Long-time listener...first-time caller.
As both a Wichita Co. resident and a weather enthusiast, I must say I've got all kinds of thoughts and feelings about this.
Immediately, it was a sense of embarrassment for making "news" headlines is such a way. I was born in Wichita Falls - home of "Terrible Tuesday", of course, so severe weather has always been a topic of discussion growing up. As an adult, I have a wife and three daughters (soon to be four...
![Er... what? o_O o_O](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
). I'm responsible for the care and feeding of the technology for BCP/DR (Business Continuity Plan and Disaster Recovery) at work. If I am outside of my county checking out storms, I am always looking to add to my experience, so that if and when something's happening closer to home, I am better prepared. So I guess I have a lot of reasons to care about what's going on in the atmosphere, both in-county and beyond...
I'd honestly like to have some statistical data on storm chasers that:
A. Have their HAM radio license
B. Understand the "normal" check-in process
C. Do so in a polite, articulate manner
D. Care enough to offer to report what they see
E. Have enough knowledge to quickly exhibit they're adding value to the conversation and not getting in the way
1. How many chasers are out there in
2016 that fall into that venn diagram area of overlap?
2. How many of the "problem children" chasers don't?
I'd personally guess that there wouldn't be a ton of radio traffic added by such qualified individuals. Why can't it be quasi-open/closed, at the discretion of the net controller? Storm chasers are reporting to the NWS. The Wichita Co. ARES is reporting to the NWS via NWSChat...the same as local news media with their field reporters and/or mets that are...storm...chasing? The line gets really blurry, really fast.
Severe weather that begins outside of Wichita Co. can and does obviously have in impact on its residents...you know...since storms typically...move. If our ARES group is reading info on incoming storms via NWSChat that includes reports from chasers who reported them to other local spotter groups or reported them directly to the NWS, then why the heck not also hear it directly from the chaser who is likely to be already on the storm when it's entering the county??? e.g. "This is the storm's history from the ground truth perspective. This is what it looks like it's doing right now." Etc.
I have NO use for anyone on either "side" of this discussion that rolls with a selfish, know-it-all prideful attitude. Period. Whether it's a reckless storm chaser putting others in danger in the way they drive (or with billions of #lookatme lights and enough stickers to fit in with NASCAR)
or its a local storm spotter who wears their virtual #lookatme power trip merit badge on their puffed up chest, they're both being counterproductive.
Since the TRN article was posited around the notion that storm
spotters help the public and storm
chasers do not, I'm setting aside the chasing for pure enjoyment or meteorological studies to hone in on the public safety aspect.
I think in this instance, people are being so short-sighted in their efforts to serve the common
good that they're overlooking the common
best. When you sign up to join a local Skywarn group, you're almost assuredly partnering with local Emergency Management personnel because they recognize that they need help. So to take that context, that responsibility you've been handed, and not apply it beyond oneself - to essentially say "They need
ME, but they don't need
YOU and
I don't need
YOU because
I know best" is a second-to-none illustration of hypocrisy.
WE ARE ON THE SAME TEAM, DANG IT!!!
At this rate, I don't see myself looking to join our local ARES, but I'll still call the NWS OUN or FWD offices and post on social media.