End Of My Season

May 25, 2012. The day started at midnight with off key singing and stories and camaraderie. And that was beautiful.

After sunrise, the armada woke up in Lawrence, Kansas to thoughts of pushing a little farther west. Convection wasn’t necessarily a given, but if clouds were to break the cap, the ingredients were there for them to become supercellular. And well, they kind of did:

Now, those are the kind of storms that CSWR likes to see. After several days of largely uneventful weather, ROTATE was able to observe and collect data on a few tornadoes in western Kansas. Unfortunately, a couple of the vehicles found themselves a little too close to one of these tornadoes and sustained some damage to themselves and to their instruments. Thankfully, however, all occupants of those vehicles, as well as all other members of the CSWR team and a woman whose home was destroyed in the vicinity, made it through the storm with little to no harm. Kind of puts a whole new spin on intercepting a tornado…




In all that exists in the world, storm chasing is but of its own little microcosm. Unfortunately, life does not stop for the chase. I had to depart from the project on the morning of May 25, 2012 to make my way back home and back to real life. I’d like to give a big thanks to all of the CSWR crew (past and present) for being such great individuals. It is hard enough as it is to live out of a suitcase for weeks at a time while constantly worrying about whether you are eating enough greens. It would be nearly impossible were it not for the amazing people you get to share that time with. Miss you all, and hope to see you soon.

PS- You’re welcome, Josh.

We are ROTATE2012. Well, half of it anyway. In no order: Mareike, Maryam, 
Chris, Ronan, Taylor, Herb, Melissa, Lindsay, Rutger, Eric (Not Tim), Alycia,
Rachel,  Brian, Eddie, and erin. Photo by Melissa Guzinski. 

Status Status!

 Believe it or not, it’s actually been a rather busy week for CSWR. Since the last post, the armada has gone from Kansas to South Dakota to North Dakota to South Dakota to Iowa and Nebraska. Given that two of these three days have been active mission days, mornings have been rather early, sleep has been rather limited, and breakfast has been rather elusive. A chase in North Dakota yielded little other than some views of a picturesque landscape and the sighting of a single, weak, brief tornado. After cutting our loses there, we headed down to Nebraska, where the chase provided us with some weak gustnadoes and some ominous looking scud (stratocumulus under deck) clouds. Our DOWs and mesonets were able to collect some data on the storms we did see, but the perfect storm with the perfect tornado still remains to be seen.

Sccccccccccccccud!

Since, however, it would be gloomy and depressing to leave this blog post on that note, I figured now would be the perfect time to explain a little bit about how we, as chasers and research meteorologists, live while we’re out here on these field projects. (Apologies if I've made a post like this before... it was late and I was exhausted...)

Being on a project like VORTEX or ROTATE is certainly a unique experience. A CSWR field scientist essentially spends their time on a project living out of a truck and a suitcase. The typical day involves getting up early enough to be packed (hopefully showered and fed) and ready to leave by 7-10am Central Daylight Time. It doesn’t matter if the town we happen to be staying in at that moment is on Mountain Time; since tornado alley is mostly in the Central Time Zone, all of our operations simply take place going by central time (even though all of our observations are recorded in UTC).

After packing up all of our things and our vehicles, the armada typically leaves and heads to or towards some pre-determined target that was identified either that morning or the night before based upon observations and where the weather models are indicating that conditions might be ripe for severe weather. On some days, this initial target can be sixty or seventy miles away. On others, this initial target can be upwards of three hundred miles away. It is therefore definitely not unusual for drivers and passengers to start losing feeling in their legs and/or rear end while the day is progressing. The only stops typically permitted are those stops for which the expressed purpose is to use the facilities, get gas, or pick up food. More stopping? Hah! Forget it!

If we’re quite lucky, the initial target area will be somewhere where individuals have the opportunity to grab and eat lunch. More often than not, these opportunities only arise in areas where the food options are largely limited to Subway and Subway. The day’s initial target area is generally in a location where the lead scientists and forecasters on the project can analyze the information they have available to them and leave rather quickly and easily to another target area somewhere (relatively) close by. Some days this next target area can be five to ten miles away. Some days it’s more like one or two hundred. And some days the next target area is in the same city as the previous night’s hotel. Now that usually stings.

