National Weather Service stuff

[peternap]

The wife and I have been NOAA certified storm spotters for years. They just started training for the advanced so today we went to the Certification Program and got out bonifidies

It's an interesting place.



This is the radar unit they use there.



One of the Meteorologists at his station.




Long day...Now, bring on tornado season.

[MountainDon]

You can keep tornado season. 

[ScottA]

peternap I saw the movie twister. You'd have to be certifiable to want anything to do with a tornado. Anyone who's lived in Oklahoma for any amount of time knows to have the greatest respect for the weather. We are lucky to have some of the finest storm tracking anywhere in the country.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

absolutely.  I am so glad to be back in Oklahoma because now I know that at least when there is severe weather, the prediction and tracking capabilities in this state are unmatched.  We've had tornadic weather now at least three times in the little over a month we've been back, which is a lot, even for Oklahoma.  So far, we've had hail 4 times since we've been home. To me, that's incredible.  In a lifetime of living in Oklahoma, I don't think I've seen hail 4 times/season, let alone 4 times in a month! (It may just be that we're on the northwest side of OKC now, which seems to get a lot more severe weather?)  A couple of nights ago, we had some over an inch in diameter, but I guess a little northeast of us had even bigger hailstones.  I love Oklahoma's weather, but I definitely have a very healthy respect for it.  The May 3, 1999 tornadoes hit both my dad and my sister's houses.  My sister's house was totally destroyed.  Dad's, a mobile home, had the back door blown off and the kitchen window blown out, like a bomb had gone off in it.  Thankfully they were all OK, though my dad and step-mom missed getting hit themselves by seconds and saw it in the rearview mirror of their truck as they sped south out of range.  I was glad they didn't stay home and try to weather the storm because they most likely wouldn't have made it, and though it defied common practice, it was good that they got in the truck and ran for it.  Anyway, I like the fact that when I'm here, and there is severe weather, I can turn on the radio or the tube and hear what intersection the rotation is near, and what speed and direction it is travelling, so that I know if we need to duck and cover or if we'll be ok  just hanging out.

[peternap]

We don't have many here. I've been doing it for 5 years and have only been close enough to three to film them.

Flooding is a bigger problem here. I have a bunch of good flood films including one from my kayak, shooting the rapids through peoples backyards.

Of course, filming is not what we do for the Weather Service. We only report.

[MountainDon]

Tornadoes.    Floods. 

Pardon me, but I'll take my less dramatic, though hot and mostly dry NM weather.

I've only seen one tornado (Minnesota) a long time ago

I've filled my share of sandbags though, and it's an experience I'm happy to do without.

[glenn kangiser]

absolutely.  I am so glad to be back in Oklahoma because now I know that at least when there is severe weather, the prediction and tracking capabilities in this state are unmatched.  We've had tornadic weather now at least three times in the little over a month we've been back, which is a lot, even for Oklahoma.  So far, we've had hail 4 times since we've been home. To me, that's incredible.  In a lifetime of living in Oklahoma, I don't think I've seen hail 4 times/season, let alone 4 times in a month! (It may just be that we're on the northwest side of OKC now, which seems to get a lot more severe weather?)  A couple of nights ago, we had some over an inch in diameter, but I guess a little northeast of us had even bigger hailstones.  I love Oklahoma's weather, but I definitely have a very healthy respect for it.  The May 3, 1999 tornadoes hit both my dad and my sister's houses.  My sister's house was totally destroyed.  Dad's, a mobile home, had the back door blown off and the kitchen window blown out, like a bomb had gone off in it.  Thankfully they were all OK, though my dad and step-mom missed getting hit themselves by seconds and saw it in the rearview mirror of their truck as they sped south out of range.  I was glad they didn't stay home and try to weather the storm because they most likely wouldn't have made it, and though it defied common practice, it was good that they got in the truck and ran for it.  Anyway, I like the fact that when I'm here, and there is severe weather, I can turn on the radio or the tube and hear what intersection the rotation is near, and what speed and direction it is travelling, so that I know if we need to duck and cover or if we'll be ok  just hanging out.

Is it Oklahoma's weather or somebody else's?  Oklahoma and surrounding states are all playing with weather modification as well as the Feds and other states and countries.

Weather is so unstable that the only successful model of the weather is the weather itself, so experimentation in another area is likely to have a domino effect and change the weather in many other places.

http://main.google.nicusa.com/search?q=weather+modification&filter=p&site=WatResBoa&client=WatResBoa&output=xml_no_dtd&proxystylesheet=WatResBoa&proxycustom=%253CHOME%2F%253E.&oe=UTF-8

http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&q=texas+weather+modification&btnG=Google+Search

They speak of stopping hail damage but do they also make it worse and not mention that?

[gandalfthegrey]

Speaking of that evil swirling devil throwing baseball size hail,  how are all of our friends in Texas and Oklahoma?  That was quite a storm.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24040801

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

It was just really heavy rain and flooded streets around here the other day.  I had to go straighten out some business with the lease company that couldn't be solved over the phone despite the best efforts on both sides, and tried to wait out the rain before leaving.  It just got worse.  I'm glad the truck is high up off the ground.  Finally the kids and I made a dash for it, but in less than 30 yards, we were soaked to the skin.  Even driving in the center lanes (because the outer ones were completely under water) I was sending up sheets of rainwater on either side higher than the truck.  It was raining so hard part of the time it was hard to see.  I thought we were supposed to have more rain today, and it started off kind of gray, but right now it is really pretty, albeit windy as all get out! 

[ScottA]

Spent the day on the backhoe repairing washed out driveways. Water was over some bridges in our area and the lake is in the yard. Worst overnight flash flood I've ever seen. Kids where even out of school.

[Redoverfarm]

Peter I had the initial course in my employment.  Hey I can spot a "wall" cloud now.  Thank goodness for the mountains as there isn't many twisters survive cutting through them.  But the rain that is a different story.  With all the development and the NF reluctant to have controlled burns the leaves just act like a waterslide for the rain.  Very little is allowed to penetrate into the soil.

[Sassy]

Here's a nice weather monitor from NOAA  http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/cag3/na.html
"United States Climate Tracking"

They're saying that this year's April was the coldest in over 100 yrs....  so much for global warming....  you can plug in an area & find out how it's doing...