Comments for Tempest Chasing

Comment on More Large Hail On The Way? by Dessa

Dessa — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:04:45 +0000

I have seen pea size hail already today.

Comment on Chase Recap for Western Kentucky and Nashville by Kelton Halbert

Kelton Halbert — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 16:28:49 +0000

Thank you for informing me! It was a long day, and it appears I missed that. I am having it corrected now.

Comment on Chase Recap for Western Kentucky and Nashville by LeeAnn

LeeAnn — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 16:24:45 +0000

Your video is incorrectly dated May 2, 2012; it is March, 2012.

Comment on The Dying Art of Hand Analysis by Rob Dale

Rob Dale — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:16:33 +0000

The neat thing is that you can apply it to learn regardless of your theoretical background… It might even reduce the number of “Look at the 340 hour GFS!” posts on Facebook and actually lead to people learning more about weather and less about modelcasting. It’s hard to find one good, complete source of it though, so more power to your work…

Comment on The Dying Art of Hand Analysis by Greg Blumberg

Greg Blumberg — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:35:47 +0000

Rob, that is a fantastic idea. We just might do that.

Comment on The Dying Art of Hand Analysis by Kelton Halbert

Kelton Halbert — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:17:45 +0000

I love that idea Mr. Dale! I think a follow up post with a video is a great idea.

I consider myself very fortunate to have learned this while I’m still in high school, as opposed to having to backtrack after I’m already through college. My hope is I can help inspire some people to do the same!

Comment on The Dying Art of Hand Analysis by Rob Dale

Rob Dale — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:15:15 +0000

Those are tears of joy I’m crying Great stuff. You might just push those links out there, or even make a YouTube video showing it in action to help train?

Comment on The Current State of the Tornado Warning by Rob Dale

Rob Dale — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:41:47 +0000

Good questions Jason, however it’s not that simple. If you never issue a warning until a tornado touches down, many many more people will die. By the time a tornado report gets to local officials, then to NWS, then back out as a warning we’re talking 3-6 minutes AT BEST. So the tornado will be on the ground for more than a mile. The best mix is to use technology and at the same time use probabilities.

To answer your climatology question – a tornado is logged when a tornado is confirmed. Not warning.

Comment on The Current State of the Tornado Warning by Jason

Jason — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:01:24 +0000

It seems to me like the Tornado Warning has taken on a new meaning in the last few years. A warning use to mean that a Tornado was occurring so seek shelter immediately. Now a Warning may be issued when a Tornado is actually spotted on the ground OR the NWS radar indicates rotation, and a possible tornado is on the ground. This second reason for issuing a Tornado is part of the reason most people do not take warnings seriously anymore. In my opinion rotation on the Doppler radar should not warrant a Tornado warning. Rotation means conditions are favorable for a tornado (aka issue a watch), but a tornado is not imminent.
My question is if the NWS is going to use the radar to issue Tornado warnings, why didn’t they come up with a revised warning system (Watch, Doppler indicated Warning, and Warning). Also, do all Tornado warnings, whether they are Doppler indicated tornadoes, or actual “real” tornadoes get recorded in the climate record books as Tornadoes? Example: Oklahoma had 50 tornadoes in July, does this mean they had 50 warnings, or 50 actual tornadoes that registered on the Fujita scale? If warnings are the measuring stick, you may see inflated Tornado numbers taking down the record books.

Comment on The Current State of the Tornado Warning by Kelton Halbert

Kelton Halbert — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:41:49 +0000

I appreciate the comments everyone! Kim’s discussion was very well researched and very well spoken. I wanted to be able to share some of what I could remember from it, and I’m glad I did. I don’t know how long it takes AMS to post the audio – this was my first conference – but I’ll be sure to include it in this post when it comes online.

I agree with what Doswell said in his paper – let the forecaster do forecasting, and not have to worry about the social aspect. I think it’s a lot of extra weight that may be unnecessary. Tornado sirens are a beast in their own right… I volunteered at an EMA and asked about moving to a polygon based system, and the idea was not well received due to the politics behind it. NOAA weather radios are excellent, truly and sincerely, but they have the same flaw of tornado sirens, which is the county based system. At least you can rely on those, however (negating a downed radio tower). If the polygon based system can be moved to Wx radio like with iNWS, then it truly is golden.

Again, thanks for reading everyone!