Eventually, after this hurry up and wait process has taken place several times, convection may spring up and we may have a chance to actually chase a storm. At this point, a new sort of hurry up and wait process begins. The armada hurries to the location or in the path of a possible “area of interest,” and waits whilst the DOWs (or at least DOW7!) run scans and evaluate the situation. If things look good, we’ll stay on a storm and hopefully deploy more instruments. If things look bad, we’ll either abandon the storm and search for another, or reposition ourselves to keep ahead of an “area of interest” that just may need more time evolving. If things look really bad, we’ll skip wasting our resources and risking hail damage to retreat to the evening’s lodging, which, if we’re lucky, will be lined up before we stop the chase (we almost never actually know where we’ll be staying on any given night; hotel information isn’t obtained or revealed to us until at least the late afternoon hours).

If a scientist’s vehicle has managed to make it through the day functioning, then that vehicle will drive that scientist to the evening’s hotel, which may be thirty minutes away, or upwards of four hours away.

The next morning starts a similar day. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

Off to Kansas/Missouri now….
 

 

We're going crazy. CRAZY!

These Are Not The Tornadoes You’re Looking For…

One perhaps little known detail of storm chasing is the fact that, when you are chasing for  prolonged period of time, you often tend to forget what day it is, what you have done, and when you did it. If you had told me just a few hours ago that it was Saturday, I would have scoffed and said “I don’t believe you.” This past day was, however, Saturday, and to set the record straight before I completely forget or get mixed up, I have to report that on this Saturday, we got out of Dodge. Dodge City, that is.  The SPC had a slight risk area marked up in Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, so we headed east out of Dodge City towards the region where convection was forecast to have the greatest chance at being severe. The chance for tornadoes was marginal, but when you’ve had the season we’ve been having, you will latch on to any chance (within range, of course), you can get!

Needless to say, we didn’t get too far out of Dodge before the almighty PIs (the acronym, not the irrational number) hand picked the Walmart parking lot we’d be, well, parking ourselves in for several hours awaiting any sign of inclement weather. Lunch time (for those who ate lunch) came and went, the TIV came on by and stole our thunder, but still the weather looked bleak. Convection did spring up, but as it looked like it was quickly becoming linear, we didn’t expect too much would happen. Well, I’ve got to say WE WERE WRONG!

The armada actually saw a handful of tornadoes today. They were visually rather unimpressive, but they were in fact tornadoes. Given the tornadoes’ presentation on radar and the fact that the armada was not in a prime location with respect to them, the poor pod people spent the day confined to their vehicles, having to be content with getting by with only mesonet data. The hail we were getting may also have something to do with this… No wind shields were broken, but I certainly wouldn’t want to go outside to deploy pods when little ice balls an inch or so in diameter are being hurled at me at at least terminal velocity by the sky. The DOWs, however, got data.

Near Harper, Kansas. This tornado actually persisted for some time and did some damage...

 

 

... Like potentially to this wind turbine. Poor wind turbine.

 

Another perhaps little known detail of storm chasing is the love hate relationship you develop with Walmart and their parking lots when you are out in the middle of nowhere on the Plains...

Hanging At The Hangar

That's right, folks. We're back in Boulder. Again. We can't help it, really... ROTATE 2012 is on a budget, and, quite frankly, it would probably just be costing too much money to be out and about in the field when we have this to look forward to:

Yeah. It's rough. But, just because we're not actively chasing at the moment does not mean we're actively down or that there aren't things that still need to be done. "What," you may ask, "do these storm chasers do when there aren't any storms to chase?!" Well, it must be your lucky day, because I figure I might as well tell you:

First off, see all of these things?

Well, sometimes they don't work.When we drive these vehicles out in the field, they can easily get 600 or so miles put on them in a day, and they may have over 100,000 miles on them already. Of course they'll have the occasional mechanical problems. On top of that, they're all wired with instrumentation, which is itself susceptible to wear, tear, and general malfunction. The DOWs themselves can be especially prone to problems; they are wonderfully fabulous pieces of equipment, and data collected by them are invaluable to the advancement of the understanding of certain atmospheric phenomena, but they are machines with moving parts and advanced hardware and software. Programs crash, computers lose communication, and motors wear out. It takes a lot of skill and effort to keep a mobile Doppler radar in good working order.

