James Hammett 🌪️
@jameshammett.com
I chase storms across the High Plains in a Subaru
🌩️ Engineer in Denver, Colorado
🌩️ Builder of software and electronics like TurretCam
🌩️ Creator of the #1 most viewed tornado video
jameshammett.com
🌩️ Engineer in Denver, Colorado
🌩️ Builder of software and electronics like TurretCam
🌩️ Creator of the #1 most viewed tornado video
jameshammett.com
Pinned
James Hammett 🌪️
@jameshammett.com
· Mar 17
Reposted by James Hammett 🌪️
NSF has reduced the research budget for all atmospheric, ocean, and earth sciences by ~80%.
80%!
A lot of us will not be conducting new research or training new students for the foreseeable future.
80%!
A lot of us will not be conducting new research or training new students for the foreseeable future.
September 15, 2026 at 9:58 PM
NSF has reduced the research budget for all atmospheric, ocean, and earth sciences by ~80%.
80%!
A lot of us will not be conducting new research or training new students for the foreseeable future.
80%!
A lot of us will not be conducting new research or training new students for the foreseeable future.
Renaming landmarks by fiat at taxpayers' expense drains scarce resources from the NWS
The National Weather Service is proceeding with renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America in all forecast products and maps. These sort of changes require extensive coding time for NOAA and NWS personnel to implement across so many different products that regularly reference them.
September 14, 2026 at 6:55 PM
Renaming landmarks by fiat at taxpayers' expense drains scarce resources from the NWS
Crazy it's been 20 years! I was hedging west of this storm and had a hard time catching up. The tornado crossing the highway at St. Peter and blocking it with debris effectively ended my chase. So much moisture in the air you had to be close to see anything
youtu.be/cmCAkXRrqW0 #WxSky
youtu.be/cmCAkXRrqW0 #WxSky
Minnesota Tornadoes | Nicollet and New Ulm, August 24, 2006
Tornadoes near Nicollet and New Ulm, Minnesota during a significant outbreak on August 24, 2006. Uploaded on the 20 year anniversary of the infamous Nicollet, MN F3 Tornado. A cyclic supercell formed along a warm front boundary over southern Minnesota. Storm chasers Mark McGowen and Simon Brewer doc
youtu.be
August 26, 2026 at 1:53 AM
Crazy it's been 20 years! I was hedging west of this storm and had a hard time catching up. The tornado crossing the highway at St. Peter and blocking it with debris effectively ended my chase. So much moisture in the air you had to be close to see anything
youtu.be/cmCAkXRrqW0 #WxSky
youtu.be/cmCAkXRrqW0 #WxSky
Storm that just went thru Denver about collapsed my gutters from the torrential rainfall. Finally got some rain after a long stretch of near misses!
#cowx
#cowx
August 1, 2026 at 1:15 AM
Storm that just went thru Denver about collapsed my gutters from the torrential rainfall. Finally got some rain after a long stretch of near misses!
#cowx
#cowx
A Black Witch moth a.k.a. Mariposa de la Muerte -- it's the size of a hand! They're not native here in Colorado but occasionally migrate up on winds from Mexico. This one is beating the heat by resting on shaded bricks outside my door
July 27, 2026 at 6:00 AM
A Black Witch moth a.k.a. Mariposa de la Muerte -- it's the size of a hand! They're not native here in Colorado but occasionally migrate up on winds from Mexico. This one is beating the heat by resting on shaded bricks outside my door
Reposted by James Hammett 🌪️
Cool news from CDOT: They're launching weather balloons (with CSU grad students) to collect added data for tactical insight (road treatments, equipment deployment, etc.)
Data will get shared with NWS as well. Presumably, this'll help with years-long balloon launch holes.
mailchi.mp/state/cdot-a...
Data will get shared with NWS as well. Presumably, this'll help with years-long balloon launch holes.
mailchi.mp/state/cdot-a...
CDOT and CSU launch weather balloon to strengthen year-round road operations
mailchi.mp
July 23, 2026 at 9:25 PM
Cool news from CDOT: They're launching weather balloons (with CSU grad students) to collect added data for tactical insight (road treatments, equipment deployment, etc.)
Data will get shared with NWS as well. Presumably, this'll help with years-long balloon launch holes.
mailchi.mp/state/cdot-a...
Data will get shared with NWS as well. Presumably, this'll help with years-long balloon launch holes.
mailchi.mp/state/cdot-a...
Reposted by James Hammett 🌪️
A video of a large sprite jellyfish over shading the Nebraska sky last night from my IPhone.
June 14, 2026 at 10:05 PM
A video of a large sprite jellyfish over shading the Nebraska sky last night from my IPhone.
Reposted by James Hammett 🌪️
Another strong tornado on 6-11-2026, this time near Dwight, IL
June 12, 2026 at 8:09 PM
Another strong tornado on 6-11-2026, this time near Dwight, IL
Reposted by James Hammett 🌪️
Not bad for having not even made the decision to chase until 6:30 pm! This tornado was north of DeMotte, IN around 8:00 pm on 11 June (0000 UTC on 12 June).
June 12, 2026 at 10:36 PM
Not bad for having not even made the decision to chase until 6:30 pm! This tornado was north of DeMotte, IN around 8:00 pm on 11 June (0000 UTC on 12 June).
