It's not the despair, Laura. I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand. ~ Brian Stimpson, Clockwise...

Yes I know, what am I doing chasing in an odd numbered year? Shouldn't this be next year?

Well..."make hay while the sun shines" is my usual motto so what the heck. Unfortunately this motto may bite me...see later. I'm back with Peter Wharton and Storm Group Chasers this year and on my lonesome with no mates in tow from the UK.

The path is well trodden and I should be crawling into the Wyndham Gardens in Oklahoma City on Saturday evening, reacquainting myself with some Shiner Bock at the bar while striking up conversations with whoever, half expecting to see the guys from last year sat in the same seats. Most of the chasing tour companies base themselves in Denver this late in the season so I suspect the hotel will be deserted of chasers, so no Silver Lining Tours folk to chat to this year, no virgin Brits off to get hammered in Bricktown expecting to see an EF4 on their first day out. Which, rather annoyingly they did last year...

Ok so to kit. I'll not bore you with cameras and so forth, suffice to say I've upgraded the Nikon 16-35 f4 which I never found compelling in the field (too much distortion, soft edges requiring stopping down which is not ideal in poor light) to a modern designed Tamron 15-30 f2.8 which is a significant improvement in my eyes. Check out the rest of the kit from last year, it's otherwise the same. The post Brexit exchange rate is not in my favour so I needed to cut a few corners on the budget.

Back to making hay. This has been a strange ol' year to say the least. Very early spring was unusually active in Dixie Alley with record sea temperatures in the Gulf. The Storm Prediction Centre (SPC) then had a number of moderate and high risk days in May which didn't pan out as expected ending in a few frustrating, rainy messes and few tornadoes. This has happened to me more times than I care to remember when the promised apocalypse fails to materialise.

So to the forecast. Not good with a death ridge in residence blocking moisture from the central plains. No moisture, no severe storms. The SPC 4-8 day forecast is one of the shortest I've seen, basically says"you're screwed". So a sunshine trip and some hay to make?

Funny thing storm chasing. The best days can end up with a frustrating mess or a cap bust as some parameter fails to pan out, but the reverse can also be true; marginal and slight days can turn into something really special such as Campo Co in 2010. It's a bit like looking forward for weeks to an epic party that turns into a boring shambles then having a couple of pints after work on the spur of the moment which turns into the best night out of the year.  Folks that have suffered a ridge in previous years have ended up in uncharted territory such as Montana and found little nuggets of storms well away from the chaser infested convergences further south which seem to get worse every year.

Bottom line: forget the despair and forget the hope. Bring it on and enjoy the ride!