Next, we have these:

Like the vehicles, tornado pods are also susceptible to problems. Generally speaking, the pods won't deal with the same wear and tear that the vehicles and their mesonets will deal with, but they can experience hardware or instrument problems, and the software used to communicate with them can have issues. Almost every time a pod needs an instrument replaced or has to have its data logger (the thing that actually records all of the data) examined / worked on, the pod needs to be "cracked open" and otherwise disemboweled. It's gruesome, I tell you.

These days are also used to do such things as improve vehicle radio communication and internet access, practice some of the every day tasks that would be assigned on active chases, and to generally gain a better understanding of the vehicles and equipment that will be used. Cookies also may or may not be consumed. But this depends entirely on the availability of good cookies.

Editor's note: The photographic images in this entry are entirely anachronistic. Though they do represent some of the every day tasks at CSWR, they are from the time period before I got tired of carrying my little point and shoot digital camera around the hangar. Yeah... that was like four whole days ago...

On The Road Again Again

The dismal days have come and gone, leaving in their wake dreary, dusty memories of times once passed, roads once traveled, and storms once seen. Five days we spent in Boulder; five days we watched the clouds float by with nary a sight nor sound of convection to come. Despondently we hung our heads and wrung our hands; with melancholy eyes we perused the forecast discussions and analyzed the model runs, but the guidance horizons showed us little to no glimmers of weather hope. Work is work, however, and worn hands still slaved away over hot grinders and hollow wave guides.

Alas, a small beacon of light appeared and shined itself down upon our weary party. The SPC, that wise and awesome juggernaut of severe weather prediction, determined forthwith that conditions might be favorable for tornadic convection in the land of the arid southwest. The outcome was bleak, but with no other options presenting themselves in the near future, our band of wayward travelers packed up their things and migrated to New Mexico…

At this point in the story, you might expect a *bang!* *smash!* *tornado!*, but such was not in the cards (or, quite literally, the atmosphere). New Mexico did see storms today, and they may have even been severe, but the ingredients simply were not there to produce much in the way of tornadic activity. The armada therefore spent much of the day in Carlsbad, New Mexico interacting with the public, meeting up with Sean Casey’s TIV to make sure that its instruments were wired correctly, posing for photo ops, and getting to know our DOW8 driver’s (Eddie!) hometown and family. We did observe convection forming near the area, and many of our group either got photos of the storm as it was becoming outflow dominant or of its lightning, but the DOWs and Scouts themselves could only experience the storm’s gust front and downpours from the hotel parking lot.

Conditions for the rest of the week still look rather bleak. You know what that means…

Imagine pulling up to your local WallyWorld and seeing this in the parking lot.

 

 ... or this.

Chasing Carnadoes

May 10, 2012. The two year anniversary of May 10, 2010. But let’s not think of that day...

Today was the sixth full day of ROTATE 2012. It was also the sixth full day of ROTATE 2012 with virtually no “interesting” weather anywhere in the ROTATE 2012 domain. And since there also appears to be virtually no “interesting” weather anywhere in the ROTATE 2012 domain for the near future, a CSWR colleague at the National Weather Service has chosen to reassign the ROTATE acronym to a different phrase, namely the “Ridge Over Tornado Alley and Tanning Experiment.” At least when times get rough you know you can count on your friends!

Fortunately for the project (but unfortunately for yours truly, who must leave ROTATE early), this unfavorable weather comes at a good time. A trip to Sioux City, Iowa on Day One revealed several problems with our vehicles and instruments, and some down time has actually been needed to address and fix the issues. Another plus of having this time is that *surprise!* we actually got a chance to do a practice deployment before we missed any chances with the weather. Now, you may ask “how exactly does one do a practice deployment for a fully nomadic three DOW, six probe/scout, twenty two tornado pod project?” Well, the answer is quite simple, really: We deploy generally as we normally would in the presence of a tornado, except we switch the tornado out for a burgundy SUV. And thus a carnado is born.