Reposted by James Hammett 🌪️
The second significant tornado we documented yesterday impacted Streator, IL. We were going through town when it roped out so I did the best I could to capture it. On the last shot I was busy taking pictures of the utility pole damage and didn't notice the new tornado lurking in the background.
June 12, 2026 at 4:55 PM
The second significant tornado we documented yesterday impacted Streator, IL. We were going through town when it roped out so I did the best I could to capture it. On the last shot I was busy taking pictures of the utility pole damage and didn't notice the new tornado lurking in the background.
Reposted by James Hammett 🌪️
This is probably tied for top chase of all time with 4/26/2024. And supremely local in areas I grew up in. Really hoping impacts were minimal.
June 12, 2026 at 2:25 AM
This is probably tied for top chase of all time with 4/26/2024. And supremely local in areas I grew up in. Really hoping impacts were minimal.
Reposted by James Hammett 🌪️
Almost 10 minutes with 100mph gusts and about 30 minutes of severe gusts (more than 58mph).
June 9, 2026 at 3:15 AM
Almost 10 minutes with 100mph gusts and about 30 minutes of severe gusts (more than 58mph).
Reposted by James Hammett 🌪️
Great day chasing the Palmer Divide today! Followed a supercell for several hours to the east. It tried hard to produce a tornado a few times, but couldn’t quite get it done. Fun chase nonetheless! #cowx
June 9, 2026 at 1:52 AM
Great day chasing the Palmer Divide today! Followed a supercell for several hours to the east. It tried hard to produce a tornado a few times, but couldn’t quite get it done. Fun chase nonetheless! #cowx
First time storm chasing in South Dakota way back in June 2005 I got to experience the Northern Plains meaning business with its linear storm systems this time of year. Just an enormous amount of energy released as it steamrolls a large area
The WoFS has shown run-to-run consistency that a potential significant to destructive wind event is likely later this PM across the northern Plains. Judging by the numerous simulated storms in the 18-member ensemble (gray paintballs), this has intense bow echo written all over it.
June 8, 2026 at 2:16 AM
First time storm chasing in South Dakota way back in June 2005 I got to experience the Northern Plains meaning business with its linear storm systems this time of year. Just an enormous amount of energy released as it steamrolls a large area
Walked out of a graduation ceremony and that south Denver cell was overhead. Had a several minute walk back to my car - no umbrella or jacket so I just ran for it. Lots of CGs crashing and pretty sure I heard a few pings of hail hitting nearby cars😬
May 30, 2026 at 6:09 AM
Walked out of a graduation ceremony and that south Denver cell was overhead. Had a several minute walk back to my car - no umbrella or jacket so I just ran for it. Lots of CGs crashing and pretty sure I heard a few pings of hail hitting nearby cars😬
I accidentally drove through the damage path on my first out-of-state chase a week later. Can't overstate how much the Hallam tornado haunted my early years chasing.
#weatherpicofday
OTD 22 years ago, May 22, 2004, Jim Bishop, Mark McGowan, and I documented a megawedge tornado near Wilber, Nebraska. At the time it was the widest tornado in history at 2.5 miles in diameter.
#newx
OTD 22 years ago, May 22, 2004, Jim Bishop, Mark McGowan, and I documented a megawedge tornado near Wilber, Nebraska. At the time it was the widest tornado in history at 2.5 miles in diameter.
#newx
May 23, 2026 at 2:33 PM
I accidentally drove through the damage path on my first out-of-state chase a week later. Can't overstate how much the Hallam tornado haunted my early years chasing.
A more recent EF3 tornado was also an oddball: The 2015 Berthoud tornado began approximately 3 miles south of Berthoud, then tracked to the west-northwest! www.stormdig.com/index.php?op...
#WxSky
#WxSky
May 22, 2026 at 9:43 PM
A more recent EF3 tornado was also an oddball: The 2015 Berthoud tornado began approximately 3 miles south of Berthoud, then tracked to the west-northwest! www.stormdig.com/index.php?op...
#WxSky
#WxSky
I'm always concerned about my antenna wires breaking the Faraday cage and routing a lightning strike into the cabin. OTUS guy is routing that possibility straight to his skull
#WxSky
#WxSky
May 21, 2026 at 11:42 PM
I'm always concerned about my antenna wires breaking the Faraday cage and routing a lightning strike into the cabin. OTUS guy is routing that possibility straight to his skull
#WxSky
#WxSky
2016 y'all
Ironically, Matt Yglesias was ahead of the curve on the threat of Trump's financial corruption and how hard it would be to undo once he did it:
www.vox.com/policy-and-p...
www.vox.com/policy-and-p...
100 days to save the Republic
The transition period is the last best hope to avoid the systemic corruption of American institutions
www.vox.com
May 21, 2026 at 5:41 PM
2016 y'all
Reposted by James Hammett 🌪️
now the real test is whether those automated alerts are actually timely and have correct info, since that’s often the failure point. But for pre-event messaging this is outstanding!
May 21, 2026 at 12:42 AM
now the real test is whether those automated alerts are actually timely and have correct info, since that’s often the failure point. But for pre-event messaging this is outstanding!