David Mayhew - Storm Chaser: A Visual Tour of Severe Weather

Copyright 2017 by David Mayhew. All rights reserved. All photographs by the author unless otherwise noted. Published by: Amherst Media, Inc. PO BOX 538 Buffalo, NY 14213 www.AmherstMedia.com Publisher: Craig Alesse Senior Editor/Production Manager: Michelle Perkins Editors: Barbara A. Lynch-Johnt, Beth Alesse Acquisitions Editor: Harvey Goldstein Associate Publisher: Kate Neaverth Editorial Assistance from: Carey A.

Miller, Roy Bakos, Jen Sexton-Riley, Rebecca Rudell Business Manager: Adam Richards ISBN-13: 978-1-68203-297-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017939278 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise, without prior written consent from the publisher. Notice of Disclaimer: The information contained in this book is based on the authors experience and opinions. The author and publisher will not be held liable for the use or misuse of the information in this book. www.facebook.com/AmherstMediaInc www.youtube.com/AmherstMedia www.twitter.com/AmherstMedia

Table of Contents CONTENTS Born in the UK, David Mayhew initially studied for a bachelors degree in engineering design. His sense of adventure took him on a nineteen-month global exploration, but it wasnt until David moved to Italy and began working in the automotive industry that digital photography caught his eye. In 2003, David decided to bail out of the 9-to-5 environment to delve head first into photography. He began to study photography at the College of DuPage near Chicago, where he also joined forces with the schools meteorology program and gained sufficient knowledge to forecast severe weather for storm chasing. David has seen some unique and beautiful sights, including the largest-ever-recorded tornado (2.6 miles wide in El Reno, Oklahoma, May 31st, 2013) and has put himself in precarious situations! Now based in Colorado by the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, David is ideally located for heading east to tornado alley or west to explore the mountains for the landscapes of the southwest. David shows his ever-expanding portfolio of work in galleries, museums, and art festivals across the country.

He received Best in Show, Peoples Choice, and Gold Imaging awards at the 2016 Las Vegas SGIA expo. Davids works have appeared in various publications, such as Scientific American and Sky & Telescope; an article on his work appeared in PDN magazine in July 2016. Davids work has been made grounds in photo contests, such as the National Geographic Traveler and Santa Fe contests. He is an active member in the storm chase community, showing work at the National Weather Center and Chaser Con. He is also a judge in the annual Weather Channel photo competition. You can connect with David at: www.davidmayhewphotography.com www.facebook.com/davidmayhewphotography www.instagram.com/davidmayhewstormpix/.

Weather has always fascinated me. As a kid, I would watch lightning storms no matter the time of night. When I moved to the United States, I was eager to experience the raw beauty of the untamed storms of tornado alley. So I hooked up with a colleges annual storm chase trip and, as an added bonus, learned to forecast. This eventually allowed me to venture out under my own steam. Capturing the moods of the skythose one-off fleeting moments that will never be repeatedbecame my challenge.

Each scenario has a distinctive personality. The photos selected for this book will take you on a journey into the emotions of the sky; some you may have encountered yourself, others are rarer gems I have encountered on my continued travels of discovery. We perceive the sky as being inspiring and a place of freedom. We consider the sky to be the heavens above. We envy the bird that floats on its currents. We lose ourselves in the majesty and vastness of the stars at night.

Even Olympus, the kingdom of the ancient Greek Gods, was built on top of the clouds! Remember to keep an eye on the sky! BEAM ME UP A great UFO-shaped structure from a supercell storm. 1.5-inch hail was produced and refracted light to the turquoise color. Saint Paul, Nebraska. May 4th, 2012. ORANGE TWIST Here, a fiery sunset lights up the underside of the amazing structure of a supercell storm that produced a tornado near Calhan, Colorado, on June 7th, 2012. THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD A tornado-producing supercell storm shows its splendid formations.

The storm was reorganizing at this point the image was made between the time it produced two tornadoes. The wall cloud on the right was dying out and a new wall cloud was forming above the road. The blue color is believed to be the result of heavy hail. A distant lightning bolt can be seen on the horizon. If I had a time machine, Id take my current camera and chasing knowledge for a do-over of this day! Badlands National Park, South Dakota. HIGH-BASED SPIN UP Chasing the high plains is one of my favorite ways to see storms. HIGH-BASED SPIN UP Chasing the high plains is one of my favorite ways to see storms.

Storms tend to have great structure in the higher-elevation states of Colorado and Wyoming. Western Kansas and Western Nebraska are prime areas, too. However, these storms tend to be a tease, as they seem to struggle to produce tornadoes, particularly strong ones. Here, I had to be content with a little vortex near Pine Bluffs, Wyoming. July 10th, 2013. FIST OF FURY My favorite tornado ropes out from my best chase day ever.

See the full tornado life cycle on pages 2833. Norton, Kansas. May 20th, 2011.