For those who are interested, here is the schedule for tomorrows Skywarn Training Day.
Tulsa SKYWARN Conference, February 28, 2009 - TTC Lemley Campus
900 am: Opening Statements/Welcome: Mike McCool - Tulsa Area Emergency Management Agency Director, Steve Piltz - NWS Tulsa Meteorologist-in-Charge, Kelly Baker - OkArkSkywarn Coordinator
915 am: NCO / Reporting Issues: Kelly Baker, OkArkSkywarn Coordinator/Joel Genung, OkArkSkywarn Committee Member
930 am: OkArkSkywarn Website Update: Steve Bluford, OkArkSkywarn Committee Member
945 am: The December 2007 Ice Storm, An Emergency Operations Perspective: Mike McCool, Tulsa Area Emergency Management Agency Director
1015 am: Break
1030 am: Storm Spotter Training: Ed Calianese, NWS Tulsa Warning Coordination Meteorologist
1200 pm: Lunch
130 pm: Sidelobe and Inflow Doppler Radar "Signatures": Steve Piltz, NWS Tulsa Meteorologist in Charge
145 pm: Mesoanalysis of Several 2008 Tornado Events: Brad McGavock, NWS Tulsa Lead Forecaster
215 pm: Storm Chaser Video Highlights
330 pm: Conclusion
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Spring Fever
After a long winter, spring is finally approaching. In a way this week marks the start of severe weather season for me. Tonight I have my annual chaser meeting at KTUL in which we'll find out any upgrades being made to the weather department before severe weather season kicks off. It's usually a pretty good time since all of the chasers rarely get together during the year. This meeting is followed by the Tulsa Skywarn training on Saturday. While some of this event targets new chasers, they always have one or two topics that are of interest to more seasoned chasers. I haven't seen an agenda for this years training day but I'm sure it will be beneficial to attend. It's also a chance to see several people that I don't see throughout the year.
In other spring related news...I was visiting Steve Miller last weekend and as we usually do this time of year, we started discussing the lake and boating and when we'll be able to enjoy our first day at the lake. There are a couple of key dates to determine when that might be. We usually shoot for the first part of April but you never know if we might get to scratch that itch a little early. The average last hard freeze (below 28F) occurs in Tulsa on the 18th of March. The average last freeze/frost (32F) occurs on March 29th. That means Saturday April 4th is the first weekend without an expected freeze. Time to start compiling music for Boat Tunes 2009.
Another celebrated spring event is also approaching, March Madness. Selection Sunday is March 15th, which is also considered the beginning of severe weather season. As an avid Oklahoma State Cowboys fan, I'm really hoping we can continue our win streak and make an appearance in the tourney this year. It would be nice to dance in celebration of 100 years of Cowboy Basketball. We are currently on a 4 game win streak and have a record of 18-9 and 7-6 in Big 12 play. As things stand we are a bubble team, but if we can continue our win streak against Texas and Kansas State at home I believe we'll be in good shape for a tourney bid going into the second leg of bedlam in Norman. If we can win out or go 2-1 in our final three and get a win in the Big 12 tourney, we should be able to make the NCAA Tournament.
So that was a pretty random blog post but I guess it's all tied together by things I enjoy in the spring; boating, storm chasing, and the NCAA Tournament.
In other spring related news...I was visiting Steve Miller last weekend and as we usually do this time of year, we started discussing the lake and boating and when we'll be able to enjoy our first day at the lake. There are a couple of key dates to determine when that might be. We usually shoot for the first part of April but you never know if we might get to scratch that itch a little early. The average last hard freeze (below 28F) occurs in Tulsa on the 18th of March. The average last freeze/frost (32F) occurs on March 29th. That means Saturday April 4th is the first weekend without an expected freeze. Time to start compiling music for Boat Tunes 2009.
