*New Users. Meet and Greet Area*

[curiousnoob]

Hello everyone. I live north of Indianapolis, IN and decided to join the board recently since I've decided that there is something that facinates me about weather. I am a partially disabled USAF veteran. Little over six years of service and have been stationed in San Antonio, TX; Biloxi/Gulfport, MS; Okinawa, Japan (spent 2 years there); and Minot, North Dakota for 3 years. Never storm chased there but, missed the Manchester, SD twister by a few days. Grew up in SW KY in Laurel County where an EF2 tornado killed several people last year. At any rate just on here to learn more about weather and I am thinking of majoring in Atmospheric Science at Purdue University.

 

[Karen St John]

Heyas! You're in striking distance of some stormage where you are, I'd say. Topography ain't so great, though, for chasing. Welcome!

 

[tylerpenland]

Howdy howdy everybody.
The name's Tyler. Been a weather geek for about as long as I remember. What do you need to know about me? Hmmmmm.
Currently getting a degree in physics at the University of North GA (formerly NGCSU) and starting at UAH in fall of '14 to get my met degree. SKYWARN spotter for FFC since 4/12/11, just a couple weeks before the outbreak. Never actually been on a chase before, unfortunately, but I've seen my fair share of funnels, and the EF3 that hit Mountain City, GA on 4/27 missed my house by less than 10 miles. Hopefully I'll be able to contribute some useful stuff here but mostly I'm here to learn. Look forward to posting and reading this board regularly from now on. I saw a couple names I recognize from over at TW, and I look forward to making new e-friends.
See you in the forums!

 

[curiousnoob]

Thank you. Indiana does has it fair share of severe weather though.

 

[Chris Cooper]

Hello everyone, my name is Chris Cooper. I'm a firefighter and also EMT in south east Missouri. I have been interested in weather most of my life but now I regularly get called out for weather watches I have become involved with learning more about the climate.
I have been reading various forums on here for a while and figured now would be a good time to join. I do know I'm a little ways from tornado alley but we have our fair share of severe weather. I witnessed a deadly tornado that came through a local community last year and since then I have wanted to help. My goal is to "chase" the storms when they aren't quite here and be able to report current conditions hopefully to help out. I have a lot to learn an this group seems like the very educated group to help guide the new weather enthusiast.
I am looking forward to meeting several people and if you ever happen to come through the area don't hesitate to stop. I don't know of anyone around here that actively goes out to chase the storms so if there is I would like to know and maybe ride with them sometime.

 

[Ryan Sandberg]

Hey my name is Ryan Sandberg. I am from the Minneapolis area but am currently in South Dakota finishing up my degree in journalism. I have been interested in weather as long as I can remember but didn't start following my passion until about a year ago. I am fairly new to storm chasing and don't have a lot of experience. I am trying to learn as much as I can from books, research and other people. I love taking pictures and video of weather. I wanted to be apart of this site so that I can learn from others who are more knowledgable than me and so I could talk about my greatest passion with others who also are passionate about the weather. I look forward to this new experience and hope to meet new people and learn as much as I can!

 

[Bob Hartig]

Welcome on board, Ryan!

 

[John Olexa]

Welcome to all the new members!

 

[Matt Cunningham]

Hello my name is Matt. I am new to storm chasing, well other than standing out side my house and watching them pass over. Or on the night of July 20th 2009 we got some nasty thunderstorms in Lakewood Colorado and what I believe was the birth of a tornado. All I think that turned out to be is ground circulation but never the full birth of a tornado. The news channel tried to play it off as straight line winds but I beg to differ.

Anyhow this really got me interested in storm chasing. Started watching storm chasers, as accurate or inaccurate as their info may actually be, I decided it was nothing short of awesome. Well I lived in Cali when I really started getting into it. But I have recently moved back to Colorado which in my book is the best place to live. I don't have to worry about tornados eating my house, and tornado ally is right in my back yard, or front yard depending on which way your facing.

