Larry J. Kosch
EF2
Lightning and Stormtrack
I can remember from my youthful days when I would spend half the night at my bedroom window. I watched the rain fall, the trees swayed in the wind, the lightning bolts flashed thru the skies. I felt the rumble of the thunder thru the glass panes. Yet I was not able to hear the thunder.
You see I had deafness in both ears since I was affected by Mennigitis at the age of one. Yes I was able to hear eventually with the use of hearing aids. Later in life I got a cochlear implant, which improved my hearing ability greatly.
I've always watched the METs on TV when they come on to give their weather forecasts. Later, I became fascinated with tornadoes after hearing about storm damages in the news. Yet I have a respect for the storms when it comes to fatalities.
In spite of living in Nebraska, which is well within the "Tornado Alley" area, for most of my 50 plus years of life, I have never seen a tornado on the ground. I was able to see a couple of funnel clouds and my mom got to call in a tornado report once. Funny.
She made the mistake of calling a local radio station to make the report. They actually put her on hold! Then she called the county sheriff's office. Minutes later, that same radio station broke into their music show to report a tornado warning. 
I became aware of this Stormtrack website back in 2004 and participated in the forums. I remembered seeing a storm coming thru Lincoln NE about that time that had a wall cloud, but no tornado touchdown. It was the near-miss by that Alvo supercell, which made Mike Hollingshead famous for his OMGs, that really perked up my interest.
But since I didn't get to go on storm chases, my interest in storms waned. It was not until this past year that my interest picked up. And I became an active participant in Stormtrack. Perhaps for the next storm chase season, I may pay for my life-time membership and hook up with someone for a storm chase or two.
I have been reading the forums, browsing thru a few storm handbooks, and recently bought the Forecast Simulator software to work on my storm setup analysis. Still don't know how to read a sounding map? Any help?? I also have a good photography and video camera experience from my years of work as a newspaper journalist. Back in 2004, I did some now-casting for a couple of storm chasers. With today's technology, that's probably a thing of the past.
Sorry this turned into a life story. But that's how some of storm chasers have their early beginnings. And some have made it a life long dedication to understand and learn more about Mother Nature's fury.
Feel free to PM me with any questions or comments. Thanks.
I can remember from my youthful days when I would spend half the night at my bedroom window. I watched the rain fall, the trees swayed in the wind, the lightning bolts flashed thru the skies. I felt the rumble of the thunder thru the glass panes. Yet I was not able to hear the thunder.
You see I had deafness in both ears since I was affected by Mennigitis at the age of one. Yes I was able to hear eventually with the use of hearing aids. Later in life I got a cochlear implant, which improved my hearing ability greatly.
I've always watched the METs on TV when they come on to give their weather forecasts. Later, I became fascinated with tornadoes after hearing about storm damages in the news. Yet I have a respect for the storms when it comes to fatalities.
In spite of living in Nebraska, which is well within the "Tornado Alley" area, for most of my 50 plus years of life, I have never seen a tornado on the ground. I was able to see a couple of funnel clouds and my mom got to call in a tornado report once. Funny.
She made the mistake of calling a local radio station to make the report. They actually put her on hold! Then she called the county sheriff's office. Minutes later, that same radio station broke into their music show to report a tornado warning. I became aware of this Stormtrack website back in 2004 and participated in the forums. I remembered seeing a storm coming thru Lincoln NE about that time that had a wall cloud, but no tornado touchdown. It was the near-miss by that Alvo supercell, which made Mike Hollingshead famous for his OMGs, that really perked up my interest.
But since I didn't get to go on storm chases, my interest in storms waned. It was not until this past year that my interest picked up. And I became an active participant in Stormtrack. Perhaps for the next storm chase season, I may pay for my life-time membership and hook up with someone for a storm chase or two.
I have been reading the forums, browsing thru a few storm handbooks, and recently bought the Forecast Simulator software to work on my storm setup analysis. Still don't know how to read a sounding map? Any help?? I also have a good photography and video camera experience from my years of work as a newspaper journalist. Back in 2004, I did some now-casting for a couple of storm chasers. With today's technology, that's probably a thing of the past.
Sorry this turned into a life story. But that's how some of storm chasers have their early beginnings. And some have made it a life long dedication to understand and learn more about Mother Nature's fury.
Feel free to PM me with any questions or comments. Thanks.
). There was a Palo Verde tree 5 feet from our kitchen window and I couldn't even see it- total whiteout. I just kept thinking "God I hope the bathroom window doesn't break". I remember just about every single telephone pole along Deer Valley road was busted off at ground level. Our power was out for a few days, and temps were around 100, and humidity was through the roof. I really miss the "after the storm" effect that goes on after a desert storm. Especially the greasewood bushes. "memories" lol
