*New Users. Meet and Greet Area*

[Ryan Witek]

Good day, everybody! My name is Ryan Witek. I've kinda always been a "weather bug," and my interests have spiked in recent years as I have become a trained SKYWARN spotter, and begun working as a volunteer at NWS Chicago. Currently, I am 17 years old, and just graduated high school in Plainfield, IL. I will be attending the University of Oklahoma this fall majoring in meteorology while participating in the AF-ROTC program with hopes of graduating and becoming a Weather Officer in the United States Air Force. I'm always up for a good chase, and I've been waiting for an opportunity to head out this year. I look forward to working with others here in the StormTrack community in the coming years. Thanks for reading!

 

[Mikaela Norris]

Hey everyone! I'm Michael and have been interested in severe/ tropical weather for the better part of 20 years. I'm originally from Alabama, born in Mobile and raised in Montgomery, and so have experienced several tropical cyclones (most notably Cindy- 2005, Ivan- 2004, Danny- 1997 , and Opal- 1995 were still high end tropical storms to low end hurricanes when I experienced them) and severe weather events. For me, my interest actually started out as a pretty serious phobia when I was in 2nd grade. I was near Birmingham, AL, staying away from my parents for the first time, when the Oak Grove F5 hit back in 1998. Now the tornado didn't hit where I was, but seeing the panic of the people around me, the destruction on TV, and being an 8 year old who had never been away from home before, it was traumatizing. A few years later a small F1 came close to my school in Montgomery, did a bunch of tree damage and even blew the doors to the school wide open, which only reinforced my fear. But about a year after that, I saw a waterspout while at the beach, and it was absolutely beautiful. After that, my fear began to turn to interest which eventually led me to attend the University of South Alabama to major in meteorology back in 2008. Unfortunately, being a young and somewhat dumb 18 year old, I goofed off, lost my scholarship, moved home and so on. Currently I've been in the Air Force for about 2.5 years and am stationed in San Angelo, TX. I have stayed a trained storm spotter and gone on several small chases in the years since college. Now, being more mature and financially stable, I'm starting to get more serious about my weather obsession again. I'm going to try to find time for more chases and I want to eventually finish my degree. I'm looking forward to learning from all of you!

 

[Ed Tierney]

Hi everyone and thanks for the invite! My name is Ed Tierney and I'm from Oak Lawn IL, a suburb of Chicago. Some of you may recognize the town as it was hit by a tornado back in 1967. I got interested in weather from watching hurricanes and experiencing my first microburst back in 1998. I made it an ultimatum to understand this phenomenon and the storms that always scared me as a kid. Since then, I graduated with a degree in meteorology from Northern Illinois University back in 2015. My first chase on April 9th 2015 of that year was local and caught my first ever twister with The Rochelle/Fairdale event. I've only gone on one other chase and caught a weak EF1 just outside of Princeton IL on June 22nd, 2016 but cannot wait to get back out into the field! Can't wait to discuss and learn from all of you here!!

 

[Kimberley Fredenburg]

Hello! My name is Kimberley and I'm a graduate student at Purdue. I am actually an elementary teacher and am getting my graduate degree in educational psychology. However, during my undergrad, I took courses on weather and, this past month, I participated in a storm chasing course where I learned some of the basics of severe storms forecasting, administration of weather instruments such as radar and releasing windsondes, and got to practice these skills in the field. I have fallen in love with storm chasing and hope to make it something that I do during my summers. I am on here to become a part of a community that is also interested in storms. I am hoping to be able to work together with this community to find people to chase with or other opportunities for someone who did not get an in-depth education in meteorology to work in the weather field. Any advice or guidance would be appreciated!

 

[JamesCaruso]

Welcome Kimberley! You asked about opportunities to work in the weather field without a degree in meteorology... I am no expert on the weather field (I am a CPA [emoji19]), but I do know that social science is becoming more and more a part of the weather enterprise with regard to public outreach, how people respond to hazardous weather threats, and how warnings/hazards can be better communicated. I am no expert in your field of educational psychology either, but wondering if your field/skills might be somehow transferable enough to capitalize on that trend?

 

[Kimberley Fredenburg]

Welcome Kimberley! You asked about opportunities to work in the weather field without a degree in meteorology... I am no expert on the weather field (I am a CPA [emoji19]), but I do know that social science is becoming more and more a part of the weather enterprise with regard to public outreach, how people respond to hazardous weather threats, and how warnings/hazards can be better communicated. I am no expert in your field of educational psychology either, but wondering if your field/skills might be somehow transferable enough to capitalize on that trend?

Great idea! Most of my courses focus on research in general and also how students in classrooms learn best, but I do have the opportunity to take elective classes, so I will be on the lookout for courses that pertain to that. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Mike Denvers]

Hi, everyone! The name's Mike. I'm glad to have found this great online community. As a traveler and a photographer by heart, I'm a beginner when it comes to storm tracking and chasing. Would definitely love to learn more. Cheers!

 

[Marc R. O'Leary]

Hi, everyone! The name's Mike. I'm glad to have found this great online community. As a traveler and a photographer by heart, I'm a beginner when it comes to storm tracking and chasing. Would definitely love to learn more. Cheers!

Welcome Mike! For some reason, I feel like you should be chasing the colorado high plains.

 

[Chuck Griffin]

Hello I'm Chuck Griffin I'm from Racine, WI. I've always been interested in storm tracking and have decided to learn as much as I can. I'm new to the site and looking to jump in with both feet. Photography is a second hobby and plan to use what I learn to get some awesome photographs.

 

[Jeff House]

Welcome to the board Chuck. Today might feature a little action over on the west side of Wisconsin! Several active members are in Chicagoland, not too far, and a few are up in Wisc. Photography and weather go great together.

 

[Brian Bennington]

Good Morning Folks!
Semi new to the weather scene, more of a storm watcher vs chaser I guess. I live in the Rochester, NY along the lake so my main area of expertise would be the darn lake effect snow and the occasional micro-burst and pop-up thunderstorms. Looking to enhance my weather knowledge and eventually join the Western, NY Storm Tracker team as a spotter. I have taken the NWS Skywarn and various other online modules. Have a great day!

 

[Willard Sharp]

Hi, my name is Willard Sharp and I've been a member of this board for a couple of years, but really haven't posted anything. Time to change that up!

I'm a long time storm chaser and weather enthusiast based in Madrid, IA. I've chased storms off and on since 1990, but I really got into storm chasing on a regular basis once my kids grew up and I had more free time in my schedule in 2012. I get out often during the spring and summer to chase local setups in Iowa as well as the neighboring states. With a flexible work schedule and lots of vacation time built up I usually get out to the Great Plains and Southern Plains in May during my 2 to 3 week "Chasecation".

When I'm not chasing storms I'm looking for clear skies to photograph the Milky Way and the night sky. Once in a while I can combine both. Several storm chases have ended up as Milky Way photo shoot later in the evening.

Be sure to checkout my photography page http://willardsharpphotography.com/. All of my storm chasing and night skies photography go on this page. Along with a variety of other photos. Have a great weekend!

 

[Michael Towers]

Fantastic photos Willard, thanks for sharing and welcome to Stormtrack!

 

[LauraA]

Hi. My name is Laura and I live in Cullman, Alabama. I don't chase tornadoes but they seem to come here quite a bit. I've been an enthusiast for many years. I'm also a writer and working on a fictional story that involves meteorology. Looking forward to learning from everyone.

 

[Todd Lemery]

Welcome aboard Laura!