Well not exactly, there’s no storms here today, but there are a lot of vehicles like this one:
I’m attending this conference, not as a storm chaser, but as a supplier of technology to aid in storm monitoring.
WUWT readers may recall this gadget I showcased some time ago:
Add your own ‘Radar Channel’ to your TV
Here’s the conference details:
2011 National Severe Weather Workshop
One of the sessions talked about the new dual polarity doppler radar technology, I can’t wait to see this finally in use. Some info below.
An Introduction to Dual-Polarization Radar for National Weather Service Stakeholders, Paul Schlatter, NOAA/NWS Warning Decision Training Branch, Norman, OK; Dale Morris and Andrew Wood, OU-CIMMS and NOAA/NWS Warning Decision Training Branch, Norman, OK
Click the image above to view a zoomed in image.
Here’s a paper outlining this new radar capability (PDF)
And a powerpoint presentation (PPT)
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But can that Doppler radar detect changing climate?
;p
😉
Greenland is melting what a joke
http://wxmaps.org/pix/temp2.html
What is the Union flag doing on the rear wing of the vehicle ?
REPLY: No idea. One vehicle I saw had an Earth Day flag… – Anthony
Welcome to Oklahoma, Anthony.
Norman’s a fine town with not only the world’s most advanced weather radar installations (there and in nearby Oklahoma City,) but also lots of fine food and entertainment.
We pay very close attention to our weather out here, with good reason.
Hopefully, the only weather- related thrills you will encounter this trip will be during the Thunder vs Suns game, 3/6 6pm.
REPLY: Thanks. I watched part of the Thunder game last night, but the TV at the bar had no sound. I wondered if they do any thunder sound effects during the game?
Anthony.
Welcome to Oklahama.
I hope you do well and have a productive trip.
Thank you for the info on this new radar.
Enjoy yourself as you travel!
Roger T says
What is the Union flag doing on the rear wing of the vehicle ?
——————————
we have a few stormchasers in the UK, some of whom spend a lot of time in the USA. a fair amount of the news footage you see is captured by them. there was a tv program last year ‘A very British Storm-Junkie’ on channel 4
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/a-very-british-storm-junkie
EO
RogerT says:
March 5, 2011 at 4:27 am
From the parking I would guess that the driver is from over here (hence the Union ‘jack’).
I can see this new technology having a big impact for aviation. I would imagine it will make it even easier to detect micro-bursts and other transient and abrupt shifts. Have you seen anything about aviation applications?
Thanks for the details.
Re the union flag on the van: the adjacent URL is http://oustormchasergbc.moonfruit.com/ and there’s a description of the vehicle there.
RogerT
The vehicle is wearing the Union Jack because it belongs to UKStormchasers, set up by a couple of chaps who met at Reading University.
I was out in Norman in the early 80’s for a NexRad conference. Hard to believe that it’s been around for over twenty years and pushing 30 from the time it was being developed. The original computers are dinosaurs now.
That storm chaser vehicle looks great. It may even work well on the sand dunes at Waynoka between storms in Oklahoma.
LOL! Stormchasers! Amateurism defined… Carloads of 20 somethings cluttering up the highways in severe weather looking for a cheap thrill without a clue what they’re about…. Tons of “gear” they barely know how to use stuffed in a car doing what they haven’t told their insurance company about yet… 🙂 Not one of then knows how to use a camera or what to actually take a picture of once they get to it…. Enviropaparazzi… 🙂 LOL! Ok, dog poked, standing by….
I hope Reed Timmer is not a warmist.
I wish I had known you were coming to this, I would have attended. I have been to several in Norman (About 20 minutes away from me). I try to go every year but had to be in DC all last week and most of this week.
Hope you are having a good trip, and safe travels!
I can understand the need for the extra thick snorkel on a British Stormchaser, but I haven’t seen that little sensor with the four cubes on the rooftop before. What does it do?
If you happen to see fellow meteorologist / storm chaser Jason Laney there, tell him his favorite bass player (from Chris Plays Guitar) said “Hi”! When he was in Fresno, he used to come to our shows all the time! We talked tornadoes and what.
A lot of folks do this on their own – just for the thrill. See this site (poster is a friend) for an example.
http://www.greenskychaser.com/
Under the blog heading, the last 3 entries are:
~ Weekend Weather
~ Upcoming Iditarod
~ Name This Image (it’s a nice photo)
If the radar will make rain fall prediction more accurate I’m all for it. It’s disconcerting to have a radar return show light to moderate rain over my neighborhood only to go outside and have nothing or light sprinkles (yes I know that the standby explanation is virga but this in heavy wet overcast seems incongruous). Any chance this could be from mis-calibrated radar either on distance or the colors used?
I see that graupel is in the list even though rarely mentioned in forecasts or precipitation descriptions but is not uncommon in this area and sleet (small hail or frozen rain) is not mentioned at all. To me the term sleet should be used more often as it does not imply potential impact damage. When I hear the word hail, I have to stop and listen to see if they will say what size it may be for a damage estimate.
Been in the edge of one small tornado and managed to outrun it with only small sticks and a lot of leaves/grass impinging the vehicle with no damage. That one tore roofing off several houses in our area and destroyed several houses downstream.
On another occasion we had one pass behind us on I-40 east of Oklahoma City that tore up a lot of trees. Missed it by about 10 seconds. An exciting place to live.
Pascvaks says:
March 5, 2011 at 6:46 am
I can understand the need for the extra thick snorkel on a British Stormchaser, but I haven’t seen that little sensor with the four cubes on the rooftop before. What does it do?
It lights up the parking lot at night! Better for astronomy than the extra thick snorkel.
Pascvaks. That pole with cubes is a light pole in the parking lot behind this vehickle.The cubes are downward shinning lights.
Oppps.
Should be vehicle . (Kan’t spell this morning)
Welcome to Oklahoma, Anthony. Best wishes for sales and information sharing. Look for our local meteorologists. We have some of the best!
Welcome to Oklahoma, Anthony.
Re the Storm Trackers. I think every TV station in West Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas has a few of them, as well as several independent companies catering to tourists. Don’t think many ever get hurt, but you see their vehickles in the spring and summer all beat to pieces by hail.
Hope you’re able to get some good information. And a few sales.
OK S.
U.K. stormchasers in the U.S.???
I can see it now….James, Richard, and Jeremy are each given $1500 to build a stormchaser car from bits of old american trucks, then see who can get closest to a tornado without getting “Oz’d”.
Then the Stig will do a lap for time in the winning vehicle, if there’s anything left of it.
Seriously though, wouldn’t a Top Gear episode on GlobalWarming-MET style be fun?? ….That’s an episode where all the predictions are wrong.