Original: http://www.naplesnews.com/weather/375395951.xhtml
The storm chasing frenzy is causing headaches for emergency personnel in severe weather situations, such as happened Sunday.
On several occasions Sunday, the control operator for Wichita County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARE), the volunteer storm spotter group, had to shoo amateur storm chasers from their closed radio frequency. But the main problem is traffic congestion as amateur chasers converge on roads where severe weather is developing.
"The country is inundated with these people," said Charlie Byars, who is ARES coordinator for nine North Texas counties."
"Safety is our main issue," said Byars, who noted that as many as 100 amateur storm chasers may converge on the area when the potential for tornadoes is high.
He said they will sometimes park in the middle of a road to watch and photograph an approaching storm. His group has begun calling law enforcement to clear away congested roads.
"We do not think storm chasing is a good idea," said Rick Smith, Warning Coordinator for the National Weather Service in Norman, Okla., the bureau responsible for Wichita Falls and much of North Texas. "We don't condone it."
To illustrate the potential danger of chasing, Smith points to an incident in May 2013 where four chasers were killed by tornadoes near El Reno, Oklahoma, two of whom were seasoned chasers.
"That's a sobering reminder that it's not as cool as it looks on TV, Smith said.
He said the tornado-chasing phenomenon began with the release of the movie "Twister," in 1996. The movie, which combined romance, villains, and unrealistic meteorology, glamorized tornado chasing. Since then, video captured by tornado chasers has become regular fodder on some cable TV channels.
Byars said some amateur chasers will drive hundreds of miles from their homes for a chance to photograph a tornado. The phenomenon seems to have special appeal to foreigners who do not have tornadoes in their own countries, he said.
One intruder on the spotter radio network Sunday was an Australian, who continued arguing against his exclusion from the frequency into Monday afternoon.
"We try to be nice. We hate to be rude," Byars said. "But we don't know who these people are or if they know what they're doing."
Intruders on the net are told they are welcome to listen — but not to talk.
In addition to tornado chasers, Byars tells of "tornado safaris" in which companies charge customers thousands of dollars to participate in a tornado hunt.
Storm spotters are different than storm chasers. Members of the local ARE undergo extensive weather and safety training and serve time as trainees until they qualify to spot storms on their own. Spotters are typically assigned to an observation point and move only when they're in danger or asked to mover by the network controller. Chasers actively pursue storms, sometimes at high speeds.
Smith praises the value of trained spotter groups such as the one in Wichita Falls, which he calls one of the best in the country.
"They are doing life-saving work," he said.
The spotter group here communicates with the weather service and with emergency managers in area communities who decide if storm sirens should be sounded. While weather technology has become sophisticated, no radar can "see" a tornado, Smith said. Confirming a twister depends human eyes on the ground.
Sunday night, radar had a strong indication one storm cell could become tornadic and the weather service issued a tornado warning for part of Wichita County. ARE spotters never saw a tornado and none was confirmed.
The Sunday storm produced strong wind and large hail in southwest Oklahoma and gave Wichita Falls 1.37 inches of welcome rain. Another storm before dawn Monday temporarily knocked out electricity to about 2,400 customers in the Wichita Falls area and dropped small hail — but added nothing to the official rain gauge near Sheppard Air Force Base.
The storm chasing frenzy is causing headaches for emergency personnel in severe weather situations, such as happened Sunday.
On several occasions Sunday, the control operator for Wichita County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARE), the volunteer storm spotter group, had to shoo amateur storm chasers from their closed radio frequency. But the main problem is traffic congestion as amateur chasers converge on roads where severe weather is developing.
"The country is inundated with these people," said Charlie Byars, who is ARES coordinator for nine North Texas counties."
"Safety is our main issue," said Byars, who noted that as many as 100 amateur storm chasers may converge on the area when the potential for tornadoes is high.
He said they will sometimes park in the middle of a road to watch and photograph an approaching storm. His group has begun calling law enforcement to clear away congested roads.
"We do not think storm chasing is a good idea," said Rick Smith, Warning Coordinator for the National Weather Service in Norman, Okla., the bureau responsible for Wichita Falls and much of North Texas. "We don't condone it."
To illustrate the potential danger of chasing, Smith points to an incident in May 2013 where four chasers were killed by tornadoes near El Reno, Oklahoma, two of whom were seasoned chasers.
"That's a sobering reminder that it's not as cool as it looks on TV, Smith said.
He said the tornado-chasing phenomenon began with the release of the movie "Twister," in 1996. The movie, which combined romance, villains, and unrealistic meteorology, glamorized tornado chasing. Since then, video captured by tornado chasers has become regular fodder on some cable TV channels.
Byars said some amateur chasers will drive hundreds of miles from their homes for a chance to photograph a tornado. The phenomenon seems to have special appeal to foreigners who do not have tornadoes in their own countries, he said.
One intruder on the spotter radio network Sunday was an Australian, who continued arguing against his exclusion from the frequency into Monday afternoon.
"We try to be nice. We hate to be rude," Byars said. "But we don't know who these people are or if they know what they're doing."
Intruders on the net are told they are welcome to listen — but not to talk.
In addition to tornado chasers, Byars tells of "tornado safaris" in which companies charge customers thousands of dollars to participate in a tornado hunt.
Storm spotters are different than storm chasers. Members of the local ARE undergo extensive weather and safety training and serve time as trainees until they qualify to spot storms on their own. Spotters are typically assigned to an observation point and move only when they're in danger or asked to mover by the network controller. Chasers actively pursue storms, sometimes at high speeds.
Smith praises the value of trained spotter groups such as the one in Wichita Falls, which he calls one of the best in the country.
"They are doing life-saving work," he said.
The spotter group here communicates with the weather service and with emergency managers in area communities who decide if storm sirens should be sounded. While weather technology has become sophisticated, no radar can "see" a tornado, Smith said. Confirming a twister depends human eyes on the ground.
Sunday night, radar had a strong indication one storm cell could become tornadic and the weather service issued a tornado warning for part of Wichita County. ARE spotters never saw a tornado and none was confirmed.
The Sunday storm produced strong wind and large hail in southwest Oklahoma and gave Wichita Falls 1.37 inches of welcome rain. Another storm before dawn Monday temporarily knocked out electricity to about 2,400 customers in the Wichita Falls area and dropped small hail — but added nothing to the official rain gauge near Sheppard Air Force Base.
