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Clovis 
Group: Members
Posts: 247
Joined: Feb. 2004
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Posted on: Apr. 22 2004,8:06 pm |
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Has anyone out there ever done storm chasing, either as an amateur spotter or as a professional?
I'm just curious. It seems like our little slice of the Midwest, with its wide-open horizons and vaguely predictable road grid, would provide some ideal hunting grounds...
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On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux. --Antoine de St-Exupéry
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jimhanson
Group: Moderator
Posts: 8491
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Apr. 23 2004,2:17 pm |
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We see them come out to the airport to check weather--then jump in the car and head off toward the nearest storm. There seem to be fewer than before--now that they have wireless connections--or maybe they can watch via radar from the safety of their own home.
I could never figure out what the attraction was--midwest thunderstorms usually have so much rain associated with them that once you are in the storm, there isn't much to see. Maybe it is the feeling of being close to "danger"--like walking close to the edge of a high point-- that is an attraction.
Some seem to be motivated by public service--usually, these are the REACT types--radio communications with each other fall in about 3 catagories "seen anything yet?" "Sure is dark out!" "It's getting really (windy, raining, hail, etc.) here". Most of this information is available to weather forecasters instantaneously via doppler radar.
As for me--I spend my life AVOIDING storms with airborne radar--the average Midwest thunderstorm has more potential energy than the Hiroshima bomb--and the Midwest is one of the most active places on earth for thunderstorms--as warm Gulf air meets cold Canadian air. Flying trips of any distance while in cloud with no weather radar is like walking through a minefield. I'll keep my distance, thank you!
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"If you want to anger a Conservative, tell him a lie. If you want to anger a LIBERAL, tell him the TRUTH!"
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GEOKARJO
Google This!!!
Group: Members
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Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Apr. 23 2004,5:17 pm |
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My home in May 5 1977,
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Clovis
Group: Members
Posts: 247
Joined: Feb. 2004
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Posted on: Apr. 23 2004,10:48 pm |
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Holy crap, Geo.
And Jim - another "holy crap" for the info on Midwestern thunderstorms' energy. That's frightening beyond belief.
I'm definitely not interested in chasing any storms any time soon. A, my new car isn't as damageable as my old truck, and B - well, my car's just not my truck and would either get flipped or blown off the road by most storm-force winds. C, I get almost physically ill if a bad storm starts showing up on radar two hours away. I'm just curious if anyone's had any first-hand experience with it.
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On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux. --Antoine de St-Exupéry
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jimhanson
Group: Moderator
Posts: 8491
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Apr. 26 2004,3:06 pm |
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Clovis--here's a link to the power of a thunderstorm--look down to the text alongside the third picture in the article http://www.ucar.edu/communications/ucar25/storms.html
Just came back from a fishing trip in Arkansas--we got into Mountain HOme on Friday night, used the airborne radar and the "sferics" (lightning detector giving range and bearing) to avoid the storms. An hour after we landed, there was one of the worst lighting storms I've ever seen--but not much wind. I was so glad to be on the ground, I poured myself another celebratory Scotch! 
It was caused by a low-pressure system that stayed stationary overhead, pumping moisture up from the Gulf, colliding with cold air being pulled down out of Canada. It just didn't move, causing steady storms for two days.
Fourteen inches of rain in two days (we fished through it one day), several people killed, 300 miles of road wiped out, a mudslide took out the sewage treatment plant, sending 1000 gallons a minute down the river, the lake above the dam rose 11 feet in 48 hours (it's a 75 mile-long lake), but they shut off all water below the dam because of flooding downstream--so our trout fishing came to a halt as there was no way to get a boat up or down the river.
"Vacation from Hell!" 
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"If you want to anger a Conservative, tell him a lie. If you want to anger a LIBERAL, tell him the TRUTH!"
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