User:Michael Laca

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About Me / My Hurricane Chasing Career:[edit]

Hello. My name is Michael Laca, I am a native South Floridian, amateur meteorologist and veteran hurricane chaser, with over 25 years experience. A fourth-generation Floridian, I was born in Miami, Florida in 1968 and have lived in South Florida ever since.

My life-long fascination with severe weather began after experiencing a severe thunderstorm in central Florida in 1978. I began using a "state-of-the-art" device my family had purchased in the spring of 1978, a VCR (back then called a VTR - Video Tape Recorder) to videotape news reports and specials on hurricanes. The first recording I made was of Tropical Storm Amelia's formation in late July, 1978. One summer later, Hurricane David (1979) devastated portions of the Caribbean before turning northwest, skirting Miami, and making landfall at Palm Beach, Florida. All the excitement and anticipation of that event cemented my love of severe weather, particularly hurricanes.

Coming from a family with a long history of hurricane experiences in Florida, I had always heard stories from relatives who experienced the Great Florida storms: the 1919 Florida Keys Hurricane, the Tampa Bay Hurricane of 1921, the Great 1926 Miami Hurricane, the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane in West Palm Beach and the infamous 1935 Labor Day Hurricane on the Florida Keys. I can vividly remember my aunt telling me of witnessing, first-hand, a man seriously wounded by flying debris, in downtown West Palm Beach, as the second half of the violent 1928 storm began. My family's experiences with tropical weather continued with the numerous Florida hurricanes of the 1940's, Hurricane King (1950), and the back-to-back landfalls of Hurricane Donna (1960), Hurricane Cleo (1964), Hurricane Betsy (1965), and Hurricane Inez (1966). All of these stories and experiences fueled a great desire to learn all I could about these amazing storms and ultimately to experience them myself.

In 1980 a monster storm, Hurricane Allen (1980), ravaged portions of the Caribbean and Texas and I was glued to every advisory and news report. Unfortunately for a budding tropical meteorologist and storm chaser, after Allen, the Atlantic-basin entered a relatively long-stretch of inactivity. In 1981, a relatively weak system became Tropical Storm Dennis as it crossed Cuba and made landfall in South Florida, producing extensive flooding. Though minimal, Dennis is notable as the first 'named' system that I documented photographically. During the next two years of inactivity, I passed the time honing my knowledge of meteorology and tropical cyclones, reading virtually every piece of literature I could find. I scoured libraries, bookstores and universities for every text available to me... devouring titles like: "Hurricanes" by I.R.Tannehill; "Atlantic Hurricanes" by Dunn/Miller; and "The Hurricane and It's Impact" by Simpson/Riehl.

By the summer of 1983, I was 15 and my fascination with hurricanes and tropical meteorology had evolved into more of an obsession. I had begun photographing every significant weather event that I encountered... thunderstorms, high-winds, lightning, flooding, etc... In the early summer, I spent some time with relatives in Key West and had my first significant waterspout encounter. I photographed a beautiful tapered funnel that had developed just north of Key West and lasted for over 30 minutes. With the exhilaration I experienced, I knew that this was something I wanted to do as much as possible. Later that summer, Hurricane Alicia (1983) became the first hurricane since Allen to strike the U.S., and I wanted desperately to go to Galveston, Texas to experience it... unfortunately, I had to settle for watching it on the news and listening to advisories on NOAA weather radio.

During the fall of 1983, I started spending a lot of free time at the National Hurricane Center (NHC)... which, at that time, was located in Coral Gables, Florida, very close to my home. I made friends with several of the employees there, including the director, Neil Frank. One of the NHC historians, Alvin Samet, allowed me to go through the center's archived photos and purchase extra copies for $2.50/each... needless to say, I probably funded an entire ad-hoc research project with the amount of photos I purchased that summer. In addition to the photos, the library at the NHC, as well as at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) on Virginia Key, provided a treasure trove of historical knowledge and books on tropical cyclones and their effects, and I found myself spending as much time as I could, reading every document I could get my hands on.

Then in February, 1984 a simple event at a local newsstand became the first piece to the puzzle, that kick-started my chasing career. A local shop, "Al's News", started carrying the monthly periodical "Weatherwise". While the publication had been in existence for many years, and I had seen old back-issues at the National Hurricane Center's library, this was the first time that current issues were carried in a store that I frequented. I immediately picked up a copy and was overwhelmed, an entire magazine devoted to meteorology... with numerous articles about severe weather and hurricanes!

In one of the first "Weatherwise" issues I purchased, there was a classified ad from a professional meteorologist, Steven Steinke, who was looking for other meteorologists and weather enthusiasts to start a new meteorological organization, the Association of American Weather Observers, and to serve as authors for specific columns in the organization's monthly periodical. I wrote to Steven, providing some samples of my writing, and he paired me with Marc Mailhot (a private meteorologist in Maine) to be co-authors of the new publication's tropical column. The magazine was incorporated as "The American Weather Observer" and Marc and I were responsible for the "Tropical Topics" section.

