2025 was such an interesting year but in ways that I truly enjoyed. Though I only spent time in 3 states, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, with most of my time in Texas, there were many things that happened this year that made it very memorable. Of course, everyone loves a good tornado story so let me talk about that first. Compared to Season 2 of this series, this season was a challenge of its own. Early in the year, a lot of the storm chasing setups were in Dixie Alley. This area is generally recognized as anywhere east of the Mississippi River and it was very active with tornadoes but the various challenges of chasing storms in that area is why I stay away. As the year was moving on, there would also be notable tornado days in the Upper Midwest but I was not ready to go to those places. I don’t have a reason but I do hope to find my way up there again one day as I used to travel through there frequently, for work. Finally entering into the more familiar storm season, the Southern Plains proved to be fun and wild all at once. Though there were big days to speak of for tornadoes, the more frequent tornado activity was proven a bigger miss. Despite this, I did manage to see 3 tornadoes. My first beauty turned out to be near Silverton, Texas on April 24th. As I was driving east, to my south, very slowly, a funnel was coming down and in its coming down, it came down so slow. It was quite the beauty, that is for sure. Later that day, I would witness another tornado near Dougherty, Texas but little did I know until later that it was actually there. I managed to capture both of these but the second one proved harder to see. The next day, well, that was quite a heartbreak because I was getting my camera set up to record and as I was doing this, I did see the tornado of the day, which would later be reported as a landspout. I did not think anything of it so that is why I never filmed it. Lame brain me really thought it was high winds and dust due to the distance I was from it. While the tornado experiences were not as exciting as the year before, this year definitely gave me two other really amazing treats: hail storms and lightning. I shall now tell you about these unforgettable experiences. Listen, just know that a big part of storm chasing is that you will find yourself running into hail cores, accidentally or otherwise. My first hail core intercept on April 19th was not exactly accidental but it was not intentional either. I remember being torn between where I was, just outside of Breckenridge, Texas, or to go towards San Angelo. Well, both decisions were right for tornadoes but the tornadoes closer to me did not happen until that evening, very close to dark. The craziest part about it is the storm which gave me a hail core I was not ready for, well, that storm would end up producing the tornadoes I just described. I remember sitting there, waiting but also debating on my next move. In the distance, I could hear the faint sounds of a metal roof taking a direct hit. Moments later, my car is taking a direct hit! It was beautiful! I estimate this hail must have been around golf ball to hen egg in size when it first struck and while that size did not last long, it was a redemption for the day. Almost a week later, on April 25th near Levelland, Texas, the best hail intercept of my life happened! Not only was it an epic intercept but two other notable hail related things happened. The first one was a one time event but it is a memory for a lifetime. Once I realized, more like I thought, that the hail core was coming closer, I saw a piece I wanted, on the other side of my car! I wanted to go get it but as I am rounding the driver side corner to go get it, bam! Right into my arm I got a massive punch that stayed bruised for well over 2 weeks! Not the trophy I planned for! Also that day, one gnarly moment took place, which happened right after I got done catching up with Reed Timmer. I heard a sound unlike anything I had heard since I was in the military. You know the sound in action films when a character is being shot at and they add the sound like that of a bullet flying right by the character’s ear? Imagine that same sound but it was hail! Yes, hail falling from the sky! Big pieces! Two in particular were so close I could hear the whoosh as they were falling then, bang! Right into the pavement! What a sound that I will never forget! It would be another month, May 26th near Mason, Texas, until I would get another hail core but this one was relatively short-lived. Though, it was pretty cool that the image I took just before the hail core hit was seen on a local news outlet in Austin. A very positive experience to recollect because that was a very challenging chase day, largely due to the relentless terrain fluctuations. A few days later just outside of Winters, Texas, at night, I was not giving much attention to the hail core coming my way. What held my attention the most was the high winds associated with this storm but then the hail hit and I was just like “well, that’s just a nice way to make an entrance. Hello.” It was wild because the hail would come and go but, thankfully, it did finally last long enough to get some kind of footage out of it. Perhaps it is fair to say that this next experience would somehow prove to be my final chase day of the overall year. While Kansas is not a stranger for storm chasing, the storm I was watching would prove to be quite the sight both as it was coming and going. There was a period of time where I tried staying ahead of the storm to get a good view on it but that kept proving troublesome each time I stopped. When I finally decided to stop and let it pass me by, that’s when I let this storm have her way. Sure enough, she did not disappoint as there would be hail but it almost felt like there was darkness overtaking the land, in the middle of the afternoon! It really is a humbling reminder as to how wild these storms can be! While I have spoken so highly of the hail storms I intercepted, there was one big thing that happened this year that was not to be discounted. The amount of daytime lightning I witnessed and captured was more than I ever had experienced before! I am telling you that there was so much lightning, with many, many close calls, that it was a paradise of its own! There was one day, May 25th, that the lightning was so close that I can only say I am grateful to have made it through that one! There is a lot more to speak on for this chase season but it’s important that you are subscribed to the YouTube channel so you can see the episodes as soon as they are released. Though, if you are enjoying this extended content here on the website, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think about it. Your feedback does a lot to help me know how I can improve this show not just for this season but for future seasons, as well. See you next month.