Readers will surely recall our recent story about 2018 will be the first year with no violent tornadoes in the United States.
Now, meteorologist Mike Smith writes to tell us about “Chasercon” February 8 to 10th.
Attention: Storm Chasers and Anyone Interested in Weather or Storms!
For the first time, Chasercon — the world’s largest meeting of storm chasers and meteorologists who focus on storms — will be in Wichita this February 8 to 10th. On Sunday, 10th, there will be a seminar on “how to forecast severe storms” which will be useful beyond storm chasers. It will be valuable for emergency managers and anyone wanting to get a jump on tornadoes and extreme thunderstorms.
Here is a partial list of presenters:
- Dr. Greg Forbes (The Weather Channel)
- Tim Marshall, world expert on engineering buildings to minimize storm damage as well as an expert storm chaser
- Roger Edwards, forecaster, National Storm Prediction Center
- Dr. Jason Persoff, the storm chasing physician (really!) and photographer
- Jon Davies and his excellent storm forecasting class
There will also be tours of AccuWeather’s Extreme Weather Center in Wichita during the event.
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| Wichita Eagle photo |
The event is being held at the Hyatt Regency Wichita (special room rates, here) which is a wonderful hotel with great food and great service (it is where I held my retirement party).
Bring your family! Wichita has many family attractions in or near the downtown area. For example,
- Exploration Place. My granddaughters visited ten days ago and loved it. The best part? “Flying the plane.”
- The amazing Toy Train Museum (yes, you can play with the trains!).
- Museum of World Treasures.
- Weather-permitting, the Sedgwick County Zoo. It has won many awards. It is just amazing for a city of our size (it is northwest of downtown).
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| Photo of Eisenhower National Airport by Wichita Business Journal |
Enjoy!
I’d really be interested in an account on his presentation. I’m sure it’s possible to make significant improvements on current building practices at an affordable cost, particularly when you consider how much we spend recovering from various natural disasters.
Somewhere there’s a video from Simpson Strong Tie where they built 2 “houses” and then fired up some really scary fans to simulate hurricane force winds. Net result: construction methods matter.
There are these
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryvnUur4TDM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BigK9H4rmf8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNDPFR6kUcY
They did the same in California , while re-thinking and designing better construction methods to withstand major earthquakes.
yep
we need to prepare for the weather of the past
Yes, yes we do, because there is absolutely no evidence that the weather of the future will be in any manner, way, shape or form different from the weather of the past.
Is there any other kind ?
Aw man I’d like to meet Reed Timmer.
Reed’s a screamer who hams it up for the media. A much mellower storm chaser is Pecos Hank.
https://www.youtube.com/user/honkytonkblood
Reed is very mellow in person. Some years back we met Reed at an evening storm chaser event at William Rainey Harper College. We had arrived early and stumbled across the Dominator parked in the parking lot. My 11 year old had his faced plastered against the driver’s side door trying to get a good look at the interior when Reed and his girlfriend come sauntering down the sidewalk after dinner on the way back to the lecture hall. So Reed pulls out his key fob and fires up the Dominator using his remote start, and we all good a laugh when James jumps back and says “I didn’t touch anything!” Reed spent about twenty minutes with James sitting in the driver’s seat showing him all the controls and letting him adjust the hydraulics, lights, radios, etc. I remember thinking to myself that Reed might have missed his calling; that with his calm demeanor and ability to explain things clearly and concisely with obvious enthusiasm, that he would have made an excellent science teacher. But that description pretty much describes all of the storm chasers I have met in person, just good-natured folk from the Midwest.
Yes, by all means meet Reed and sit in on Tim’s presentation.
Chasercon is open to the public. The Hyatt is a fantastic hotel. Come and join us!
I wonder how the tornado tourist businesses are doing now?
Storm chasers are an invaluable asset when tornado season comes around. They keep the tornadic systems in sight and give us critical updates on what is happening on the ground. God Bless them all.
I will be attending my local Skywarn storm spotter training session presented by the National Weather Service on February 9th.
People often become complacent regarding severe weather during periods where there is little activity. Bell County, TX has been pretty quiet in recent years. Flash floods from heavy rain is about the only thing this area has experienced in the past few years.
Us amateur radio operators in our area usually attend Skywarn training in April.
Salute!
What about the BIG storms?
Storm chasers were there for Michael, and captured valuable data and coverage right into the eye of that storm.
The site storm2k.org has exremely good contributors and graphic videos of what a “storm” looks like from ground zero .
Those folks reporting on Michael and Florence should have presentation, huh?
Gums sends…
Same thing for Harvey. I’m watching materials go up better, but some look the same. Rebuilding too high, rebuilding too low. Vortices and worse must have been around, as in one (of most surviving) live oak in my front yard torn off up high but below tree line, counter clockwise maybe. Others scattered around.
Older buildings seem to have often survived better, has some construction degraded? Four story boilerplate looking motels, for example. Still out of business.
Salute HD!
As much as I feel badly about all the folks that had their home and such destroyed by a tornado, there is a significant difference between a F4 tornado and a Cat 4 hurricane if you are withing 10 or 20 miles of ground zero.
After most tornados you can find a convenience store two miles away that has gas, ice, snacks, etc. I doubt if cell phone coverage is lost. Then go back with me to the aftermath of Katrina and Opal and this latest storm – Michael, which hit about 50 miles east of me.
Our Weather service and the bloggers on the site I mentioned kept all of us very well informed. We even got to see live video and such from the storm chasers at ground zero because hurricanes are not like tornados WRT warning and track ans such.
I am very familiar with the “vortex” aspect of hurricanes, having had a 60 foot pine come thur the roof and then seeing a dozen such over my parents’ home after Katrina. just a quarter mile away looked like minor wind damage. But those vortexes are there, and they are mini-tornados with all their attributes.
Gums sends…
Is any of it going to be streamed and/or posted online? I cannot afford to attend, besides my wife thinks I have my head in the clouds too much already! 😄
This looks fun, and it’s a half hour from my house. Too bad I can’t justify the price for my wife and I to attend.
Here is hoping that the
StreisandGore effect will bring them copious ‘global warming’ during their visit to Wichita in February.We’ve got to fight against global warming, else our children just aren’t going to know what tornadoes are.