The second piece to the puzzle came on my birthday in 1984 when my family, knowing my love of severe weather and photography, gave me a brand new VCR/Camcorder set. Finally, I was able to be mobile and shoot video of every storm I came across. I think I filmed an afternoon thunderstorm that very day. In September, Hurricane Diana (1984) formed just off the Northeast Florida coast. Somehow, I convinced my mother to let me fly to Jacksonville and stay with my uncle, as Diana was initially forecast to move onshore near there. Unfortunately for me, Diana veered off to the north and northeast, making a loop before finally striking North Carolina. Though I didn't intercept the core of the storm, Diana is notable as the first hurricane I truly 'chased'. Later that fall, I once again went north to chase Tropical Storm Isidore. This time I did intercept the core of the storm, however, Isidore was so weak that it barely produced any significant weather at all. But, it didn't matter, I was gaining valuable field experience.

By late Fall, I had written several articles for the "American Weather Observer" and had submitted my work to the prestigious American Meteorological Society (AMS). In late 1984, at 16, I was granted an "Associate Membership" to the AMS... at that time I was the youngest person ever granted membership.

The third and final piece of the puzzle came in December, 1984. Having read "Weatherwise" for close to a year, I noticed in the classifieds section that a couple of "storm chasers" were offering their videos for sale. One in particular, from Hurricane Diana (1984) earlier that summer, caught my eye. Since I myself had chased Diana and had missed its landfall in North Carolina, I was extremely curious to see what it had been like. I ordered the tape and within days received not only the tape, but also a phone call from the videographer, Jim Leonard. I explained how I was obsessed with hurricanes and severe weather and Jim explained that he was just as obsessed and had been documenting hurricanes and tornadoes for several years. He wanted to know if I was interested in seeing all the footage he had and, needless to say, I invited him over immediately. The day Jim came to my house for the first time, a rare December hurricane was prowling the Atlantic northeast of Puerto Rico, at its peak, Hurricane Lili (1984)! So, with all of Jim's archived footage and Hurricane Lili (1984) churning up the Atlantic, Jim and I definitely had a lot to talk about.

Over the next several months, Jim and I became good friends and by the summer of 1985 had made plans to chase together. The hurricane season of 1985 didn't disappoint and it wasn't long before Jim and I were headed out to Key West to intercept the developing Hurricane Elena. After moving into the Gulf of Mexico, Elena's track became highly erratic and Jim Leonard, Richard Pasch and I spent the next three days criss-crossing the Gulf states from Louisiana to Florida and back, finally intercepting Elena at landfall in Biloxi, Mississippi. As a Category Three, with 120 mph winds, Elena was a personal milestone as the first major hurricane that I intercepted, as well as having the most amazing eye passage I have ever witnessed (to this day).

After Elena, and with Jim Leonard's mentoring and guidance, my chasing career took off and is still going strong today. This is a partial list of my interceptions/experiences, to date (major hurricanes** appear bolded):

1979 - 1987	1988 - 1995	1996 - 2006
Hurricane David (1979)	Hurricane Florence (1988)	Hurricane Fran (1996)
Tropical Storm Dennis (1981)	Hurricane Gilbert (1988)	Hurricane Georges (1998)
Hurricane Diana (1984)	Hurricane Hugo (1989)	Hurricane Irene (1999)
Tropical Storm Isidore (1984)	Hurricane Bob (1991)	Hurricane Frances (2004)
Hurricane Elena (1985)	Hurricane Andrew (1992)	Hurricane Jeanne (2004)
Hurricane Gloria (1985)	Hurricane Emily (1993)	Hurricane Katrina (2005)
Hurricane Kate (1985)	Hurricane Gordon (1994)	Hurricane Rita (2005)
Hurricane Bonnie (1986)	Hurricane Erin (1995)	Hurricane Wilma (2005)
Hurricane Floyd (1987)	Hurricane Opal (1995)	Tropical Storm Ernesto (2006)

** At the time of interception

In addition to the interceptions above, I have either directly, or indirectly, experienced over 20 additional named tropical cyclones and countless other severe weather events. During the last 25 years of my chasing career I have been fortunate enough to have recorded some of the most dramatic hurricane photography and video footage available. Most notably my footage from Hurricane Hugo (1989), Hurricane Opal (1995), Hurricane Andrew (1992), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Rita (2005) and Hurricane Wilma (2005).

My photography and videography have been used worldwide in numerous text books, magazines, advertisements, television programs, marketing campaigns and other media including "Weatherwise", The Smithsonian, National Geographic, the BBC, The Weather Channel (United States), Duracell and others.

In the fall of 1986 I began taking formal meteorological courses and in 1988 was awarded with an Associate in Arts degree in Atmospheric Science & Meteorology from Miami-Dade College.

For the last ten years, I have maintained a website, TROPMET.COM,dedicated to hurricanes, severe weather, storm chasing and photography.

Over the last decade I have has also worked as a Sr. Producer of Interactive Systems for large corporation in the travel industry.

Aside from hurricane chasing, in my spare time I also enjoy movies (especially horror and sci-fi), music, reading, fishing, video games, comic books and animation.