Sky Diary Storm Chasing

Chris Kridler's Sky Diary: storm-chasing adventures and rainy-day tales

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Welcome to Sky Diary!

Chris Kridler’s storm chasing site is here, with photos, chase reports, kids’ pages and more

Alethea Kontis, left, and Chris Kridler chase a storm in 2023.

Welcome! Sky Diary’s home is now here on my official site, ChrisKridler.com (the main menu is above in case you’re looking for the Chris Kridler home page, author services, books and more). I started chasing storms in 1997 and soon after that developed a website, first on America Online and then on the web. After building Sky Diary for more than twenty years in HTML, it became a bit creaky. I’ve captured the best of SkyDiary.com and transferred it to this site for a more reader-friendly experience. See the latest chase reports here on the blog and in the new index of storm chasing reports.

Storm Chasing 2025

Cow is our loyal companion on the road.

Alethea Kontis and I went storm chasing in Tornado Alley in the spring of 2025. In 2024, in spite of hitting a lull in a very active season, we not only photographed the Northern Lights but caught several spectacular storms. See video and images in the blog, which I update when I’m not working and writing books under my pen name. You can also view chase reports from years past listed by date and event. Read about our adventures here and on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube (please subscribe!). Thanks for all the fantastic support of our gas fund — Alethea has listed several ways to donate if you want to help us out! Anyone who sends us $10 or more will get a special signed thank-you postcard featuring an image from this year’s chase.


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Recent posts on skies and storm chasing

4 August 2025: Sky spectacles, from cloud iridescence to lightning

It’s a good thing I have dogs to walk, because when I’m buried in work or hiding in my writing cave, it’s easy to forget that the skies can be beautiful, and looking at them can be really therapeutic. The dogs got me outside early this evening in time to see convective towers creating pileus clouds, a type of lenticular cloud. Pileus are short-lived …

3 August 2025: Space Coast lightning storms

It’s been a weird summer here on Florida’s Space Coast. We’ve had weeks with no rain at all during the height of the supposed storm season, though this past week, we finally had some relief in the form of two gully-washer days in a row. Tonight a couple of isolated storms popped up to our west, moving my way, and I realized I might …

The 2025 chase season – a whirlwind tour of Tornado Alley

  We’re back from Tornado Alley! This trip with my storm-chasing partner Alethea Kontis went all too quickly, even though it was two and a half weeks. I sometimes wish I had the freedom to chase for a couple of months at a time, as some chasers do, but I still have a day job (editing books) and a fun job (writing books) and …

9 May 2025: Storms swirl over Florida’s Space Coast

  While Alethea and I bide our time waiting for an optimum departure for the Plains for our Tornado Alley storm chase, Florida’s Space Coast has finally had some rain. It’s been ridiculously dry here, so any rain is welcome. It’s been kind of fun to have lightning to go along with it. This storm on May 9 wasn’t particularly powerful, and most of …

A wide shot of the lightning storm over the Atlantic Ocean near the Florida coast

We desperately need rain here on Florida’s Space Coast, and our neighbors got some today. But the storms avoided our house and all our thirsty plants. I didn’t try to chase them until I saw an “electric brain” of a storm sparking offshore, so I headed out to try to snap a few photos. The thing about Florida storms is that they usually don’t …

Hey, that’s us on the Girls Who Chase blog!

Girls Who Chase is a cool organization that aims to draw attention to women who chase storms and encourage girls to get into weather and the sciences. They also offer classes to folks who want to get into chasing. It was an honor to be featured with Alethea Kontis in their recent “Meet the Chasers” feature. We’re a rather eccentric duo in that, even …

 

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Some of my favorite chases

Chase 2016: Incredible 20th year

My Tornado Alley chase was incredible in 2016, with many tornadoes and photogenic storms. 

2016: Katie-Wynnewood, Oklahoma, tornado

May 9, 2016: Entire life cycle of violent EF4 tornado: FULL ACCOUNT with photos and video

2005: Texas hail and tornado

May 12, 2005: Giant hail batters chase vehicles after large tornado near South Plains, Texas: FULL ACCOUNT with photos and video

2004: Attica, Kansas, tornadoes

May 12, 2004: Destructive Attica, Kansas, tornadoes: FULL ACCOUNT with photos and video

2024: Eldorado, Oklahoma, supercell and tornado

May 23, 2024: Stunning shape-shifting Eldorado, Oklahoma tornado: FULL ACCOUNT with photos and video

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Visit Sky Diary’s Kidstorm – weather facts and fun for kids
 

 

 

Storm-chasing adventures

Check out the Storm Seekers Series for storm-chasing adventures with action, drama, humor and romance.

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Storm photography

Cocoa, Florida, lightning by Chris Kridler
Check out photography of tornadoes, lightning, supercells and more.

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Storm Stuff Store

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