IT IS FINALLY HERE! My guide for beginners to using the very popular weather modeling website Pivotal Weather (you can find it at https://www.pivotalweather.com). While this video is aimed towards beginners, I think there are a lot of small tips for intermediate folks who aren’t quite to the advanced power user stage. I’d certainly recommend…

Both October 10 and October 12 saw big severe weather risks introduced over the Great Plains. On both days, the possibility of long-tracked, strong tornadoes was discussed and on both days that threat largely failed to materialize (at least in the highest outlook areas!). What happened? I personally didn’t chase either day — though I…

Cameron Nixon is BACK with another mind-blowing talk about how to forecast the chase with skew-Ts and hodographs. This lesson covers a lot of ground and if you are still a novice to skew-Ts and hodographs there are plenty of lessons (linked below) to get you up to speed. Also, this lesson is a prequel…

For wx enthusiasts just getting into the habit of watching severe weather events on radar, discerning a tornadic vs. a non-tornadic circulation on radar can be quite tricky at first. To help you along, we’ll show a few examples from a cyclic tornado producing supercell in the Texas Panhandle from the March 13, 2021 tornado…

I’ve been using an app called ‘Satsquatch’ for the past few weeks and I am falling in love with it. I believe this app is the ultimate companion app to a radar app such as RadarScope or RadarOmega for storm chasers. Two reasons why I’m loving this app: 1)The satellite views are really nice. I’ve…

Want to know the apps or websites we use to track down storms? Then this video is absolutely the video for you! There are numerous weather apps on the market, and also numerous weather radar apps. The simple truth is, you might not be using the best app to track weather — but this video…

This video is meant to be an introductory lesson for those folks just starting to chase and those who traditionally chase the more traditional lower plains of Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, etc. Chasing in the high plains is a different experience which requires less overall on the parameters to have success. Additionally, there are unique strategic…

This lesson is built off of the groundwork of other lessons in Titan U, so before we get to what we’re covering in this one, we want to make sure you have the links you need in case this video is running out and ahead of you. First, the Intro to Skew-Ts lessons can be…

Let’s face it, a lot of us don’t live on the Plains and our time to spend out in the heart of Tornado Alley is limited. And for too many of us, that time is also quite inflexible with plans needing to be made weeks or months in advance. Others of us are a bit…

The hodograph is a super important tool for storm chasers to master because it can anticipate storm mode and…yes, how they’re going to look and behave. In our first ever guest lesson on Titan U, guest star Cameron Nixon (https://twitter.com/cameronjnixon) takes you through the hodograph and what it looks like to use them to gauge…

This was a fun vlog to put together where Sanner talked the first storm chase chances of 2018 but also they talked about a very important tool: the HREF. The HREF is largely under-utilized by chasers in favor of the HRRR, but the HREF actually includes the HRRR and other high res models, giving you…

This long-form course is all about weather models and the different types of weather models. This course covers what each different model type does and what they’re best for when forecasting. If you haven’t done so, be sure to check out our introductory course to weather models, The Hitchhikers Guide to Weather Models. When it…

Our 10 favorite graphics for forecasting supercells and tornadoes is the closest we can get to actually giving a morning routine walkthrough when it comes to forecasting severe weather. This almost 13 minute video will walk through all 10, what to look for, and how we use them to forecast supercells and tornadoes.

Hodographs are one of the most misunderstood features in storm chasing — here’s a primer on how to understand them.

When it comes to how to read weather radar and the basics — there aren’t a lot of different ways to approach it. In this video, we take a look at Weather Radar and how to best use it as a storm chaser.

When it comes to how to read weather radar and the basics — there aren’t a lot of different ways to approach it. In this video, we take a look at Weather Radar and how to best use it as a storm chaser.

When it comes to how to read weather radar and the basics — there aren’t a lot of different ways to approach it. In this video, we take a look at Weather Radar and how to best use it as a storm chaser.

When it comes to warm fronts there’s a real love/hate relationship storm chasers possess with them. On one hand, some incredible cyclic tornado machines have occurred on them — on the other they can be quite fickle when it comes to getting the right ingredients to come together. Let’s learn about them! Why Warm Fronts…

When it comes to storm chasing, dry lines may be the bread and butter of targeting — but triple points are oftentimes the bullseye that demands attention. This region is also often an overlooked target for new storm chasers. Don’t ignore it. The triple point is usually where the dryline meets a warm front or…

To put all the other videos in this series into practice, let’s go through a same storm chase forecast to see all the pieces we’ve talked about put into practice.

Making a successful storm chase forecast and getting the best storm chasing targeting involves a lot of work. Severe storms need lift, ample wind shear and ample instability to sustain themselves. Hence, a lot of the work in forecasting storms hinges on these three ingredients. These main ingredients make up the fundamental elements you always…

When it comes to a bread and butter surface boundary for storm chasers, it is hard to argue with the dryline being anything but that. Present each spring where the dry and hot airmass of the desert SW interfaces with the warm and moist airmass of the Gulf of Mexico, drylines are what make a…

Surface boundaries are the basic storm chase target. In this video, we discuss the different boundaries you can target for storms while out chasing. There are numerous boundary types to keep in mind from dry lines to warm fronts to cold fronts to outflow boundaries and more. We’ll talk about the different surface boundaries and…

Weather models are a confusing if not completely complex topic! In this nearly 20 minute video, we break down what weather models are, their strengths and weaknesses, and how you can use them to develop better storm chase forecasts. Topics we will cover are things like model resolution, how models have improved over the years,…

We’ve reached the end of our series, How to Use Skew-Ts. Before you watch the video below, make sure you’ve spent time watching the other videos in this series: IntroLCL, LFC, ELCAPEWind ShearComposites and Lapse Rates Now let’s put it all into practice! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8zNXlaH8k8

While the Skew-T chart itself isn’t exactly a great way to find composite parameters, the graphics on most sites do provide a way to get insight as to what the composite parameters such as significant tornado and supercell composite say. By looking at skew-t charts and graphics, you can determine the lapse rates as well….

Skew-Ts are an excellent source to gauge wind shear in the atmosphere. Raw index numbers like bulk shear or helicity can be misleading when it comes to gauging how good the wind shear is. Small problems with shear can make or break a day, from a weakness in the mid level jet stream winds to…

Measuring CAPE (instability) in the atmosphere is a very important part of forecasting for severe weather. CAPE is short for convective available potential energy. When it comes to tools to know exactly what the atmosphere is planning for the day, there are no better tools than the Skew-T to gauge the exact measure of instability….

LCL, LFC, and EL are three often overlooked values for new storm chasers, but they’re vitally important to how a storm chase day is going to go. The easiest way to approach these is via Skew-Ts. Skew-Ts can be a confusing thing to read, but the methods for finding what you are looking for are…

When it comes to using Skew-Ts for severe weather forecasting — there are a lot of things to know. First off, Skew-T charts are just darned confusing when you first lay your eyes upon them. Then to top that off, things can get really weird in a hurry when you dig into the uses for…