2005 National Storm Chaser Convention

[Bill Hark]

I just returned to Richmond, Va a couple of hours ago after attending the National Storm Chasers Convention. That was an enjoyable way to help treat my growing SDS and prepare for the upcoming season. Almost 200 people attended the meeting including a nice mix of veteran and new chasers, researchers and meteorology students. It was a great way to see some old friends and meet new chasers. The conference was very educational. The topics ranged from practical chasing info (Jon Davies' tornado forecasting parameters, reviews of 2004 events by Scott Blair, Tim Marshall and Dr. Greg Forbes), to new information on tornadogenesis by Dr. Erick Rasmussen and the mobile Doppler studies by Dr. Bluestein and Dr. Wurman. I didn't realize that Tim Samaras was able to place another probe in a tornado during 2004. The footage, not yet shown on television, is incredible with flying debris and flying large farm equipment. (I didn't see any flying cows) There were great presentations on emerging cell phone technology and other technical resources for chasing. As usual, the video was awesome including both tornado and hurricane video. Some chasers got way too close. Congratulation to Scott Blair and Jason Politte who won the BNVN/Weathervine sponsored contest for 2004 videos. It was a tight contest and all the videos were good. I wish I was able to stay for Tim's class. His forecasting classes are always worth checking out. Thanks to the organizers, along with the speakers and sponsors. I can't imagine the amount of work it must take to do a convention.

Bill Hark
http://www.harkphoto.com/

Addenda: I was able to check out the early release copy of the book about chasers. It looks interesting and I think chasers are presented in a good perspective. I'm mentioned in a sentence, but Shane has his own section!

 

[Tony Laubach]

I am finall yhome after my very long trip back from the hotel (15 miles). As said earlier, an excellent conference! I had a chance to formally meet many Stormtrackers including Rockwell, several Scotts, Bill, Susan, and many many others! Also was able to catch up with old friends; Verne, Blake, the WX Vine crew. Hope you all had a wonderful time here in the Mile High City and went back to weather comparable to what you left this afternoon. The dark skies seemed to be a teaser for us as I'm sure there were many what-ifs asked as many probably took a bumpy ride out of here.

The remainder of the conference was just as good as it's start. Tim, Roger, all the conference organizers, you all did a wonderful job! Tim's video (as earlier mentioned) was worth the cost of registration alone! Blake definately put a wonderful end to the conference with his look into the funnier moments of chasing!

And excellent conference and very much worth the wait. Unfortunately it has sped up an already tedious endevor to wait out the start of the season. I want it now! :lol:

 

[mikedeason]

Well, Tim S's video was ok, and Dr. Ras was mildly entertaining. But for my money, nothing can even begin to compare to Roger Hill's interview with the mastermind behind that greatest of all modern in situ storm probes, TAP 2!

Regards,

Mike

P.S., Just kidding about the first part. For those of you who couldn't attend the convention, your jaws are going to drop when you see the videos that Tim's probe captured and Dr. Ras' presentation was very intriguing, if not, somewhat controversial.

 

[Shaba117]

I just got back into Boise from the Convention. I am completely EXHAUSTED, however, I had to post my thanks to Roger Hill, Tim Samaras, Tim Vasquez, all of the speakers, and all of the sponsors for once again making the NSCC a huge success!(whew, I sound like a NASCAR driver in Victory Lane naming off all of his sponsors :lol: )

I also cannot even begin to describe Tim Samaras's 'media probe' video. That in itself made my whole weekend.

Of course, what's a chase convention without a good laugh. Blake Naftel's segment, which included the 'TAP2' video, had everyone laughing 'till they cried!

OK, I gotta end this somewhere. I apologize if I misspelled anyone's name or left out any key players, but, as I had about 8 hours of sleep between Friday and Sunday, I am ready to hit the sack and recover. I hope that this event will continue it's success in future years!

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Finally got back home to OUN after a 13.5 hour drive (including a stop at the Big Texan) from Denver...

I'm going to go with the consensus regarding Tim Samara's 'media probe' footage, which is the most incredible tornado footage I have ever seen, hands down!

I also very thoroughly enjoyed the presentation by Dr. Rasmussen, Dr. Bluestein, and Dr. Wurman, amongst others (e.g. Dr. Forbes). Some very interesting 'new' tornado theories out there regarding the 'descending reflectivity core', which I had never heard about until now.

The videos were excellent, ranging from very well edited stuff, to some 'sensationalization' stuff. I'll leave my personal opinion regarding one particular piece of footage private, but I was surprised to see it get the approval that it did.

 

[Mike Umscheid]

The 2005 NSCC was another great success. My kudos and thanks to everyone involved in pulling this off, it's always great to see several of the faces to the names we see posting here on ST and elsewhere. I had a blast, and it was worth taking two days off work to attend (2 days that could have been saved for chasing). It was only fitting to drive away from Colorado with visible convection over the Rockies, and of course, I couldn't resist and had to pull off to take a photo: The first '05 convection photograph with my D70!

[Broken External Image]:http://www.underthemeso.com/winter/_DSC1402.jpg

Mike U

 

[Joe Nield]

Will Tim's probe video be available anytime soon in some manner such as a new national geographic special or anything like that? I'm really really curious now.

 

[Jeff Wear]

Glad to hear everyone had a great time.

My weekend in Denver went a little different from how I originally planned. I arrived at the hotel at 3am MST on Saturday morning to be told that they had no reservation under my name. So I gave them the confirmation number they gave me when I made the reservation a month earlier - and still, nothing came up in their computer. So I ended up having to find another hotel - not an easy task with the All-Star game in town and all. The only one I could find with vacancy was a Ramada Inn in Wheat Ridge 20 miles to the west of Aurora. By then it was nearly 5am and I was so tired I really didn't care if I missed the convention or not, so I slept in until about noon. I then spent the afternoon visiting downtown Denver....then after that I continued on with what I had been planning on doing after the convention and drive out to CA (where I arrived at 8:30am PST yesterday morning).

