Reflecting on a truly wild, tornado-packed summer break with @otusproject.bsky.social to mark the beginning of year 23 on this planet! youtu.be/kg7gywzHHD0?si…

Our world-first night vision tornado drone intercept of the Fort Ransom, ND EF2 on June 20. Watch the *FULL* video at this link: youtu.be/g_6qMXHlsqw

Aftermath the next day. Home across street was outside scour strip, but core context was impressive with long grass destroyed at road rise. Dirt scour & cycloidal deposits at intercept zone (bottom right image). If recovered, we can get wind measurements from drone blackbox.

Looking inside the powerful Spiritwood, ND wedge tornado near peak size and strength. This was our second flight into it on June 20. Watch the *FULL* video at this link: youtu.be/akQbDX-MMlo

Potent wet microburst at Lake Anna, VA - snapped adjacent tree and power out #vawx

Saw a multi-vortex tornado this afternoon at Parmelee SD, had an @otusproject.bsky.social deployment on this

Narrowly missed getting a drone inside this tornado south of Johnstown/Ainsworth, NE yesterday evening. We will be on the hunt for the next few days. Photo taken by team member @tornadostudy.bsky.social

Exactly! NWS is only PART of the warning process. NWS forecasts, warns, gives info and tools to entities Private sector (apps, broadcast) disseminates to wider audiences Local authorities, entities are responsible to plan, act, evac *NWS* warnings were good! But local leaders… 1/2

A peek at preliminary tornado data we are still processing. These traces are from one of the drones circling in the anticyclonic Higgins, TX-OK EF1 on May 18. The validation and quality control process takes time, but more data will be shared as we progress.

Part 1 of our Spiritwood tornado flights, inside the tornadogenesis and growth of this monster. Watch the *FULL* video at this link: youtu.be/b9IicWFL0VQ

A comparison of our non-night vision perspective:

World's first night vision drone intercept of a tornado near Fort Ransom, ND Friday night:

Inside the EF3+ Spiritwood, ND wedge tornado near peak intensity from our research drone!

Our first flight yesterday was inside the tornadogenesis and growth phase of a soon-to-be wedge tornado near Spiritwood and Jamestown, ND. Data and more video will be shared as we process material.

🚨HELP NEEDED 🚨 One of the two drones flown through this tornado has not yet been recovered. It holds immensely valuable data. We are exploring all avenues to locate it. Please let us know if you find this drone or can assist. Last known position at 46°56'28.0"N, 98°25'56.3"W

Today’s chase and deployments were ludicrous.

Inside the entire tornadogenesis of the mile-wide Morton, TX, EF2 tornado. Watch the *FULL* video here: youtu.be/OaNBkp1xWfg

Our research drone collected data through tornadogenesis near Morton, TX yesterday, including this subvortex early in its life.

One of our more eventful chases of the season… big day, and gearing up for tomorrow!

Inside of an EF1-rated tornado and severe thunderstorm winds near Willard, CO on May 23. Watch the full video here: youtu.be/nRc38pZ0E5s

A birds-eye view from our research drone of a tornado as it struck the town of Crowder, MO on May 16th. Watch the full video here: youtu.be/P3KC8TtBros

The first tornado we intercepted that day; had 2 drones simultaneously circling this tornado sampling the environment. This is the view from one of them!

Just one of the intercepts we made on Sunday!

We flew through and stayed in the centers of two tornadoes today, triple intercepts! Most remarkable experience of my life chasing these tornadoes

An incredible look inside a tornado from our research drone of structures being destroyed in Crowder, Missouri

We did it. I can hardly believe what just happened.

Tornado from a distance near North Platte, NE this evening on our @otusproject.bsky.social chase #newx

The awesome might of a raging supercell with a wedge tornado at night in the Nebraska Sandhills, April 27, 2025. #newx

Final preparations are wrapping up! From May 14, we will operate for several weeks collecting thermodynamic and wind data in tornadoes, and support NSF ICECHIP hail research. Our 4/27 chase was a final pre-test for data collection, flying on this tornado near Hyannis, NE:

The fact that NWS field offices are not able to operate 24/7 anymore in growing number of locations, & that offices servicing major population centers no longer have supervisory meteorologists in charge, & that radar techs are becoming unavailable, is highly alarming.

The last nighttime bit of our OTUS chase Sunday, 4/27 on a monster supercell / tornadoes in the Nebraska Sandhills. This part was near the Merritt Reservoir #newx youtu.be/vV9mtygNDJc?...

OTUS deployed multiple times on a tornado family yesterday evening through central Nebraska. Out again today looking for more intercepts. Pictured is the drone heading to a tornado north of Hyannis, NE. #newx

The OTUS Project is preparing for tornado deployments on a volatile storm system that will move through the Plains and Midwest Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

If you care about the science or protecting life/property from weather hazards, please consider how you can lobby against this. What is proposed - if allowed - would be catastrophic and damage *every* part of modern meteorology. www.science.org/content/arti... www.eenews.net/articles/whi...

Several photos of a beautiful storm rolling through Millersville University, PA, near 3:40 am in the early morning hours of yesterday, March 4. Well worth staying up for! #pawx

The storms don’t need to sleep, so neither do I… beautiful cell rolling into Millersville University, PA around 3:40 am #pawx

Lightning strike from storms this evening at Millersville University, PA #pawx

First good storms of the year to time-lapse here at Millersville PA, man I’ve missed doing this!

A McAllen, TX live webcam was getting a washing machine experience near a tornado warned circulation a few minutes ago: #txwx Livestreamed camera from Ruby Red Hospitality: www.youtube.com/live/la1nuQD...

During our flight into Jackson MS the night of Mar 14 a supercell then producing a tornado near Belzoni put on a light show. Cabin was too well lit to crank the exposure up, but manually aligning and blending snapshots of the lightning flashes shows some of the storm structure. 1/2

Contrast-enhanced view of the Taylorsville, MS EF2 Tornado during our OTUS deployment on Sat 3/15. It was crossing MS Highway 37 and heading into town. CG lightning on some of these cells was the most intense I’ve been in. #mswx

The OTUS Project briefly deployed on a tornado yesterday, but opted not to intercept due heavy precipitation and terrain concerns. Shown below is our launch toward the Taylorsville, MS tornado.

We are flying out for this event, first chase of the year! Hoping to start off strong with some successful drone intercepts.

Broad brush: 6% of US lives in manufactured housing; 61% of 2024 US tornado deaths in them. 18% in site built homes. That equates to ~57 times more likely to be killed in a mobile home over site built. Reason? Wind gets underneath and lofts trailers, along w/ poor construction.

An amazing supercell thunderstorm developing near Akron, CO, on May 20, 2024.

We cannot let ourselves be stifled by “we can’t stand against this because it’s related to politics.” The risks to life and property that gutting OUR scientific field brings gives us a moral obligation and duty as members of meteorology to do everything we can to stop this. I applaud Ethan for this.

Hundreds of NOAA employees are being fired by Trump and DOGE. The National Weather Service, which is part of NOAA, provides life saving weather forecasting in the US. A study found that for every $1 invested in NWS, it produces $73 in value to Americans. Again, this isn't about efficiency.

I think all of us in the weather community are dismayed from NWS/NOAA blows that hurt meteorology at large, and the dire potential consequences for public safety. I hope we can all find ways to advocate against degrading the services/infrastructure, and support public servants fired.

OTUS now has a website! Big things are happening with the project. Please consider supporting us if you are able to.