Ceaseless Wind

Story two will be on after weather at six tonight. Story three after weather at ten. I think they’ll be in the FOX show at 9.

The final installment, tornado day, will air on Friday.

A local PR person asked me about the TIV, so I googled it. You HAVE to see the video they shot of the Goshen tornado:

I had goose bumps watching it.

Well, Monday I got “our” tornado on the air! I felt like I had to jump right to it instead of a build-up because it was obviously exciting and also because I was afraid that severe weather would tie me up on Tuesday and boy was I right about that! Tornado warnings from 1 pm to 11 pm!

Anyway, I will now turn to putting some of our class highlights in the newscast today through Friday. I think I’ll do four packages: Prep Day: Jim Sellars, classroom, van set-up, Day 1: the group gathers, our first storm, Storm Summary: highlights from days 2, 3 and 5 and finally Tornado Day: project vortex 2, TIV’s and the big enchilada. I don’t know exactly when they will air, I have to talk to the producers, it depends on the news of the day and on the weather again! I’ll let you know here when I find out.

Does anybody have stills of the TIV? I’d like to put them in the final package. That finall package will also include the group photos! If you’re not in Springfield, they will be posted here and on Ozarks First.com

Also, I have three jackets/windbreakers from my van, anyone missing one?

I’m working on collecting the radar data for each of our chase days. I will also post a summary of my experiences on this site eventually!

Reports are starting to trickle in that we all feel a little washed out, let down, or somehow searching for something more. Perhaps we should all be like Matt Gingery; while we were all aching to get home, he plotted and executed his next storm chase (we dropped him off in Clinton on our way home–he met a chase partner and took off)–that takes dedication, but I think we all understand, now, what motivates him. Monday afternoon I was privileged to meet his wife, Gloria, and I’m pleased to report she has a wicked sense of humor–something I’m sure she needs….

In review, what have I (we?) learned about storm chasing (this is for the uninitiated):

1. Safety is everything–in an earlier blog I posted about some of the mistakes we made near Canadian, Texas. They were minor mistakes in a non-tornadic storm, so it was a good learning situation. When we hit the big one in Wyoming, execution was flawless, even on the final cruise towards the black forward flank, with the Vortex 2 caravan coming the other way.

2. Safety issues crop up in other areas that are equally important. One of the biggest, almost catastrophic mistakes was by yours truly when I put the van in reverse to adjust the position at the gas pump, and Nick was behind the van. Fortunately he doesn’t break easily, but those bruises could have been two broken legs. Automobiles continue to be more dangerous than tornadoes.

3. Communication is everything. I ended up getting nasty twice in situations where I was not able to get clear communications on important issues. This was entirely my fault because, first, diplomacy would have been better than cursing, and second, it was my decision to use hand-held radios rather that CB equipment. The latter is much to be preferred. The hand-helds kept getting weird interference, and they just weren’t up to the task in important situations. Communication is vital; get the best.

4. Technology will make your life easier. The first 2 (of 3) vans had real-time data and were able to keep up with conditions as they happened. The third van (my van) did not and had to rely on narration from the first 2 vans. See #3, Communication is everything. Make sure each van has access to real-time data.

5. A spare driver is a necessity, not a luxury. Ted and Matt were both able to concentrate on forecasting while their drivers did the work–thanks Ryan and Barrett! Maybe it was better that I didn’t give insufferably boring lectures while students were trying to sleep (hey, sounds like a classroom), but here and there, now and then, it might have been better if I could have concentrated on the weather rather than the driving.

6. Choose your chase partner carefully. I am prone to blowing my top at inopportune times–bad deal. On the other hand, I had 23 of the finest people I’ve ever met chasing with me, and that made life a darn sight easier.

7. Most of chasing is driving. If you’re not prepared for 6-12 hours of driving per day, don’t even start.

8. Chase with Ted Keller and Matt Gingery (if you’re invited). Nobody does it better.

I truly hope that the other participants in the course will follow up on this blog–post what you will on things that were good or made your life easier, and things that could have or should have been done differently. I’d like to know how to do things better.

Ted with the tornado in Wyoming

For the first time ever, students were able to sign up for a storm chase class offered through the Geography, Geology and Planning Department at Missouri State University.  The result: a resounding success!

Just over 20 students and faculty left in three vans on Sunday,  May 31st.  They returned to Springfield on Sunday, June 7th having visited eight states and having driven over 3200 miles!

Students were able to view excellent storm structure on all but two of the days.  Highlights included the first tornado-warned storm on day two, awesome structure and broad rotation on day three, and  a storm which was spinning anticyclonically with a wall cloud on day five.  But the grand prize was on day seven when students finally got to see a tornado in action near LaGrange, WY!

I was lucky enough to be co-instructor and storm finder on this adventure.  It was an extreme thrill to be a part of this course and to see how pumped the students were about storm chasing and how excited everyone was to actually intercept a tornado!

A blog with uploaded pictures and videos can be found here.  Some of my videos appear on a separate page on this web site.

It’s Monday morning after a good night’s sleep in my own bed….YEA!

Mike Bettes was on the Weather Channel talking about OUR tornado again. Radar measured wind speeds of 155 mph, and the are calling it an EF-1. Some of the pods they drop in front of the tornado (those were the things in the pickup trucks towards the back of the Super were successfully deployed. Seems like they want to call this “The Goshen Tornado” so as we go forward, watch for publications about this storm. As they say, it was the best recorded tornado ever in history, so there will be many, many papers written about it.

I wonder how Matt did on his ultimate chase Sunday?