Anyway I thought I'd give everyone a heads up on my lost reservation issue in the event any other NSCC's are held at that hotel in the future. I will speak with management this week regarding the missing reservation - how they resolve it will be a big factor in whether or not I ever do business with that hotel again.

 

[Charles Allison]

Had a great time in Denver. Presentations by Dr. Rasmussen, Dr. Bluestein, Dr. Wurman, Tim Samara and others were great. The only thing that would had made the weekend better was if Chuck Doswell had been able to make it, Maybe next year? Already marking my calendar for it. The video contest was cool. The 1st and 3rd place video's were available on stormtrack but the second place video was new to me and it was awesome, not familiar with who shot it but it had video from a probe that was dropped in front of a tornado and several instances where they practically drove into tornado's. The funniest part was when a line of chasers were stopped for a downed power pole and they waited for the people in front to move it and then they shot into the passing lane and blew past everyone it was priceless. Hope this one shows up for sale or trade sometime. Hope everyone had a blast, can't wait until next year. Gonna go try out my new sticky pod!

 

[Tony Laubach]

Originally posted by mikedeason
But for my money, nothing can even begin to compare to Roger Hill's interview with the mastermind behind that greatest of all modern in situ storm probes, TAP 2!

That was actually Blake Naftel doing that interview, just FYI!

 

[Kurt Silvey]

Hi everyone. Just a quick note as I’m trying to catch-up with everything that was left on my desk from Friday and drown myself in coffee. Pulled into Omaha at 1:00 am after leaving Denver at 4:36. I guess we’ll call it pre-season training! Anyway just wanted to say thanks to Roger Hill and his wife, whose name escapes me, and both Tim’s for a fantastic conference. I thought all of the seminars were very good and educational. Highlights on the top of my list include Tim’s video, Dr. Rasmussen’s “Blobâ€, Tim Marshall and Jon Davies’. It was a great time and we met many new friends. We left Denver in the low dark clouds, but about 45 minutes east of there, we were treated to one of the most vibrant double rainbows I’ve ever seen. We could see the full arch structure of both bows, as the sun set over the Rockies behind us. I’ll try to post some stills or video tonight.

Originally posted by Joe Nield
Will Tim's probe video be available anytime soon in some manner such as a new national geographic special or anything like that? I'm really really curious now.

I think Tim said the video would be released this spring, although I’m not sure where or how. You’ll have to wait though, as he asked everyone not to tape the preview.

 

[Greg Stumpf]

Originally posted by Charles Allison
The funniest part was when a line of chasers were stopped for a downed power pole and they waited for the people in front to move it and then they shot into the passing lane and blew past everyone it was priceless.

Could these be some of the folks that spurred some of the public and law-enforcement outcry, and the chaser-bashing media editorials last spring?

Folks, without seeing the video, I can only guess that this is a classic example of yahoo behavior that many veterans abhor. Do NOT follow these examples, please! For more information, read:

http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~stumpf/cethics.html

 

[Scott Currens]

Some others have touched on this, but I don't think it can't be overstated. Tim Samaras' camera probe captured what must be considered the most amazing tornado video of all time. It was so good I almost started to cry after watching it.

Tim, how does it feel to be on the cutting edge science and technology?

 

[Edward Ballou]

Originally posted by Greg Stumpf+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Greg Stumpf)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-Charles Allison

The funniest part was when a line of chasers were stopped for a downed power pole and they waited for the people in front to move it and then they shot into the passing lane and blew past everyone it was priceless.

Could these be some of the folks that spurred some of the public and law-enforcement outcry, and the chaser-bashing media editorials last spring?

Folks, without seeing the video, I can only guess that this is a classic example of yahoo behavior that many veterans abhor. Do NOT follow these examples, please! For more information, read:

http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~stumpf/cethics.html[/b]

Kinda funny that it was Tim Samaras and his crew being nice guys and pulling it out of the way. I'm sure they considered safety before doing it.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

I don't think these are the folks... I hadn't ever heard of or about these people before watching the video. No offense to the video-takers if they are on ST, but I was dumbfounded by the video. The footage they captured was pretty intense, but the method by which they captured it appalled me. There's a difference between being responsible to get close, and I don't have a problem if chasers get close in a careful and responsible manner, but I did not think this to be the case in their video. It seems very irresponsible and careless, which easily could have resulted in the first chasers casuality. I was even more shocked when the video was awarded money (read: motivation) for it! If you're going to be incredibly close, get 90 degree from it's path or behind it, since the chances of the tornado stopping and turning right around seems adequately minimal... But placing yourself between the main tornado and a periphery tornado, all while hoopin' and hollarin', showed me very little care or diligence. Blasting by the folks who just cleared the debris (Tim Samaras was in there, if I'm not mistaken) is just further evidence of the irresponsible actions taken by this group. This is only my opinion, however... I'm commenting on their chase style, and in no way is this about them personally.

Originally posted by Greg Stumpf+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Greg Stumpf)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-Charles Allison

The funniest part was when a line of chasers were stopped for a downed power pole and they waited for the people in front to move it and then they shot into the passing lane and blew past everyone it was priceless.

Could these be some of the folks that spurred some of the public and law-enforcement outcry, and the chaser-bashing media editorials last spring?

Folks, without seeing the video, I can only guess that this is a classic example of yahoo behavior that many veterans abhor. Do NOT follow these examples, please! For more information, read:

http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~stumpf/cethics.html[/b]