The dynamics of carnadogenesis have remained a mystery to atmospheric scientists since the first major thunderstorm and tornado-related field campaigns took place. It can happen suddenly and may or may not occur at a predetermined location. There is little consensus as to which vehicles are most likely to produce carnadoes, so this phenomena is not yet well warned by any local or national agencies. It is, however, thought that most carnadoes that occur in the Boulder, Colorado area do indeed originate from Subaru SUV or crossover vehicles (a similar van-nado is believed to be born from white Enterprise rental cargo vans). More data are necessary. Any other questions are beyond the scope of this research.

In any event, our first practice deployment went as well as could be expected in the present situation. The observed carnado spun along at a leisurely 20mph, and most of our scientists did manage to deploy their instruments and get out of its way and into safety in ample time to avoid damage. Carnado dynamics will not remain a mystery for much longer…

 New Scout3 / old Probe11 and DOW8 (the rapid scan / old DOW5) await deployment instructions

 

This is Herb. Herb makes and fixes things. Without Herb, at least half of our vehicles and instruments this season probably would not work. Thank you, Herb. Kudos also to Justin, Andrew, Ab, Brian, and everyone else who has helped out a lot (or even a little!)

(Note to readers: Any nonsensical nonsense contained herein is a product solely (mostly) of my fatigue and the fact that I’m presently sitting in a hotel room that I really don’t wish to sleep in without a hazmat suit.)

TIRE MAN!

Tire Man
(Liberally adapted from lyrics originally written by F. Iommi, W. Ward, T. Butler., and J. Osbourne.)
(Inspired by Sioux City, Iowa.)

I am Tire Man!
Has he lost his grip?
Can he even last this trip?
Can he drive at all
Or is he running bald?

Is he full of dread?
Saw his brother blow his tread
Wurman left him there
Will Herb toss him for a spare?

He turns with the wheel
Until his tread begins to peel
When he traveled roads
In search of great tornadoes

Nobody wants him
He just sits pavement bound
Waiting for the storms
Waiting for rain to pound

We can’t keep him now
He won’t work for the DOW
Perils of the road
Taunt the radars he once drove

Nobody wants him
They just drive on by
Nobody helps him
He’s a road hazard now

Heavy rubber treads
Fill the traffic full of dread
Driving as fast as they can
Tire Man lives again!

Bohica! The ROTATE armada is Boulder bound, en route to make repairs and celebrate* our "1st clear air bust of the season."






* Sarcasm.

On the Road Again...

Greetings, e-people. Welcome to the blog post. It’s now Saturday, 5 May 2012. After days (and nights, for some) of intense preparation, the ROTATE armada left its Boulder hangar home during the earlier hours of this morning. Initial target: Eastern Nebraska. Vehicle status: somewhat operational.

** Break for DOW7 story time and a history lesson on I-80 and the Platte River **

Speaking of DOW7, I suppose I could introduce you to the ROTATE armada. Out for CSWR this season are:

DOW7. The DOW in charge. It’s a dual polarization radar. It’s also responsible for story time and history lessons. It was formerly responsible for the puns. (We miss you Jeff!)

DOW6. Also a dual pol radar. Former seat of Justin Walker and his banjo. We miss you Justin!

DOW8. The New oldKid on the Block. DOW8 is a rapid scan radar (read: it scans things fast!), and used to be DOW5. Like a phoenix, it rose triumphantly from the dilapidated remains of the DOW5 chassis.

Scout1. It’s new, it’s blue.

Scout2. It’s new, but not blue.

Scout3. Formerly Probe11. It’s most definitely not new.

Scout4. Formerly Probe12. Home of yours truly for the next three weeks. It’s full of dog fur. Not that that’s a bad thing…

Scout5. The cargo van. It’s very very important; it lugs around all of our food, supplies, and suitcases.

Scout6. Formerly Probe14. Also known as “White Lightning.” This is Tim Marshall’s domain. Need I say more?

The MORC. Nanoo Nanoo.

(I’m kidding, I’m kidding. The MORC was the MOC, or Mobile Office Center, before they added in an ‘R,’ which stands for something that is escaping me at the moment. The MORC is a big, white Mercedes Benz, and was literally created to be a mobile office. Due to the awkward weight distribution in the MORC, it is practically incapable of driving in a straight line.)

M1. It has a puppy. She’s adorable. M1 makes a lot of pit-stops. For the adorable puppy.


