The world has gone mad! There are tornadoes in California, earthquakes in the Caribbean, 2012 is just around the corner and Al Gore is still breathing…actually, we’re all still breathing — so let’s just take a deep breath and calm down.

Recently in an interview with GritTV, actor Danny Glover made a comment that I found to be completely absurd. In his statement, Glover says that the entire Caribbean region is in danger of earthquakes due to global warming and the failure of the Copenhagen conference.

My storm chasing tour guest come from all over the world and to a person who is visiting Tornado Alley for the purpose of chasing storms, they sometimes go home with the feeling that a person must be mad to live here. From their point-of-view, if the weather cooperates with the tour during their visitation – they’ll see extreme weather at its best, or sometimes at its worst. But, in reality most people that live throughout the Great Plains have never seen a tornado and most never will.

Global Warming is big business. And no matter which side of the aisle you stand on you can point your finger at various companies and industries about their influence in shaping policies in regard to Global Warming. If you’re a believer then you’re going to point your finger at the oil and automobile industry and say they are trying to prevent the truth from getting out. If you’re a non-believer than your going to point your finger at the carbon credit and “green” industries and companies such as GE and say they are trying to use fear-mongering techniques to scare us all into buying their products.

While at the bookstore that bares my family name the other day I picked up an interesting book that has been published annually in September since 1792 – The Old Farmer’s Almanac (OFA).

The following is real – I could make this up if I tried! It is an Area Forecast Discussion issued by National Weather Service Meteorologist – Gino Izzi, Sr. Forecaster, NWS Chicago/Romeoville. Introduction made, I leave you to read “Ode to Summer”, by Meteorologist Izzi:

I recently read Storm Chaser and respected tornado scientist Dr. Chuck Doswell’s latest essay titled – “An Incident Leading to an Implication of Unfullfilled Promises,” which as Chuck’s essays usually do made me do a lot of thinking. The gist of the essay refers to the fact that on June 12th, 2009 at 10:23 PM CDT a tornado formed in the “heart of meteorology” (Norman, Oklahoma) and it ended about 10:38 PM.

Over the past decade a lot of technological innovations has changed the way we chase storms. While I still consider ham radio communications to be an extremely important part of my chase rig for emergency communications, I no longer depend on my ICOM dual-band radio as much as I did just five storm seasons ago.

The DOD recently revealed a new vehicle specifically designed for use in the harsh war-torn environment in Afghanistan, but maybe someday there will be some hope that these vehicles can be acquired for use by private citizens, just as the original Hummer was. Why? Because it would be the perfect vehicle to hunt down nature’s most violent storms.

Storm Chasing Handbook
If you’re reading this blog on stormchase.com, then there is a 100% …

When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005 the world watched in shock and amazement as local, state and federal officials were heavily criticized for not responding in a timely manner to the initial response, or the aid that would follow in the months and years to come.

I’m not going to name the offender but one of my friends just emailed me with an update to his blog and after a few seconds of at least trying to read it – I had to close the page.

So, why don’t I read you’re blog?

I have a problem with the wording “Never try to outrun a tornado. Motorist should abandon their vehicles and seek a sturdy shelter or lay in a ditch or other low-lying area.” I understand the underlying reason for this statement is that most people are not familiar with severe storms and they may not know what they are driving into – thus, it is best just to tell them to get out of their cars and jump into a ditch or low-lying area.

Recently a few new services have been made available for live streaming video, and some of them are offering special deals for tour operators.