SITE HISTORY & ARCHIVE
1999 – PRESENT • DIGITAL CHASE ARCHIVE
Welcome Back to My World on the Web
Welcome back to my world on the web! After over a decade, I have decided to bring my old website back to life. For nearly 20 years, starting in the late 90s, I had a website constantly updated with chase logs and other severe weather information. But as the era of social media took over, websites became less and less viewed. For many years in the end, I tried various methods to keep my site relevant, changing templates, even going from chase-specific to a more professional/video template.
1999 • GEOCITIES / CAPE CANAVERAL
The First Online Presence: Raw HTML & Early Lightning
My original website went online at Geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/9655 I believe in 1999 as I partnered up with an old buddy, Josh. I learned basic HTML to write up a site that mainly hosted my early lightning pictures, particularly through the first couple years of the new millennium.
As I learned more and more coding, I moved to my own server, bringing tornadoeskick online. Early versions of the site included a green/gold color combo with some uh… unique graphic and visual choices. I was big into Super Mario and wolves, both ended up a noticeable part of the mid-2000s sites.
As I learned more and more coding, I moved to my own server, bringing tornadoeskick online. Early versions of the site included a green/gold color combo with some uh… unique graphic and visual choices. I was big into Super Mario and wolves, both ended up a noticeable part of the mid-2000s sites.
My original GeoCities Website in High School, dated January 1999. My first online presence.
MID-2000s • TORNADOESKICK ONLINE
Custom Servers, Super Mario & Green/Gold Themes
As I learned more and more coding, I moved to my own server, bringing tornadoeskick online. Early versions of the site included a green/gold color combo with some unique graphic and visual choices. I was big into Super Mario and wolves, both ended up a noticeable part of the mid-2000s sites.
The Mid-2000s sites eventually evolved from heavy Yoshi and wolf themes to a much more toned down, less golden version as chasing began taking center stage.
The Mid-2000s sites eventually evolved from heavy Yoshi and wolf themes to a much more toned down, less golden version as chasing began taking center stage.
The Mid-2000s sites went from heavy Yoshi and wolf themes to a much more toned down, less golden version.
2008 – 2014 • THE WORDPRESS REVOLUTION & TV SILENCE
Road Widgets, Red & Black Palettes, and TV Production Embargoes
As the 2000s drew on, I was introduced to WordPress and the freedom it allowed to do a lot of really cool things. I changed over my site, changed the color scheme to my Ohio high school colors, red and black, and brought the rookie years into a more modern appearance. I also dove deep into the backend of the site, coding widgets that allowed me quick updates from the road with just a click or two of the mouse, updating certain items across the entire site as opposed to page-by-page.
The WordPress version held for several years, but as I got deeper into chasing, particularly with TWISTEX, time limitations as well as some restrictions on posting while filming for the ‘Storm Chasers’ show left the site very stagnant. After Discovery ended and TWISTEX disbanded, I found myself with a little more time, but the El Reno tragedy in 2013 sidelined a lot of drive to reinvigorate my site.
After a year or so, I decided to change gears altogether, focusing my site on stock video, and eventually a more professional page. Neither really took off, and after several failed attempts to get the site back to life, I realized my efforts were not going to materialize and made the tough decision to close down my site and let the domain expire in early 2018.
The WordPress version held for several years, but as I got deeper into chasing, particularly with TWISTEX, time limitations as well as some restrictions on posting while filming for the ‘Storm Chasers’ show left the site very stagnant. After Discovery ended and TWISTEX disbanded, I found myself with a little more time, but the El Reno tragedy in 2013 sidelined a lot of drive to reinvigorate my site.
After a year or so, I decided to change gears altogether, focusing my site on stock video, and eventually a more professional page. Neither really took off, and after several failed attempts to get the site back to life, I realized my efforts were not going to materialize and made the tough decision to close down my site and let the domain expire in early 2018.
EARLY 2018 • THE SHUTDOWN
The End of an Era: Domain Lapses & Social Media Migration
At some point in early 2018, despite the multiple surges of money I invested, I just stopped investing the effort. My site, which had laid pretty dormant for years now, finally saw its end in 2018 when I cancelled the subscriptions for the web service and let my original tornadoeskick domain name lapse. After nearly 20 years, I no longer had a home on the web.
At this point, social media took over, and that’s pretty much where any sharing of my chasing career was left. And while the snippets and images shared certainly were worthy of those shares, I no longer had an archive for my chasing. Just folders that sat largely unviewed on my computer, backed up in triplicate only to resurface on important anniversaries.
Then in 2024, the idea began to creep back into the picture...
