Update from TIV leader Sean Casey!

Just checking in...I'll be adding to Byron's awesome blog from time to time. Heath Woods is stomping out the last of TIV2's bugs this week so we are ready for action this coming week. If it wasn't for Heath we'd be still stuck in Deertrail, CO. We are also bringing out the original TIV as a back-up. We can't afford to miss anything this year. Thanks Rav, my first love was an Australian girl. I was 11, she was 12, we met on the Barrier reef and her family invited my family to their home in Perth. I can still remember her name. Jenny Walters, Her dad was an artist. And thanks goes out to the Woodward Fire Dept. Thanks for taking us in!



Sean Casey

Comments

[Roy Wichkan]

Hi Sean

Sorry to read about your first kiss, we all have one, and when your that age love really does hurt man !..
Anywho .. Taking a huge sidestep from that, I'm writing to you for the first time, you don't know me and have never met me face to face. I live in the U.K and have followed your programme "Storm Chasers" on the Discovery channel. ( which is a HUGE SUCCESS over here by the way !) and I've been a FAN of the awesome and most majestic power the earth presents to us with these Tornado's and lightning phenomenon.
I have been blessed only once to actually SEE a Tornado for real LIVE and it was when I lived in Alabama for about 2 years back in 2002.. It was in a small town called Rosalea on Sand Mountain just out from the City of Scottsboro.
I lived in a trailer there next to a farmers field, it was a warm sunny day with no clouds in the sky.. My landlord who was also a Well Driller ( mr Jimmy Peake ) came by and picked me up to ride out and do a job with him. We started out and he noticed the hay in the field was whipping up, so he stopped the truck and jumped out and then I saw it and it started to grow wider out there in the field, this invisible mass, un-noticeable if the field hadn't been cut the day before, was swirling the grass up into the air and Jimmy was running towards it like it was God inviting him into heaven.. He then turned around and invited me over to it, reluctant at first, I decided to move toward it as it slowly twisted across the field. It grew only to about 20 feet as seen, or at least that was the sucking power for it, but we both managed to stand inside it as it passed and when I was in the centre of it I noticed a calmness and I could also feel heat rising from the ground.. I write to you with this to share something special I had in return for the awesome pictures you have already taken and the risks you and your crew have taken to make the films you have made, no matter how successful your Storm Chasing has been.
I watched the episode you did were you tried to get inside a tornado and film inside it from the TIV, that was great.. and not to pour salt on an already septic wound but I also saw how you missed the BIG ONE (F5). Now I know that hurt.
I also know if you had been there you might not be here now if you know what I mean. Well I'm glad you are here and able to read this blog, anyway I've rattled on too much now and I'm signing out, I have some ideas though that I want you to try out with storm chasing, so e-mail me back and I'll tell you what ideas I've got in mind. Peace and Godspeed :)

Roy Wichkan

[Rich]

May 7
I just saw the origional TIV on a flatbed on I27 between Lubbock TX and Amarillo TX.
I'll keep an eye out for the TIV2. I can't wait to see it.

[Duston Jackson]

hello been trying to keep up with the tiv 2 ,noticed you have been having alot of prob. with the under carrage I work in the oil field and noticed you are using to light duty of parts, I know you have an awsome mech. but would like to help get some of the bugs out if I can . I build some of the things I need and most of it has to be extreme duty because some of these guys could destroy anything. good luck with the chase.

DUSTON
Guy,AR.

[Forrest Lambert]

hey sean got a question for ya? ive noticed on the show when the NWS sends out a warning u can hear it from the outside of the DOW, is there a weather radio with a loudspeaker hooked up to it or is it from the camara with the sound guy inside of the truck? please email me at the email addy that i gave you. thanks bud

[Charlos]

on the tiv three u should use air ride so u can drop on intercept and still have 6 inchs of clearence running down the road then put a rubber gasket on the bottom to seal it off and use all heavy grade stuff so u dont have failers i would recomend usin a semi fame on this on if you can talk to me a bout iv my email is charlostimmermann@yahoo.com

[wayhudson]

Sean-
You really don't need the TIV. Watch the movie twister and you will see that Doge Truck are tornado proven. Just jokeing woluyd give anything to work on the TIV.
Wayne

