We spent two weeks chasing storms in Argentina.
One of the many perks of this nomadic lifestyle is all the surprises.
You never really know what you're going to see or where you're going to end up.
Welcome to our $5 Hotel.
The other side of this coin...
Run into it!
Is that you often have to Breeze through beautiful places.
There never seems to be enough time to eat, sleep or take in the incredible scenery and culture.
In this fast paced adventure
we blaze through 10,000 kilometers of random beauty
while storm chasing in Argentina.
Our first big surprise in Argentina was that we needed to be in Uruguay.
With zero time to enjoy Buenos Aries
we made a dash for the big storms forecast in the neighboring country.
This is looking scary.
Look at that!
While trying to keep ahead of this dangerous storm
we found ourselves at a toll booth without the native currency.
Okay Pull up. It might just take a picture and then go.
And... No.
While the friendly officers charged our credit card 10 cents
the storm drifted Out Of Reach.
but missing out on the powerful Windstorm
appeared to be a blessing.
yeah they're OK.
In many places the chase country in Argentina reminded us of Tornado Alley
it's a lot like Kansas at home you got the sandy roads, the green crops and the bugs on the window
But the further north we drove
the more the signs
we weren't in Kansas anymore.
That's so cool!
Somewhere from deep in the jungle
Scott and I could hear a familiar and unnerving sound.
A distant roar,
Not unlike the largest tornadoes we've encountered
Iguazu Falls
is the largest system of waterfalls in the world.
Not to be confused with the largest curtain of falling water
Victoria Falls in Africa
or the tallest waterfall, Angel Falls in Venezuela.
Depending on rainfall there can be between 150 and 300 smaller waterfalls in the system.
Trekking well-designed trails and bridges
we cross paths with fascinating creatures.
Oh wow.
Tegus, plush crested jays and an adorable troop of Coatis.
but perhaps the most fascinating
was this butterfly with transparent wings.
After a long afternoon of walking and gawking
you're going to want to grab an empanada or two from the snack bars
and heads up!
the capuchin monkeys are going to want to grab an empanada or two from you.
Thank you. Yeah it's a pleasure to share here with Hank
and with um......
Scott. Sorry!
Scott Currin has been chasing storms since the 90s.
We got another one touching down.
and has the best kept secret YouTube channel
for those who love beautiful tornado footage.
There was no time to cash in on the fancy Casino Resort we crashed at.
Scott forecast a chance of storms to the West.
Just maybe a supercell could organize.
Supercells are an organized breed of thunderstorms
defined by a rotating updraft.
Besides making them incredibly beautiful.
this deep rotation enables them to become the most powerful storm cells on Earth
responsible for the majority of the planet's strong tornadoes.
Burrito Alley in the United States is by far the world's prominent supercell factory
however there are other locations around the world where they're not uncommon.
Canada, Europe, Bangladesh and China
Australia and the tornado Corridor in Argentina Uruguay and Southern Brazil
also report these monster storms.
What makes Argentina so special for stormchasers
is unlike many other countries there's chasable road networks here.
Awe... he's got a limp.
He'll be fine.
Because Argentina is in the southern hemisphere
the supercells and their cyclonic tornadoes spin the other way.
Scott and I invested a lot of time and money to see and document a southern hemisphere supercell.
Though we successfully intercepted storms the next couple days
They weren't supercells.
Scott the sun's going to drop below those clouds and might be kind of cool.
Should I get a video of you frolicking? Skipping through the sunflowers.
oh yeah
Just straight off the road.
We got a romantic dinner together. I know!
look at this ass.
look at this lump.
when storm parameters are capped at lower elevations
Chasers sometimes head to Higher ground, hoping to get a boost from the mountains.
Oi! Churrasco!
thank you
Winds forced upslope by the terrain can have a seemingly magical effect making storms.
Windy?
Distracted by the vastly changing, majestic Andes
Scott and I had an epiphany.
12 entire hours had gone by
without an empanada.
That's our storm. The storm of the day!
We're trying to get to a potential convergence area
for dust devil-y landspout-y thingies
Yep. Some the best roads out here are no roads
There's some llamas up here.
You into to say hi? Yeah.
Especially if we get one of those punk rock ones.
Look at that! It's a dust devil outbreak.
So these are happening like right at the edge of some growing cumulus so
if it could stretch it up into the cloud
we might be able to call it a spout-devil. This is how you pad your stats man.
There's little llama turds going in circles.
You know what...
Run into it!
There's like four 4 rotate vortices rotating around.
You're definitely getting covered in llama $#!+ when you go out there.
That one's moving!
Oh nice! That one is sweet!
After so many different dreamy landscapes and multiple vortex intercepts
we had to celebrate with an old Chaser tradition. Awesome.
With stormy conditions forecast to return to lower elevations
Scott and I had to leave the beautiful Andes.
