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*New Users. Meet and Greet Area*

Welcome Stephen, thats a spooky story you have there and Im sorry for the loss.

I dont want to pretend like I know what happened....maybe a date would help? If it was a hot summer day...maybe some sort of heat related vortex was generated [similar to a dust devil] and given the weak structure you described in the roof, was enough to do damage. If your close to the ocean maybe an interaction between an inbound ocean breeze and the mean wind could have caused something as well. There are many possibilities.

Anyways, welcome aboard.
 
Newbie, and a silly question...

Hey all, I just wanted to introduce myself...I'm James Gilbert, I'm from West Virginia (the BEST area for chasing storms!:p) and I'm new here. I'm a substitute teacher, work in the only grocery store in town, as well as being a "newly wed", so my free time is anything but free. I enjoy all I do, but from the time I was a little kid, I've been interested in storms. It's only within the last 5 years or so that my interest in the meteorology part of the storms have really taken hold, so I'm still a newcomer at this addicting pasttime called Storm Chasing. I've chased a couple garden-variety storms here in the beautiful Mountain State, but nothing to write home about. I've browsed the threads for a while, and now seem to have plucked up the courage to ask a question that is probably pretty silly to all here (though the forum said there were "No Dumb Questions." I guess I'm putting that to the test!)
Anyway, my question is aimed at one of the basics of forecasting...plotting contour lines on a METAR chart/hand analysis. Looking at the Surface/Dew Point temps and such, I see MANY temps that are close but I have no idea on where or how to plot the contour lines on the chart. I've read several online tutorials, as well as owning three of Tim's great books (Storm Chasing/Forecasting Handbook/WX Map book), but I just can't seem to pick it up. I don't know if I'm just looking at it wrong, or what, but any assistance you all could help me with would be great. I'm one that will look and look and not see it, but once prodded in the right direction, will pick it right up. I'm a fast learner, and hope you all can help me out a little bit.
Thank You!!
 
Here's the only story I found on it. Although it says my buddy hid under a car.. it was on 5/19/2003

http://www.biblenews1.com/history3/20030520.htm (only news i can find on it, this site is a religious site, sorry in advance for the content. Unfortunately this type of explanation is good enough for the people in my area.)

May 19 (Day 139, Sin Unto Death): A lone whirlwind on a clear day hunted down the owner of a garage in Lebanon, Maine and killed him. The owner, Danny Lehoux, 51, was left dead in a pile of rubble when the building collapsed on him like a house of cards. The only other employee, Ron Prive, who was outside saw the dust devil, approaching Vintage Auto Body and Sales on US Highway 202 about 1:20 PM EDT (1720 GMT). Prive yelled at Lehoux and then took cover under a car. At the time of his death, Lehoux was in mourning for his own son, Jodie, 34, who died unexpectedly last week in Kansas. The cause of death had not yet been determined. Lehoux lived with his wife, Gale, adjacent to the body shop.
Click to expand...

They say it was a dust devil or whirlwind. This area is heavily wooded, my friend says he just saw debris flying around. Unfortunately the article above isn't a reputable source, just a local religious website where they try and blame it on god and Palestine, as seen in the final words on that webpage.

Here's the SPC data for that particular day
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/030519_rpts.html
 
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Are you talking about isotherms (temps) or Isobars (pressure)?

Me I use a SLP LAWC (Local Area Weather Chart) here is one for your area

http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/surface/sfc_bwi.gif

If you are trying to plot pressure connect the dots every (at least) 4mbs (millibars) I like to use even numbers.
So if you show 241 that is 1024.1mbs find the next 1024 and draw a line to it. If you don't see another 1024 you can draw the line between values that would have 1024 between them. For instance if you have a 226 and a 258 you can draw a 240 line between these values. Also when you are connecting the dots be sure to TRY and stay with the wind flow (unless there are mountains in the area)
It will take some time but after a while you will get the hang of it. When I plot a LAWC I run every 2mbs (unless the pressure gradient is very tight)

As for temps it is the same...just connect the dots...plot every 5ºF and you should see the range of temps come together.
Same with DewPoints (isodrosotherms)

I may fire up my adobe captivate and throw together a tute on this.

If you have any other questions please let me know. I will try to help in any way that I can. Plottoing LAWCs (Surface Charts) is a LOST art, so glad to see an interest in this.
 
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Welcome Stephen. Can I crash on your floor if I'm ever chasin' up in Maine? ;)
 
Welcome aboard, Stephen. We're glad to have you :)

Lebanon, Maine, eh? That's Stephen King's territory there... and that excerpt from that religious website reads like something ripped right out of one his stories... very strange, indeed. ;)
 
That makes total sense! Thanks Aaron! I saw those numbers, and I wondered if that was what they were there for, but I was hesitant to "jump in" and do it and get used to doing it wrong. You really cleared that up, and I'm gonna go practice on some charts, local and random. Thanks again!
 
Yeah I know, pretty corny up here :)

and if anyone is chasing storms up here in Maine, my floor is open to all :p I'm sure it would be pretty fun if snow is your thing. ;)

The day a twister comes tearing through the mountains up here I'll make sure I got the HD cam and D80 ready to go hehe :)

and thank you all for the warm welcoming, this site is very mature and a great knowledgebase. I can't wait for the spring! I'm considering a tornado tour vs going out on my own first. Preferably a tour were I could learn a great deal from the guides. Any suggestions?
 
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JGilbert said:
That makes total sense! Thanks Aaron! I saw those numbers, and I wondered if that was what they were there for, but I was hesitant to "jump in" and do it and get used to doing it wrong. You really cleared that up, and I'm gonna go practice on some charts, local and random. Thanks again!
Click to expand...

Your welcome :D I am glad that I could help. If you have any other questions please post away ;)
 
Welcome to the site. There are many storm chasing tours out there, you just need to find one that is in your budget and go :D

I will say this, if you can get to Denver in Feb I would HIGHLY recommend that you attend the National Storm Chasers Convention. You will learn alot and get to know a great family of storm chasers and other weather professionals.
I will not be there (I will be in a USAF school) but I greatly enjoyed it when I did attend.
 
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Well, I tried some yesterday, and while my lines aren't as "smooth" as I'd like them, and I made several errors along the way, it at least makes sense and with more practice, I'll become more fluent with it. Thanks for the welcome guys, and I look forward to using this winter as an opportunity to increase my WX knowlege 10-fold.
 
Aaron Wesson said:
Welcome to the site. There are many storm chasing tours out there, you just need to find one that is in your budget and go :D

I will say this, if you can get to Denver in Feb I would HIGHLY recommend that you attend the National Storm Chasers Convention. You will learn alot and get to know a great family of storm chasers and other weather professionals.
I will not be there (I will be in a USAF school) but I greatly enjoyed it when I did attend.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info Aaron. Sounds like a good time and great opportunity to meet the family. I will definitely try and make this trip.
 
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