[jessica]

sean can i come with u guys next spring? i love the show and i am in to storm chasing i get excited watching the show. then i missed the last episode and i cried. i want to chase with u sean it would be so cool. how much does it cost? i love the show and really would like to meet ur hole team in real life unstead on the tv. i love u guys

jessica

[Bubba Wilson]

Hi Sean,
My name is Bubba Wilson. I am a huge fan of your show! Everyone at school knows me as the storm chaser. I love weather! Its my passion and calling.
So, I was sitting at home one night and thought of something. In may, we have our prom. Well, I was wondering if you would be willing to escort my date and I to the dance, in the Tiv. I think I am the only guy at our school who has not seen the tiv in real life. Last march, a bunch of our guys from Belle Plaine KS were in hays, when they saw the tiv during a baseball tournament! And they immediatley called me and told me.
It's just an idea, but this would be the greatest life expierience ever! Thank you so much, and I hope to hear from you.

Bubba Wilson

[Michael S]

Sean,

just wondering if you will run with vortex2 in 2009/10, I noticed the Doppler on wheels truck with Dr. Wurman would be, or at least on a list of advisors at this point. Keep up the good work, love the show and Severe Weather of all kinds will always be my passion. Look me up when around manhattan, junction city kansas.

[Ben M]

Hi Sean-
I am 6 years old and an aspriring stormchaser. I love your videos. When will you be chasing in 2009? I would like to meet you and see the TIV.
A big fan,
Ben

[Rett Kelley]

Sean:
I am four years old and have been watching your show for the last two years. It is the most exciting show on TV and my favorite. I hope to be a scientist when I grow up....maybe even a meteorologist.
I live in Naples, Florida, but thanks to your team, I now know my way around the Midwest, especially Tornado Alley. I have a big map on the wall in my room so I can study the path you take to find super cells.
At Shalom Pre School my friends Jesse, Fred and I play stormchasers on the playground. I start each day with a run to the end of our driveway for the newspaper so that I can get the Local Section to track the weather here in Florida and all across the country.
I have also learned to use the computer to find weather sites, tornado clips, and games on your website that I play with my father. We have fun chasing tornados together, even if it is just a game.
Are you going to use TIV1 or TIV2 this season?
I can't wait to see what you do this year to intercept and film the inside of a tornado.
Thank you for all you do to make stormchasing so much a part of my life.
Your friend,
Rett

[Steven Borkowski]

Heya Sean:

Like alot of your posters, you don't know me. Never met me, and never heard of me. I'm just one of those crazy fans that you now have after a semi-successful season chasing storms with Josh and the rest of the team. For the life of me, I can't seem to find when the new season airs. I assume it will be on a Sunday, but recently, I've I thoroughly enjoy the chases and the issues you constantly have to deal with.

Last season, when you brought TIV2 into garage when you first re-met up with Josh, Scout, Probe and the others, I was ecstatic. It looked incredible. Sadly, it hindered you every step of the way. However, you kept moving forward, and you got great video nonetheless, so kudos to you and your fearless driver and navigator! Byron and Ronan do a helluva job! You know, you should take a high-performance laptop into the field with you. That way, when your done with THAT DAY's chase, you can do an "After the storm," type of blog. It'llgive you a chance to reflect, and it'll also keep you out of the path of Josh, who seems to be very streeful at times. True, he may be the leader of the entire project, but I've noticed, on several occassions, that you two have a major disagreement. I like Josh myself, but he comes off a bit dramatic.

And my last question is do you have any thoughts of what THIS season (2009) will bring?? Is it even close to predict what can happen when the previous season was a very crazy one?

Anyway, kudos to you and your entire crew. Maybe someday, I'll make billions of dollars, and give you the money to complete your IMAX film. Maybe I can be your "co-pilot," along with Byron and Ronana, despite the lack of space inside the TIV already, lol. Take care, and rock on!!!

[tylre]

hi Sean i am 16 years old and i wait to see your tiv2

[Craig Hoaglund]

Hi Sean,

I've watched your show for a while now and noticed that you've been having problems with your vehicles, especially your TIV 1 and TIV 2. Ever thought of using a military vehicle as the basis for the TIV ?

Many of the current crop of armored trucks might be ideal for a TIV. They have plenty of power, interior room, mobility, speed, range, armor and speed. I would bet that the manufacturers of these military vehicles may have some prototypes or test units lying around that they may give or lend to you.

