Bryan Stokes
EF3
Hello Everyone,
My name is Bryan and I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. My wife and I are both in the Air Force and live in Wichita, Kansas. For many years, we both worked at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. She flew lightweight military jump aircraft and I worked as a parachuting instructor. It’s this love of jumping and flying that first drew us to study weather many years ago. We both have had extensive training and hands-on experience in aviation weather. From 2000-2005, I studied “Understanding the Sky†by Dennis Pagen so I could better understand microclimatology in mountain environments.
In 2006, Jennifer and I relocated to Wichita, Kansas. In January of 2008, my desire to learn about severe weather began to surface. It started mostly with internet research (which is where I became hooked on Stormtrack) and then I took a basic spotter course with the Sedgwick County Emergency Management office. Throughout the 2008 spring chase season, my wife and I armchair-chased from our computer every chance we could, and once we began to understand the mechanics, we started heading out into the field. Never wanting to overextend ourselves, we maintained safe positions relative to the storm and spent the majority of our time learning to identify the various features we were observing. We were awed by the power and beauty of Mother Nature.
We are now hooked on weather. Our motives are to continue learning how severe weather forms, learn about forecasting, chase as often as possible, and capture beautiful imagery through photography. Stormtrack has been invaluable and I am excited to be a part of this wonderful online community.
As for 2009, we are both attending the National Storm Chaser Convention next weekend and could not be more excited. I plan on chasing as often as possible, to include a 10-15 day chase vacation in May.
At any rate, I don’t want to talk everyone’s ear off on my first post, but I did want to make a good introduction. I look forward to spending a lot of time here, contributing with meaningful posts, and hopefully meeting many of you throughout the Great Plains!
Bryan
My name is Bryan and I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. My wife and I are both in the Air Force and live in Wichita, Kansas. For many years, we both worked at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. She flew lightweight military jump aircraft and I worked as a parachuting instructor. It’s this love of jumping and flying that first drew us to study weather many years ago. We both have had extensive training and hands-on experience in aviation weather. From 2000-2005, I studied “Understanding the Sky†by Dennis Pagen so I could better understand microclimatology in mountain environments.
In 2006, Jennifer and I relocated to Wichita, Kansas. In January of 2008, my desire to learn about severe weather began to surface. It started mostly with internet research (which is where I became hooked on Stormtrack) and then I took a basic spotter course with the Sedgwick County Emergency Management office. Throughout the 2008 spring chase season, my wife and I armchair-chased from our computer every chance we could, and once we began to understand the mechanics, we started heading out into the field. Never wanting to overextend ourselves, we maintained safe positions relative to the storm and spent the majority of our time learning to identify the various features we were observing. We were awed by the power and beauty of Mother Nature.
We are now hooked on weather. Our motives are to continue learning how severe weather forms, learn about forecasting, chase as often as possible, and capture beautiful imagery through photography. Stormtrack has been invaluable and I am excited to be a part of this wonderful online community.
As for 2009, we are both attending the National Storm Chaser Convention next weekend and could not be more excited. I plan on chasing as often as possible, to include a 10-15 day chase vacation in May.
At any rate, I don’t want to talk everyone’s ear off on my first post, but I did want to make a good introduction. I look forward to spending a lot of time here, contributing with meaningful posts, and hopefully meeting many of you throughout the Great Plains!
Bryan
I am from Phoenix, AZ and am highly interested in learning about chasing among many other things.
Me and my friend Casper (also from the Netherlands) have chased for two seasons now. We'll be chasing the planes again the last two weeks of May this year. Although the waterspouts can be quite lovely in Holland, nothing beats the real stuff across the Atlantic!