And that’s it. All of the DOWs have radars (of course). All of the Scout vehicles have mesonets and tornado pods… each Scout vehicle, with the exception of Scout5, has four tornado pods capable of measuring temperature, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction (Scout5 has two pods). So, that should be twenty two pods total. If we’re successful, some of these pods will be placed in the path of a tornado, and will collect data on that tornado at ground level, where scientific data on tornadoes is rather sparse. This data can then be used, in collaboration with the dual Doppler radar data we hopefully also collect, to better understand what exactly is going on in a tornado at the ground level. Pretty cool, eh?

PS- … we miss you Justin!!

packpackpack

Here we are again, folks. It’s springtime, and you know what that means, right? The chase is once again upon us. 2011 saw some impromptu outings from CSWR, but with no pre-planned project, yours truly did not participate. This year, however, is a different story, and ROTATE 2012 (Radar Observations of Thunderstorms and Tornadoes… I think) has been on the docket now for months, with a planned May 5 start date.

Now if you’re any of the thirty or so people who will be joining CSWR on this little adventure (or if you’re anyone who’s basically lived like a nomad out in the boonies for several weeks at a time), you probably already know how to prepare. If you’ve never in your life even imagined undertaking such a trip, you’re probably thinking “how the hail does someone pack for something like that?” Well, since I’m on this plane to Denver for another hour and a half and all I really have to do is sway to the turbulence while watching some muted Katherine Heigel film and listening to the music emanating from the earbuds of the soon to be deaf guy sitting next to me, I might as well tell you.

When you’re packing for an epic road trip, the key is to be prepared. You must keep in mind that nearly all of your basic necessities for the next six to seven weeks (or three, in my case), must fit into a small suitcase or duffle and a backpack. While it may be true that you’ll arrive at your destination and find nearly everyone in your party has packed their things in a much bigger suitcase or duffle than you, it doesn’t matter. You’re a road warrior! You scoff at the thought of checking baggage on flights! (Ok, with the exception of your liquids and gels, because some spoil sports out there thought it’d be a neat idea to attempt to blow up planes with gel-like explosives. I grumble in their general direction.)


EPIC METEOROLOGICAL RESEARCH ROAD TRIP PACKING CHECKLIST

- Underwear. This is very important! You wouldn’t want to be stuck in Themiddleofnowhere, Nebraska with no clean knickers, would you? Yeah, didn’t think so.

- Clothing. Almost as important as underwear. Expensive clothing is not recommended, unless you want it to get destroyed. Pantless chasing, however, is not an option.

- Shoes. Make sure to remove them at airport security. High heels are not recommended. Neither are Prada flats. Jebus shoes are optional.

- Toiletries. Shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, floss… all important. Just because you’re living like a nomad doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pay attention to your personal hygiene. Really. Your vehicle-mates will thank you.

- Hand sanitizer. You’ll need it.

- Sunblock. What better place to get a sunburn than sitting in a truck stop parking lot during peak hours?

- Sunglasses. Cheap ones. Expect to sit on and break them.

- Rain gear. Believe it or not, you may be working in inclement weather. If you’ve never had to sit in a car for several hours soaked to your skin, believe me when I say that it’s not a pleasant experience.

- Medications/supplements. First off, migraines and other maladies don’t stop just because you’re traveling. If anything, the dehydration, poor nutrition, and sleep deprivation that come along with chasing will probably exacerbate them. Second, since the dehydration, poor nutrition, and sleep deprivation that come along with chasing do wonders for your health, your body and immune system can use all of the help they can get. Multi-vitamin anyone? Shingles vaccine??

- Food. Speaking of poor nutrition, if you can pack some good food, more power to you. Portable and non-perishable protein and fiber are great. Future road trip roomie, Mallie, told me she was bringing along individual packets of Justin’s almond butter. I stole the idea.

- Gum. To keep yourself from eating all of the food you packed out of boredom on your way from Colorado to Iowa.

- Camera. Memorrrrrriiiiiiiessss.

- Your portable electronic devices. Because.


Also keep in mind that regardless of how well you’ve prepared, you will probably forget something. I probably forgot things on this list. And I totally just realized I forgot to pack [at least] three things I was planning to bring. Oops…