I work with several WWII aircraft museums that fly the old "Warbirds", and the companies that built them have been very generous with money, supplies and effort. Many times the current employees will help out on their own time.

Anyways, good luck with the chasing,

Craig H.

[Harrison Watt]

I was always afraid of Tornadoes as a young kid. Hide in the basement under the stairs. Now, at 15 I'm a huge fan of your show. And tornadoes. I had a close run in with one out west and it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

It'll be a wonderful day when you get that footage inside a tornado.

And I do have to say you and your crew brought me from Tornado-phobic, to a soon to be storm chaser.

Best of luck

[Tim Evers]

Hi my name is Tim, and I am currently a student at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. I am going for my degree in Elementary Education and I know that weather will be one of the topics I will eventually cover. I am taking some weather and climate and other Earth related classes, but I was wondering if I could volunteer some of my time (like a week or two) and get some first hand experience. That way when I teach about the weather I will be teaching from personal experience and from college classes. Just let me know what you think about the idea. Thanks and hope I can come and learn.

Tim

[Carol]

Hey fans! Sean will be a guest on "That Morning Show" (http://www.thatmorningshow.com) Monday, October 12!

Be sure to check out his interview on "That Morning Show" from 6AM - 9AM on E! Entertainment network!

[Jesse Bear]

Is anyone hiring for the 2010 storm season i'm a 16 year storm spotter and chaser in Arkansas. I have an extensive public safty background, hold a class A CDL have an extensive mechanics background as well after seeing some of the work that was done on TIVII and further navigating I thought I'd see whats out there anyone intrested contact me
shadow275050@yahoo.com

[evildave]

Hey how is it? Ive been a severe weather enthusiast since I was about 8 or 9 years old. I have a couple of quick questions for you. Someone above had mentioned the possibility of you creating a blog for "after the chase" info. I think that would be pretty interesting thing to do, but would it interfere with your contractual obligations to Discovery Channel? Also, I'm a precision machinist and welder up here in Detroit and I have some buddy's in the meteorology program up at U of M. We have talked a bit about designing a chase vehicle ( not for full on interception, but extreme safety in hazardous conditions)I just wanted to know where do you guys ( Sean and Reed) come up with the numbers for what the armor on these vehicles can withstand? Do you do any wind tunnel research? or do you just you the physics and material ratings, or both? If we follow through on our plan, we will be working on a limited budget and I want to know if wind tunnel research would be something you guys consider imperative to your safety, considering your experience. Thanks a lot, I'm a big fan of everything you guys are doing , and is there any projected release date and working title for the IMAX film?

Dave

[evildave]

I have a couple more quick questions, what do the tornado decals on the side of the TIV mean. Interceptions? Why are some red and others black? If they are interceptions, are we not seeing the footage because that belongs to you and not the network and you are saving it for the film? Thanks for hearing me out.

Dave

[watch smallville Episodes]

I loved the type ad commenting system very clean and very efficient.

Love to read more from you on the topic above

[Michael]

Sean, what happened with the stray dog you guys picked up down in Brekenridge??

[Larry Kuczenski]

Sean Just a thought. All of TIV and TIV II's failures are mechanical. Your vehicle does not need to be someones "GREAT IDEA". How about start with a used Military 5 ton frame and drive train and build up from there. Tried and true axles and true 6X6 drive with solid diesel engines and trannies. Build the cabin however you see fit from there. No worries about can the frame, engine and drive train handle it. Anyways, just a thought seeing as your footing the tab for someone elses goofs. Less chance of down time. If you need a driver, how about a cop. We know how to drive, AND I was in the military and know how to handle any size rig on the road.
Larry "SKI" Kuczenski

[jared kelly]

hey sean my name is jared kelly i was woundering if mabye i could storm chase with u next sescen ive always been in storm chasing. the new updated tiv is looking great. i want to chase with u not reed because i think he took your idea. so email me back at jareddkelly@live.com

[Cameron Ditore]

hi my name is cameron.I am a huge fan.I can tell that you dislike reed.how i could tell that is your not so happy when you pass by him.
I realy want to meet you.Hav you com up with a tiv 3.
I heard you are part of vortex 2.You are so awsome.Hey if you make a intersept game for a game system you would make the big bucks.Pleas reply to my measege,Thankes.oh and i am also 10.