Another celebrated spring event is also approaching, March Madness. Selection Sunday is March 15th, which is also considered the beginning of severe weather season. As an avid Oklahoma State Cowboys fan, I'm really hoping we can continue our win streak and make an appearance in the tourney this year. It would be nice to dance in celebration of 100 years of Cowboy Basketball. We are currently on a 4 game win streak and have a record of 18-9 and 7-6 in Big 12 play. As things stand we are a bubble team, but if we can continue our win streak against Texas and Kansas State at home I believe we'll be in good shape for a tourney bid going into the second leg of bedlam in Norman. If we can win out or go 2-1 in our final three and get a win in the Big 12 tourney, we should be able to make the NCAA Tournament.
So that was a pretty random blog post but I guess it's all tied together by things I enjoy in the spring; boating, storm chasing, and the NCAA Tournament.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
2-10-09 Chase Recap
Yesterday was the most frustrating day I've had at the office in a while. I was stuck in Broken Arrow while everyone was out on the first chase of the season. With every model update the sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach got worse. Nearly all of my chaser friends were out on this setup and I was stuck at work. Then initiation occurred. Monday night I looked over models and set a target of Chickasha. What do you know, the first storms of the day went up just west of Chickasha and then the same storm produced a tornado in Edmond, looked crazy headed into Stillwater on radar, then produced another tornado in Pawnee county.
Finally 5:00 rolled around and I hit the road for Bartlesville to intercept the same storm that had been pissing me off all day. I should probably mention that chasing in Bartlesville always adds extra stress to the situation since my family and several friends live there. At times it's nearly impossible to answer phone calls and text messages from those in the area but I gave it my best. On to the chase...Just as I got into Bartlesville, the NWS issued a tornado warning for eastern Osage county and Washington County. About this time, my XM/ThreatNet pulled it's usual crap and stopped working so over to GR3 I went. I headed up to a truck stop about a mile north of Dewey where I rode out the storm. At this point it had gotten dark enough to where I couldn't really see much. After a few minutes I was overran by extremely heavy rain and winds between 40 and 50mph followed by a few minutes of 1/2" to 1" hail.
After sending a few videos up to KTUL, I headed back south to play around in the line of storms coming through the area. The Bartlesville/Dewey area had gotten a ton of rain in a very short time and there were several areas of flash flooding. I spoke with Kelly Baker who was in the downtown Bartlesville area and he was reporting stalled cars and significant flash flooding around Adams Rd. and Keeler.
Finally, I decided to head back to Tulsa. About 10 miles south of Bartlesville I got ran over by a small cell that made driving nearly impossible and had a few pieces of pea sized hail in it. Once that passed the show was pretty much over for me.
Despite not getting anything too exciting, it was great to chase in February. I needed something to clear my mind and I find that chasing does that for me. It's probably due to the fact that I don't have time to think about anything else. I'm looking forward to spring and chasing in the daylight.
Finally 5:00 rolled around and I hit the road for Bartlesville to intercept the same storm that had been pissing me off all day. I should probably mention that chasing in Bartlesville always adds extra stress to the situation since my family and several friends live there. At times it's nearly impossible to answer phone calls and text messages from those in the area but I gave it my best. On to the chase...Just as I got into Bartlesville, the NWS issued a tornado warning for eastern Osage county and Washington County. About this time, my XM/ThreatNet pulled it's usual crap and stopped working so over to GR3 I went. I headed up to a truck stop about a mile north of Dewey where I rode out the storm. At this point it had gotten dark enough to where I couldn't really see much. After a few minutes I was overran by extremely heavy rain and winds between 40 and 50mph followed by a few minutes of 1/2" to 1" hail.
After sending a few videos up to KTUL, I headed back south to play around in the line of storms coming through the area. The Bartlesville/Dewey area had gotten a ton of rain in a very short time and there were several areas of flash flooding. I spoke with Kelly Baker who was in the downtown Bartlesville area and he was reporting stalled cars and significant flash flooding around Adams Rd. and Keeler.
Finally, I decided to head back to Tulsa. About 10 miles south of Bartlesville I got ran over by a small cell that made driving nearly impossible and had a few pieces of pea sized hail in it. Once that passed the show was pretty much over for me.
Despite not getting anything too exciting, it was great to chase in February. I needed something to clear my mind and I find that chasing does that for me. It's probably due to the fact that I don't have time to think about anything else. I'm looking forward to spring and chasing in the daylight.
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