Updated Twitter Name And Focused On Storms 2012

Got That Twitter Name Finally Changed Over

It's a new year and I have finally changed my Twitter name to @StormVisuals after being known as @weatherzine since the Fall of 2008. I have the best followers and I just wanted to thank everyone for the support and sharing of my name change over the last 72 hours. You've been a big help! If you already follow me on Twitter, then you're all set and don't need to do anything, but I will no longer be maintaining my old handle of @weatherzine from this point on.

Loving The G+

Also, you can follow me on Google+ as well by searching for +JeffGammons or clicking the icon above. I've really come to like Google+ too, with the clean layout and a community of very creative people. Awesome place for photographers to share their work and network with others.

2012 Severe Storm Season Ahead

Besides the name change and working on other video off season projects, I'm beginning to look toward the early spring severe storm season and beyond. Winter sure has been strange across the United States so far and here in Florida, with little snow up north and a hot December here in FL, followed by a new year freeze. It will be interesting to see how the severe weather season shapes over the South early this year. We know how tragic last year was with the tornado outbreaks in the Deep South.

I wish you all a very Happy New Year, and all the best to you in 2012. I look forward to bringing you more of my adventures with the weather visually throughout the upcoming year. - Jeff

Smooth Waves Weekend With Crescent Moon Venus

I had a very nice long Thanksgiving weekend with my family, and catching some good football games, even with the Dolphins losing in Dallas. I also enjoyed some personal time out shooting amazing views of the Atlantic Ocean with glassy waves, fanatic sunsets and the Moon and Venus in the evening twilight sky. A great weekend and a lot to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving Eve the winds shifted offshore along the Florida east coast ahead of the next weak front making for smooth ocean surface waters. The remnant ground swell still was moving in from the east, and combined with the offshore winds, the waves were super clean. The rocky coastline of South Hutchinson Island also made for some interesting photography with the waves, and produced some relaxing sounds at the same time that would put you to sleep in a nice beach chair.

Saturday evening after the sunset, there was a nice treat in the twilight sky looking to the southwest just above the horizon. A beautiful crescent moon with the planet Venus just above the moon to the left vividly hanging in the sky. After waiting out for the perfect light and fighting the mosquitoes off with the spray (yes we still have them here in South Florida during the Fall) I was able to capture a stunning shot over Lake Okeechobee. This pictures has made the rounds on Twitter, Google+ and FaceBook with thousands of views the last 48 hours. Thank everyone for sharing the picture!

Lastly, the sunsets over the last few evenings have been just as amazing. In late November and December, the farmers burn off the sugarcane fields (not the best for air quality) which the lingering smoke hangs low in the dusk sky making for wild looking sunsets. I even squeezed in a sunset timelapse over the weekend that came out great! Watch out for my 2011 weather highlight web video coming soon here on the website.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend, and I guess I can officially say Happy Holidays to you. :-) 

My Storm Season Closes Looking Ahead To 2012

Jeff Gammons captures large swells on Hutchinson Island, FL. - October 2011

It’s Over, For This Season

It’s a new month and the end of the Florida storm season for me. November usually marks my end to filming storms and hurricanes, and I begin to focus on the off-season projects and look ahead to the upcoming year. I’m currently editing together a highlight video of 2011 that I should have up here on the site very soon, so keep tabs on my Twitter and Google+ feeds over the next few weeks. I’ve also locked in two non-weather related filming projects that should keep me sane while the storms are away.

No Hurricane Chasing For Me

I filmed no hurricanes in 2011, as most of the tropical cyclones never reached the United States outside of Hurricane Irene. I opted not to chase Irene in North Carolina as she was forecast to be weakening at the time of landfall, and I felt that it wasn’t worth the time and investment for a storm on the downward trend in organization and intensity. If you were going to feel the full force of Irene’s core, you had to be in the Bahamas like my fellow Hurricane Chasers Jim Edds and Mike Theiss when she was at her strongest as a category 3 hurricane. One thing I know is the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season was truly a strange one.

Wild Florida Storms Make It All Good

When it came to being busy shooting weather and storms, the Florida wet season sure paid off. My season started off covering an impressive wild fire season due to the drought conditions across Florida, but quickly transitioned into an active sea-breeze thunderstorm season. From June through October, I was busy filming some of the best Florida storm structure I have seen in years. Even spending a significant amount of time filming long-duration timelapses of many of the storms, which you’ll get to see many of them in my highlight video soon.

I always have that comfort of falling back to my Florida storms when I’m not out in Tornado Alley chasing, or intercepting tropical storms and hurricanes in the summer. Once again, Florida came through with some impressive stormy skies to frame up with my camera’s, and helping to keep my creativity flowing.

Eyeing 2012 Tornado Season

I have passed the last few years on chasing in Tornado Alley for many reasons (including my pre-kidney transplant years), and I truly miss it. I was active out there for so many spring seasons in the past and I plan to return in 2012. I did chase one High Risk event in Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee earlier this Spring getting on several Supercell thunderstorms. It was great to be back out chasing real cyclic Supercells away from the palm trees of Florida, and I am really excited to roam the Great Plains once again this upcoming season. - There is a lot of work for me to do over the Winter months… and I have already begun.

Lakeport Florida Tornado Damage Video And Pictures

A subtropical disturbance over the Yucatan Channel and southeast Gulf of Mexico struggled to organize on Tuesday, but had enough organized embedded rotating storms as it moved east to produce several tornadoes across South Florida during the evening hours.

One of these tornadoes ( now confirmed by the NWS Miami as EF-0 85mph winds) ripped through the small town of Lakeport, Florida around 7:30pm. The small community of Lakeport is located in Glades County along the western rim of Lake Okeechobee. 

When I arrived at first light this morning, I first noticed a debris field crossing Highway 78, with wood and metal debris scattered on both sides of the road, and the sugarcane fields to the right flattened by what look to be very strong winds. I toured a small neighborhood with about 15 homes just to the south of 78, which all had some type of damage. Most of the damage looked to be from carports, patios, landscaping and power lines. A few of these homes had some roof damage as well, and some of that debris was laying on the other side of Highway 78.

I moved on to 721 Rd which brought me back to the south behind the first neighborhood, and here I found even more damage to several short blocks of mobile homes. Residents and power crews were already cleaning up a lot of the debris that was still scattered everywhere. Again, most of the damage I could see was to carports, patios, docks, and several roofs peeled back. There was a pontoon boat flipped upside down and thrown into the canal between the two hardest hit streets.

The width of the damage only appeared to be about 100 yards and maybe a mile or two long. It is hard to tell since the damage path starts over wetlands and continues on into prairie lands after crossing 78.

Several other tornadoes were already confirmed earlier today, with one in Sunrise, FL rated an EF-2 with 120mph winds, another in Indian River County, FL and Indiantown, FL. All of the tornadoes produced structural damage, and the Indian River tornado has been rated an EF-0, as well as the Indiantown one per The National Weather Service in Melbourne, FL.