I know it’s possible to just have one storm to chase and that be that but I don’t think I have ever chased one storm that would move as slow as this one did. Going into it, I was wanting to target the same general area as the day before, focusing primarily on Kress, Texas. I did notice this one little shower slowly developing southwest of Muleshoe but I did not give it much consideration. It was early in the day and it just did not inspire confidence, at first. As I was finishing getting fuel, I decided to make a new move and go towards Anton. I could see this little storm was getting more and more intense and was moving right for Littlefield but I assumed it would begin moving faster than it was. Just as I was about to find a place to pull off and film from Anton, I just decided to go for Littlefield because, well, why not? That decision would be the best decision of the day but there would be one critical error. As I am setting up to record my first time lapse, I see an area of dust but from my view, I could not tell that it was rotating as it was a considerable distance from my location, which did not help anything. From seeing other storm chasers’ footage, that was the tornado of the day so while I did witness it, I did not capture it. Talk about an epic facepalm! This storm was so beautiful from where I was and I could see that it was becoming a beast. One of the most notable things about it was the wind. When I stopped at a new location, the wind was averaging around 50 mph. While this is not extreme wind, trying to get out of the car and not lose my door was quite the experience! There was certainly dust in the air but I don’t have a dust allergy so if you are reading this and you do, you would have certainly felt the effects of it! Finally, I was in a good position to get some video and time lapse but it would not be long until I would have to move again. I could see this incoming hail core but given where I was, at that moment, I was not ready to intercept it. A few pieces hit nearby but once I shifted to my new location, that is when I knew I would be ready. Sure enough, that decision would pay off. This is the part of the chase that would create three epic memories. First one and most importantly, I would get to sit through a hail core with hail ranging from 2 - 3 inches in size for at least 2 minutes, despite only recording about 30 seconds of it! Proud to say I got some amazing new hail dents and if you were to see the roof of my car, I got one big crater almost perfectly in the middle! One piece also chipped my air conditioner vent, which I did not discover until almost a week later! Oh and if you look at the one image I show in the episode, you can literally see hail falling out of the sky! The other epic memory came with a great deal of pain. As I was putting my equipment back into the car, I saw out my passenger window what looked to be a bigger hail stone than a lot of the other pieces I had seen so far. Without a care in the world, I wanted to go around and get it but just as I am turning around, bam! A piece of hail landed right where my elbow and arm meet! I have never felt large hail hit bare skin but now I can say, verifiably, it can tend to hurt! I laughed about it but it did leave a small bruise that stayed in place for probably about a month! Of these epic moments and memories, this last one is a bit tough to explain. You know how, in the movies, when a bullet flies by someone, it has that “whoosh” like sound? Keep that in mind for what I am about to tell you as this situation took place at different points in the chase. While I was packing up the car, I heard a piece of hail fall so close you could hear that “whoosh!” It was amazing to hear! The second time came when I was talking to Reed Timmer for a bit as I had not seen him in almost 13 years. He even heard it, too! Both times, when that hail collided with the asphalt, my ears just loved it! What a moment! Continuing on, it really just felt like this storm could not make up its mind. It maintained a lingering wall cloud and could not decide if it wanted to create a more prominent hook or not. I stayed with it for as long as I could and given how slow it was moving, it was not that hard to do! However, after the hail experience, it was apparent that it was now time to shift to time lapse mode, not that I was complaining! I do believe that if this storm had gone tornadic a second time that I would have been in the best place to intercept it! Open fields and no obstructions in the way is an epic way to view a tornado, in my opinion! This storm chase proved and reminded me why I love storm chasing so much! From the epic hail to the epic impacts, sights, and sounds, this all remains always so humbling to me. I am excited for what the next chase will bring and I am grateful you are a part of my journey!