At this point, social media took over, and that’s pretty much where any sharing of my chasing career was left. And while the snippets and images shared certainly were worthy of those shares, I no longer had an archive for my chasing. Just folders that sat largely unviewed on my computer, backed up in triplicate only to resurface on important anniversaries.
Then in 2024, the idea began to creep back into the picture...
SUMMER 2024 • THE REBIRTH SPARK
The Inspiration: Digitizing 70 Tapes & Preserving OG Chaser History
There were two things that came together in summer 2024 to inspire this project…
First was the investment I decided to make in digitizing my collection of physical tapes. I wanted to do this as I had been involved with numerous projects that were talking about my career, so I needed to gather a lot of material from my early days. I sent off over 70 tapes that included my earliest chases dating back to 2001 through about 2009, including a lot of my earliest and best tornado chases, along with the first couple years chasing as part of TWISTEX. About 90% of the tapes were mine, while the remaining few were tapes from Tim Samaras and Carl Young during the 2008 TWISTEX season. While a lot of the storm/tornado clips were in my digital archive already, it was a lot of the lower-end chases and more ‘behind-the-scenes’ stuff that I didn’t have anywhere else.
Secondly, I was involved in a discussion talking about chaser websites, and how many of the OG chasers' sites had gone offline over the years. Very few remain online, and even fewer remain active. As you know, I am one of those whose once very active site went offline, and thus so did a lot of my chasing career.
Those two factors combined to give me the idea that perhaps I try to bring my site back to life, and thus the spark was lit.
First was the investment I decided to make in digitizing my collection of physical tapes. I wanted to do this as I had been involved with numerous projects that were talking about my career, so I needed to gather a lot of material from my early days. I sent off over 70 tapes that included my earliest chases dating back to 2001 through about 2009, including a lot of my earliest and best tornado chases, along with the first couple years chasing as part of TWISTEX. About 90% of the tapes were mine, while the remaining few were tapes from Tim Samaras and Carl Young during the 2008 TWISTEX season. While a lot of the storm/tornado clips were in my digital archive already, it was a lot of the lower-end chases and more ‘behind-the-scenes’ stuff that I didn’t have anywhere else.
Secondly, I was involved in a discussion talking about chaser websites, and how many of the OG chasers' sites had gone offline over the years. Very few remain online, and even fewer remain active. As you know, I am one of those whose once very active site went offline, and thus so did a lot of my chasing career.
Those two factors combined to give me the idea that perhaps I try to bring my site back to life, and thus the spark was lit.
The Process: Relearning Modern WordPress & Modern Code
The initial steps were to gather any and all backups of my previous sites, dating back to the early 2000s, which were scattered among various hard drives. Most of my active chase log years were prior to 2008 when I had a constant online presence, and I wanted to get all those collected and put into one place. I also was faced with finding a web host, a working theme, and updating my knowledge on web development, something I hadn’t done in depth for over a decade. A lot had changed, and I needed to get up to speed on customizing themes, tweaking code, etc. This was the longest part of the launching process, trying to find the look and design of my site. I went through various themes, testing them out in a limited capacity, until I finally settled on the theme I wanted. Then came the coding, making the site do what I wanted.
One of the biggest surprises was how much was paywalled via subscriptions. Back a decade or so ago, one could learn to code or pay a small one-time fee to buy a plugin or widget. Now, it seems everything is locked behind subscriptions. Fortunately, most of what I wanted to implement is built into the customized modern framework. Once the technical structure was in place, I had a much easier time dialing in the look of my site, choosing the color scheme and various other tweaks.
One of the biggest surprises was how much was paywalled via subscriptions. Back a decade or so ago, one could learn to code or pay a small one-time fee to buy a plugin or widget. Now, it seems everything is locked behind subscriptions. Fortunately, most of what I wanted to implement is built into the customized modern framework. Once the technical structure was in place, I had a much easier time dialing in the look of my site, choosing the color scheme and various other tweaks.
My main focus on this site is telling the stories of chasing. Those come in the form of chase logs, the write-ups of various chase days. And not just the big ones, but the smaller, sometimes non-event days. It’s a diary of sorts for a chase, sharing the good, bad, and everything in between. With all the technical aspects in place, now it was time to generate the content. On paper, the first move could’ve been to just import the backed up chase logs from previous sites. The main issue is while the text was an easy transfer, most of the images did not exist, and those that did were not of a quality I want to post now. This is where the digitizing of old tapes comes in.
I divide my chase log archiving into four distinct categories:
I divide my chase log archiving into four distinct categories:
CATEGORY 1 • 2001 – 2007
Original Legacy Chases
Chase logs posted to older sites that I am copying over to the new one with updated imagery. I don’t do much editing to these as I want to leave them as close to the original as I can. The only edits would be grammatical edits or typos, and the occasional correction of something stated in the log. In some cases, I have ADDED new content which may include additional pictures or info that was not present in the original post. A lot of this stems from how I often neglected to post more behind-the-scenes stuff or other info I didn’t consider terribly relevant then which I do more so now. A minority of those logs are posted now, but many more to come as I update imagery from this era of chasing.
