Riley Fitzpatrick

@BackpirchCrew What an insane tragedy. We forget how lucky we are in the US to have advanced warning infustructure and sufficient shelter for these events. Im always floored when I see how deadly severe weather can be in India and Bangladesh. Rest in peace.

This violent, fast-moving thunderstorm single-handedly claimed over 100 lives in Uttar Pradesh, India last night after slashing through the densely populated state in less than 8 hours.

@KevinSmithWx We get mostly fast moving and wet lines with the occasional discrete cell. In 2024 we had 7 tornadoes in a day in NY as the remnants of hurricane Beryl came through as a wide cluster of semi-discrete rotating cells. The nice backdrops can sometimes make up for the challenges.

Syracuse area! My immediate family is still there. My grandma lived in Rochester when I was young, but I don't remember the area that well. Man, it's been almost 10 years since I've had a good central New York chase! Anything good for you recently? Honestly, not really, because I love working a severe weather event from the office too. I guess that's a blessing.

HI FRIENDS AND FOLLOWERS! 👋 I've never actually done any sort of introduction on here, so here goes. I'm...well...Kevin. Grew up in central New York state enjoying lake effect snow, went to college for meteorology in North Carolina, ended up in Idaho for 9 years, and I'm currently serving as a Lead Meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Rapid City, South Dakota. I've also had the honor of serving as a firefighter (both paid and volunteer). Outside of work, I enjoy storm chasing and all kinds of exciting weather (duh), photography, exploring foods/drinks/flavors from different cultures, hanging with friends, and rocking out to music (especially EDM!). 😎 Like most chasers, storm chasing has always been an expensive hobby, but one that I adore. (There's nothing quite like the feeling and freedom of living on the road as a nomad, going wherever the storms take you and just immersing yourself in the weather!) This is my 19th year chasing, but I didn't start really sharing anything on social media until 6 years ago. These pages started as a way for friends and family to follow my adventures/see my photos and videos and for me to connect more with other meteorologists and chasers, and a few more have joined along the way. I've always been a spotter first and chaser second...for better or for worse, I've been known to report a tornado to the NWS before thinking to actually take a photo, haha. The reporting/public safety side of storm chasing and storm spotting will always be important to me. (Last season in 2025, I submitted 118 spotter reports over 41 days of chasing!) When it comes to content I post here, I was raised in the photojournalistic ways of Dan Whittaker (@severeforecast). My photos are less fine art storm photography, and more just pure photojournalism with minimal editing or post-processing. My goal is simply to capture what I see and share it with you as accurately as possible. I'm not famous. I don't get as close to tornadoes as some chasers do. My photos won't always look the most extreme. And I don't post all the time. But if you've decided to come along for the adventure, welcome! I'll try to show you some cool stuff. And to my chaser friends, I'm looking forward to running into you under the meso over the next 2 months! #wxtwitter

@lorigracewx One of the few perks of being in the northeast. Ive seen one other chaser ever up here.

Remember if you even remotely hope to sell your storm footage to the networks or through a broker, you don't want to be side by side with 30 other chasers shooting the same content. Trust your feelings, Luke. Use the force. Try to capture a unique perspective.

@sdantwx Ive seen a couple different perspectives on this storm and its one of the most photogenic updrafts Ive ever seen.

As you get into mid-May and beyond, it stops needing to be perfect. The pattern change evidenced by this weekend's potential will usher in the beginning of the best time of year, so charge up. 5.25.2023 - Grady, New Mexico

@JJCooperWX Counterintuitively, northeast states would be of the worst. It would be all over the news, but most native to the northeast cant visualize MDT+ level weather. We had a MDT in Connecticut in 2018 and I thought "Yeah, yeah, strong storms". Boy did I learn.

how many people would be aware they were in a high risk if one was issued

@lorigracewx Gorgeous shot. But I'll say, viewing on phone or even desktop isnt when the MP come into play. If you want to print big, its a consideration for sure. Or if you realize there is a much better composition embedded in the image that requires a heavy crop.

I don't share this one too often from July 19, 2021. Also, don't let anyone tell you that 12 megapixels isn't enough. I captured this with my Sony a7SIII.

@sdantwx Im still confused. Is this forecast tool change related to any of those things? Is this not a decision being made internally by the NWS?

@ffrffr123 Privatizing weather forecasting for the benefit of a handful of wealthy executives is a notable part of Project 2025, as is defunding and delegitimizing government led science.

Step 1: hamstring the NWS’s capability to forecast Step 2: discontinue the known forecasting tools and replace them with a trash can Step 3: diminish the public’s faith in NWS forecasters Project 2025 was never going to skip NOAA or the NWS, and you should have known that.

@SamSagnella April 26th with the twins in Foraker, OK. It was my first time chasing tornado alley and my pessimism kept saying "Nahh, these cumulus arent going to do anything" and then they just rocketed up to 40k as these skinny little towers, blotting out the sun.

Show me your favorite initiation photos. I’ll go first. Shattuck, OK in 2007. Kaboom.

@tknep3 What car are you driving that has 4 mpg??

Alpha Flys are cheaper than 2 chase days worth of gas 👀

@himbo_urbanist Rochester for sure. Tons to do there. Jazz festival, lilac festival, great restaurants, great museums, nice lakefront views and easy to get around.

What's a weird, small, but secretly very cool city that I can get to on Amtrak

@oldscarf1stweek It clearly says come to New York.

That last frame on the GFS says stay home for June :(

@AdamLucioWX A 2% day is my superbowl here in NY.

The face of a full time chaser driving to a stupid 2% tornado target thinking about how much easier life would be if I had a 9-5 to report to every day instead of driving on the stupid road to report on clouds.

@CRyanMauk ... I worried about what people would think as an outsider coming in and documenting damage paths after major events, but the overwhelming response seemed to be a feeling of validation that others see and empathize with what was lost or damaged.

@CRyanMauk Some thoughts: - As long as your presence is net neutral or better, I don't care about motive. That could be as simple as coming prepared with equipment to clear roadways. - Many people who go through these events want its effects to be witnessed ...

I personally am not out there filming tornadoes to make money. There’s something about profiting off of what might be the worst day of somebody’s life that doesn’t really sit well with me.

@tknep3 @gabbyrose_wx Please tell me you have storm photos on 4x5

@gabbyrose_wx First time I did it was on accident with my 4x5

just attempted my first double exposure film pic... now gotta wait like 3 weeks to see if it turned out 🫣 that's terrifying

@tornadorology Why?

Hot Take: When the SPC issues an D6, D7 or D8 severe Risk, tornadoes should what drives for the SPC to issue it in the first place sans wind/hail. If its hail/wind driven, then it gets issue on D4 or D5 with tornadoes if necessary. #wxtwitter

@oldscarf1stweek Expecting serious convergence in Buffalo, NY 😪🫩

Ridged out for June.

@BackpirchCrew That's gotta be an insane way to wake up.

Really cool radar imagery here. Millions of Mexican Free-tailed Bats just emerged from the Frio Bat Cave and immediately collided with these massive thunderstorms.