Durham. I stared grimly out the front windshield, willing the people
in the slow cars to get the *&%$ out of the way. The Enraged Mosquito
was coming through!
 |
|
Ron
VA3TVS |
I raced in Guelph while listening to tornado reports all
aroundme. Dave Patrick had just caught the Ayr tornado and Ron VA3TVS the
Waterloo CANWARN Net Controller was calling me telling me how I had to be
south of Guelph RIGHT NOW! Auuuagggggg! I tore
around the University looking for my friend, but she was nowhere to be
seen. I finally had to give up and headed south. Turns out it was
bad communication between the two of us and she had to go with her
boyfriend to London.
I was completely flustered and annoyed at this point, but I heard the
reports of a severe cell down to the south from Ron. Ok, had to go south,
very fast, get out the way, chaser coming through!
I raced down Highway 6 towards Hamilton as I heard the reports of tornado
on the ground near St. George. I just knew I wasn't going to make it! I
had busted on a day of three tornadoes! I had failed, cut down
in my prime, fallen from grace... Ok, a little melodramatic, but ask
George Kourounis VA3GTK how I sounded when I called him for a radar
update.
Dejected, I headed for Ron, VA3TVS's for a burger and a drink, but as I
neared Guelph on the 401, I got a call from Dave Patrick. (Whom I owe
many pints of the sweet barley nectar for putting me on this storm).
He told me that the cell over Guelph had definition and I couldn't
bust any worse. I eagerly leaped at the chance and as I got
northwest of Guelph of I called Ron and asked him if he could see rotation
in the cell. I was somewhat unsure, but I thought that things looked a
little impressive. Oh boy, I was right, Ron informed me. The area of
rotation was on the southwest side, a classic supercell trick. Ron told me
to get on it as things might get interesting.
Moving through Guelph at a rapid clip, the cell began to display a
beautiful wall cloud, strong updrafts and good definition. On the
southeast side of Guelph I stopped for a minute to get my bearings and
check the motion of the storm. Unbeknownst to me, the wall cloud had moved
faster than I expected and was just behind a wall of trees. I
didn't know it, but it had begun to do something very, very
interesting....
I continued along the road, trying to get a better view of the entire cell
when I caught a glimpse of a inverted cone hanging from the sky. My
stomach attempted to exit my body at the point as I began thinking:
"Oh my God, is that, is that....?" More trees obscured my view
and I popped up over a hill only to see a number of cars sitting on the
road, with people pointing and gesturing at the sky.
I had a minor heart attack as I passed the first car and looked to the
right. Tornado on the ground! And going like stink! I
screamed to halt and fumbled for the phone, video camera and emergency
brake all at the same time. (My video shows this nicely) I
immediately called Ron, screaming "Tornado on the ground! Nornato
on the gorund!" Ron took this all in stride and calmly
asked asked me where I was and which way it was moving.
"Southeast! And I'm right.... umm, I have no idea where I am."
Ron was very good and talked me through the whole thing, so I must
say: Thank you Ron for your patience!
 |
|
photo by Mark Robinson |
I jumped out of the car after logging the report with Ron
and video taped the tube for a whole ten seconds. I then promptly violated
the cardinal chasing rule. I had a perfect view and I drove to get a
better one. Ooops! However, at the time, it seemed like a good idea and as
it turns out, it was. I raced down south towards Campbellville, crossing
the 401 on a narrow bridge and screaming to Dave Patrick that there were
no bloody east roads!
By this point, the tornado was heading towards a collision course with a
barn, Guelph Line road and someone's shed. I found an east road and
skipped over to Guelph Line, headed south and nearly ran over Jack
Kertzie. We quickly hooked up and shot a bunch of video as the tornado
lost strength and faded as it topped the Niagara Escarpment.
Jack and whooped and hollered, overjoyed that we had caught a beautiful
tornado on the ground! We then followed the wall cloud for a bit, watching
to see if it would drop another tornado, but this was not to be.
 |
|
Mark with his Chase car |
On our way to Ron's for a burger and cold drink, we
stopped an surveyed the damage, I got interviewed by CITY and we talked to
some of the people who had been affected. Very interesting and I'll put up
a complete interview on my website when I redo it.
Thanks to Dave Patrick, I did an interview
with the Sun and I gave video to CITY and TWN. I will bring the
tapes to the BBQ at the end of the season so that everyone can see my 15
min of fame. *grin*
Thanks to Ron Gravelle, Dave Patrick and George for radar updates,
encouragement and burgers! I could not have caught that cell without their
help.
Mark Robinson
Click the following link for the
|
|
||
|
|
© 2003 |
|