CATEGORY 2 • 2007 – 2011
The TWISTEX-Era Dispatches
The only public release of any of these chases (outside of what was shown on Discovery Channel) was in my DVD releases back in the day, which I did up til 2011. Even then, most of those were private home viewings; most of these never got posted in any capacity online. Some earlier DVDs got YouTube releases, but most of the TWISTEX-era stuff has been relatively unposted and unshared. These were a top priority to me, particularly our big days, and these require the most work as I am pulling in content from multiple sources in order to better share those events. As these get posted, you’ll see all kinds of fun stuff, including some behind-the-scenes secrets of the Discovery Channel show you probably don’t know.
In addition to TWISTEX-specific chasing logs, I hope to show what it was like being a part of that team and share my experiences on what it was like chasing with the guys and what it was like being part of a reality TV show. This section will take time as the content I want to share is scattered across many formats.
In addition to TWISTEX-specific chasing logs, I hope to show what it was like being a part of that team and share my experiences on what it was like chasing with the guys and what it was like being part of a reality TV show. This section will take time as the content I want to share is scattered across many formats.
CATEGORY 3 • 2008 – 2021
The Lost Legacy Era: Pilger, Dodge City & Carpenter
While the years overlap TWISTEX, I had many chases that were NOT with the team. This era represents the biggest void of chasing logs that I have. Raw YouTube videos and snippets shared on social media are all that really was shared from this time. After 2011, I had stopped making DVDs/Blu-rays and thus even that medium for sharing chases was gone.
This represents the largest amount of reconstruction work. Chases like Pilger (2014), Dodge City (2016), and Carpenter (2017) had never been written up prior, and now they’re online for the first time. The work to write those up was immense: using old social media posts, GPS logs, watching video minute-by-minute to best capture the mood and tone, and detailing those huge events mile-by-mile years after the fact.
This represents the largest amount of reconstruction work. Chases like Pilger (2014), Dodge City (2016), and Carpenter (2017) had never been written up prior, and now they’re online for the first time. The work to write those up was immense: using old social media posts, GPS logs, watching video minute-by-minute to best capture the mood and tone, and detailing those huge events mile-by-mile years after the fact.
CATEGORY 4 • 2021 – PRESENT
The AccuWeather Era: Modern National Intercepts
A mix between sharing posts from ongoing seasons plus historical events from the last few years. This era includes massive days like Sycamore (2021), Ottumwa (2023), Akron (2023), and Yuma (2023). As with the other eras, days not live yet will be added as I go along.
Behind-the-scenes, utilizing modern code and clean design tokens allowed me to build my own custom theme—one that functions directly for the specific record-keeping needs of a 30-year chase archive.
Behind-the-scenes, utilizing modern code and clean design tokens allowed me to build my own custom theme—one that functions directly for the specific record-keeping needs of a 30-year chase archive.
ROADMAP • THE PASSION PROJECT
The Future: Dedicated Archive, Specialty Hazards, and Zero Ads
The future is now... or at least is building. Building a custom theme from scratch allows this site to be a true record archive of my entire career. With a live database holding all my chasing stats updated on the fly, the site functions as a personal record-keeping dispatch hub.
In addition to continuous chase logs, I am expanding sections covering tropical systems, celestial events, winter weather, and wildfires. Furthermore, I have NO PLANS to litter the site with ads. Ads ruin websites and distract from the storm documentation. Instead, a simple community donation portal allows those who value this archive to chip in toward domain and server costs directly.
In addition to continuous chase logs, I am expanding sections covering tropical systems, celestial events, winter weather, and wildfires. Furthermore, I have NO PLANS to litter the site with ads. Ads ruin websites and distract from the storm documentation. Instead, a simple community donation portal allows those who value this archive to chip in toward domain and server costs directly.
WRAP-UP • PERSISTENCE
The Conclusion
So there you go, the history of my site and all that culminated to get us where we are today. I thank you so much for being here, and I hope that my efforts are worth something to you all. While a lot of this has been inspired by you guys, this is mostly a ‘me’ passion project, something that offers me an outlet, a hobby, and a chance to get back into something I have always enjoyed: designing and maintaining a website. In the end, I don't know where this will ultimately go, but for now and the foreseeable future, there is a lot to tell, and hopefully that’ll forever be a reason to keep coming back to my little home on the web.
Welcome back for the first time again… I hope you enjoy your stay.