But not empty-handed.
Hello friend.
Despite numerous stories of sabotage and failure
a shortcut down a shady dirt road
is too much temptation for many Chasers to resist.
Not a great place to break down get a flat
or get cannibalized by locals
You mean the locals with the giant ovens? Yes...
the human sized entrance.
Escape Routes seem pretty minimal out here.
Just go backwards for another two hours.
Three hours into our shortcut
we began to see developing storms ahead.
Jungle is closing in on us.
Take a left here. Let's see if it looks any better.
Nice!
Back on the Interstate.
4 hours into our shortcut
we began to finally see signs of civilization.
Holy moly. Look at that Daddy!
Don't jump!
We came all the way to Argentina for this.
Let's let him go.
Look out he's coming!
Long day of chasing we took a dirt road that lasted 5 hours.
We finally got to some little thunderstorms, saw some lightning but we couldn't get close to it.
We're both really tired.
Welcome to our $5 hotel.
We got three beds here.
Scott said too bad there aren't three other Chasers here to split the cost with us.
All right come check this out.
What-cha got going on here?
What is that that?
Is that a bed bug?
It's a bug in a bed.
Oh it just jumped
I don't think they jump like that do they?
I don't know I've never had the pleasure.
That's the second one I've seen.
You got three beds! I mean... Yeah.
There is one good thing about all this.
This isn't my room. Enjoy.
Despite bugs in the bed we felt our $5 rooms
were better than a hole in the ground.
Some species like these burrowing owls
might argue.
400. Oh this is a toll. Let's see how much we got here.
Hola!
Sadly Argentina has suffered a long crippling inflation.
Ochenta Mil.
A result is people carry trash bags full of money to pay for stuff.
Despite the hardships, people we met here hadn't lost their sense of humor.
Now we're going to pay for Scotts room.
One local recommended that we hide our camera gear under piles of money when we leave our vehicle
so that nobody will be tempted to break into it.
With storm conditions slightly better than yesterday
Scott and I aimed South to the Mendoza Province for a possible supercell.
Storms that develop in an environment with hot temperatures and low dew points like today
tend to have high bases.
These conditions can be great for viewing any lighning the storm might have
but very unfavorable for tornado genesis.
So yesterday was actually okay.
We got some pretty time lapses.
We got a little bit of lightning, but but it ain't over yet.
Does that look foggy do you?
it does look foggy But the lens looks clean.
It must be the humidity right? We're finally in some good dew points.
it's our last day.
We've got to drive back to Buenus Aries
but we decided that
what if we chased instead of driving back to the airport
and then after the chase if we leave it early we might be able to make the plane in time.
Maybe
I'm just hoping we can squeak out a legit supercell today
You know?
Something where we're worried about are we going to destroy the car in hail.
That's a good problem to have.
How fast we going? Whoops! 90.
That was his threshold.
Up ahead in the not so far distance
appeared to be a storm capable of destroying our car with hail.
50??? 27.... 26....
Oh come on baby.
Oh they're cheating! Come on! They're cheating. go go go go go fool.
Get through this town we're going to see under the base
see if there's any dangly bits.
Oh that base looks lower than yesterday. We got us a mean storm.
After almost 10,000 kilometers of chasing through Argentina
a classic supercell, exploding through setting sunlight was in our grasp.
We could go here and there's a dirt road that goes along on the south side of that River. Nice!
Whoo! Finally.
Rather than fighting to get up close
Scott and I decided to just kick back and relish the moments
as the supercell approached us.
Look at that monster. Feel that inflow? That's good!
Ingesting humid air from the surface
the rotating base lowered a tier
as the supercell threatened to tornado.
But the threat was brief.
Losing daytime heating
the storm exhaled cold outflow
blasting the burrito threat away.
It's about to be lightning madness.
Argentina baby.
Hello! Whoa.
Cutting timing dangerously close to tomorrow's departure
We turned toward Buenos Aires International Airport
I can't see. Uh.... I can see your edge here. Okay.
One catch a dangerous storm was about to engulf us.
Another catch was that Argentina's Highway Patrol was also documenting our Chase.
We'd like to send an extra special shout out to Scott's boys.
Francis, Maxwell and Rosby for following and supporting this adventure.
Every time I call them at night they're like, is Pecos Hank with you?
I'm like, No. He's in other room.
Hey show them your shirt. There they are!
Just want you guys to know that this shirt was our good luck shirt tonight.
Because of that shirt you guys were with us and we got the storm.
Running late to the airport
We couldn't resist a shortcut through the heart of Buenos Aries.
Perfecto
What a trip! Man!
Scott and I are at the airport in Buenos Aries. It's not over yet.
We're going to fly by a lot of
big thunderstorm complexes
Plane's going to thread the needle right through the storms.
Sprites, lightnings or absolutely nothing.
Or we fall asleep.