Hi, my name is Mark Sefried and I am the creator of Vortexhunter.com. I am new to designing web pages so this was a learning experience for me. I hope that you enjoy my homepage and be sure to come back often during the upcoming chase season for pictures and video that I will be taking during my chase adventures across the Midwest and Plains.

I live in Morton, IL which is 5 miles East of Peoria. I have lived in the Peoria area all my life ever since I was born on 11/18/76.  Currently I work at Caterpillar as a parts order clerk. I get off at 3:00 pm and work Mon-Fri. and with this work schedule I get plenty of chasing time locally across IL. I also have my amateur radio license and have the call sign WX9TVS.

Severe weather has always been a passion of mine ever since I was growing up. The thing that got me into weather was my Grandma use to work at Peoria County ESDA. That agency is responsible for severe weather spotting for Peoria County. I remember her constantly giving me NWS weather brochures and I always got excited about reading them. What also got me into severe weather was because as a child I use to get very scared during severe weather. In fact, I remember on several occasion that I was so scared that I got sick to my stomach, and then the rest you can figure out for yourself. This led me to do research on storms  and try to understand them better so I would not be so scared.

I grew up in Chillicothe, IL which is 20 miles North of Peoria. There I graduated from IVC High School in 1995.  In 1997, I moved to Morton, IL and joined Tazewell County ESDA. I have moved from Tazewell County or Peoria County several times since then, but I was always have been a member of either Peoria County ESDA or Tazewell County ESDA since 1997.  I obtained my associates degree in general education from ICC college in 2001.

 I started chasing storms in 1998 and continue to do so whenever I get the chance. For the last four years, I have taken a weeks chase vacation  to the Plains during either  May or June. I think Mother Nature was against me the first two times as NW flow pattern set up. I still managed to encounter 2 tornadoes, a funnel, and my first LP during my first two years chasing on the Plains with a NW flow pattern. In 2004 my luck changed as an active pattern occured while I chased and I saw 9 tornadoes including the massive Hallam, NE F4 tornado.  During my life I have seen roughly 34 tornadoes (not including gustnadoes)  and 60 supercells most of which have occurred in IL. Central IL is a great chasing area. Sure there are not as many tubes in IL than the Plains usually, but the terrain is great and the road network rocks! I will continue to chase storms for as long as I live, and someday hopefully I will be telling my grandchildren of my chasing adventures.

                                                                                                                                                                               -- Mark Sefried  WX9TVS

Copyright  © 2008 Mark Sefried