5/14/12 – Chris Bouchard
First off, let me apologize for the tardy first update! The past week or so have been extremely busy out here in the Plains!
As you may know, I have taken a bit of a sabbatical from my regular duties as a soothsayer of Vermont’s wild weather. I’m about one week into a six and a half week adventure in the Great Plains. I’m chasing tornadoes (and severe thunderstorms) with the folks at the Center for Severe Weather Research, based in beautiful Boulder Colorado. Our team is led by preeminent tornado researcher Josh Wurman. For those of you who watch the TV show Storm Chasers, (like me!) then you will recognize that name. Josh’s latest field project goes by the acronym ROTATE 2012, which stands for Radar Observations of Tornadoes and Thunderstorms Experiment. (Head here for all the details: http://www.cswr.org/projects/rotate/2012/ ) The project is largely funded by grants from the National Science Foundation. The goal? To measure wind speeds within the lowest portions of tornadoes. To accomplish this, we employ three mobile doppler radar trucks called “DOWs” (stands for Doppler on Wheels) which are driven out into the field to scan tornadoes and their parent thunderstorms at close range.
One of three DOWS (doppler on wheels) used to gather radar data on tornadoes and their parent thunderstorms.
There are also 7 other vehicles that are positioned ahead of (but not in) oncoming tornadoes. Each are outfitted with weather instruments that measure variables such as wind direction and speed, temperature, and relative humidity. 6 of these will attempt to deploy instrument “pods” directly in the path of tornadoes. Each has a digital data logger protected by thick steel to ensure that even if the pod is destroyed, the data survives. The data will be used for scientific studies that attempt to understand the dynamics of tornadoes.
A tornado "pod". These battery operated devices weigh about 120 pounds, and are deployed into the path of a tornado. They record temperature, humidity, and of course, wind speed and direction.
The ROTATE 2012 crew is a sizable bunch, including scientists and volunteers of diverse backgrounds and nationalities. One thing everyone has in come though, is a love of severe weather, especially tornadoes!
The ROTATE 2012 crew. A pretty good lookin' bunch!
So far, the weather has been rather quiet during the project. We had one clear-air bust in Nebraska on May 5th. (Chaser lingo for chasing in an area where no storms formed)
We also chased a few storms in the Artesia, NM area during the afternoon of May 13th. There was only marginal tornado potential that day. We did see a few storms but they formed broken lines, which is not very conducive to tornadoes. After the chase was called off though, I was able to get ahead of the storms for a few lightning shots!
Lightning strikes near the town of Carlsbad, NM on the evening of May 13th, 2012.
Today it looks like we will chase storms with low potential to produce tornadoes in west Texas. Look for an update later today!