Reguardless I am hoping to start out this year on my first official storm chase and eventually would love to study the powerful beasts of nature. Never actually seen a full tornado in person. Seen many funnel clouds messing with trees on mountain tops or hovering gracefully over the plains. I don't plan on getting super close this year but I am going to spend the $75 on grlevel 3 radar program and decent wifi for the car. I have been a self learner but in the same breath I would love to run with a professional chaser of some sort so I can learn a bit faster and more accurate.

Otherwise I think time in the field is the best teacher, other than understanding radar data to get to the storms that produce in the first place is also just as important.

Anyhow I will quit rambling. Looking foreward to great storm chases from here on out.



Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk 2

 

[Alex Heimberger]

Welcome to site Matt. Wanted to comment about the Colorado living. Agreed one of the best places to live in the U.S.A. . Depending on where you live in CO there could still be potential for tornadic activity. The Denver Convergence Vorticity Zone can spawn supercells. Really want to move out there myself.

There's many ways out there to learn more storm chasing before you head out this season. Right now it's prime time for nationwide Skywarn classes. You can learn the basics of severe weather & become a certified storm spotter for the NWS. The 15th annual National Storm Chaser Convention is this up coming weekend that is held in Denver, CO. with great line up of speakers from around the storm chasing & meteorological community. They're also having a forecast class that's really informative. Another is storm chasing tours from various company's that take people out each chase season. You can learn a lot from there well seasoned tour guides.

Have a safe & good time this spring/summer if you decide to head out to the plains.

 

[Matt Cunningham]

I live in Lakewood which I learned 4 years ago there is definitely a possibility of tornados where I live. But not as common at all as Denver and to the east.

The convention sounds interesting I might go depending on what kind of cash I have as well as what I am doing. I don't know if I work or not.

But if I have the time I will definately go. I also plan to live stream for those like my mother who wants to go but says she is too old .

Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk 2

 

[Raymond Mason]

Hello Storm Track members! I am Raymond Mason, I live in Nevada currently. I loved severe thunderstorms, tornados and weather for as long as I can remember. I have always wanted to go out chasing and save lives by data gathering. However, I don't have a drivers license due to insurance being at shark rates for my age (23). If I have the chance I would love to move to the midwest and chase storms as a hobby. Today I just passed the test on Spotter Network if that helps any. I used to want to study meteorology..However knowing it is a sub field of physics which involves calculus, chemistry and physics which is really heavy math based. My math is absolutely terrible, if I was better at math I would certainly try for it.

I could go on all day, I just love being here! I hope to get to know you all better, and being around people that have the same passion as I do.

 

[David Biggar]

Hey Storm Track-ers,

I am David Biggar from Northern California. I graduated from UC Davis with a BS in Atmospheric Science and now work at KCRA (Sacramento, CA) as a meteorologist. I have been on a few chase trips to the midwest doing various tasks (mainly learning and staying well out of people's way). This April I will probably return for another chase if I can cobble together the vacation time.

Since I was young, I have been into severe weather, and would geek out with any severe event, even if produced a single storm. Over the past few years at our station, I have been fortunate enough to deal with ~10-15 tornado warnings (including 7 in one day). For most of you east of the Rockies, you would get some good laughs out of what we consider good numbers for storms...CAPE of 300, LIs of +2 have us all sitting by doppler waiting. One of our mets was asked at a wx conference what his game plan would be with a CAPE of 4000: "I would have been on TV for the past month."

My first chase experience came in Creston, Iowa with my non-weather friend/driver. Was teaching him some basics on storm structure as a storm we were watching went tornado warned. It ended up producing a tornado but we were in a bad location to for viewing (wrong side of a hill...like the one hill we had encountered in that spot...and trees) so we missed all the good action. Not too bad after flying into STL the night before.

I look forward to getting to know some of you, and maybe we will run into each other on the hunt (in a good way).

If you need to contact me, drop a PM, I'll send email address...twitter is kcraBiggarWx (if I leave my station it will revert to BiggarWx).

 

[Bob Hartig]

Welcome, David! Nice to have a met join the crew. Good luck this season.

 

[David Biggar]

Thanks Bob! Many of you are lucky to be in areas that you can chase as needed, I have to schedule a trip and hope something will happen in the 1-2 week period.

Good luck to you too!