Quantum Physics and Storm Chasing

[StephenLevine]

According to quantum physics, there is an intimate relationship between the observer and that which is observed, such that the observer actually by their presence exerts an influence on the observed event and thereby changes it's original configuration.
I am curious if any of you fellow chasers have had any experiences to this effect while tracking and intercepting storms.
I first noticed this sometimes during my lightning bolt chases in the 1970's when storms seemed to suddenly strengthen 2 or 3 miles to my West, climax overhead then suddenly fade when passing off to my East. I wondered then, if my energy somehow contributed to the configuration of the storm.
In short, do any of you experience a consistant pattern or relationship with storms during your intercepts, either positive or negative. Also if that pattern changed, were there any corresponding inner changes in your attitude or mental posture that coincided with these outer changes, beyond merely perfecting the science of forecasting or improving your real time data?

 

[Robert Dewey]

Yeah, storms tend to weaken when they go over me, LOL...

I don't really think that the microscale effects of a single human would affect a severe thunderstorm so much that you would actually notice it... I don't really think that one single proverbial "butterfly" will do much but shift a few atoms around, but the more "butterflies" you have, the higher the odds of it altering the environment. Of course, that can't be proven, because you can't go back in time to test it, and you can't have a "control", as one variable will always be different - Time. The chaos theory is good for this...

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

I used to think I could control the wind a bit...like I was the "wind man", but I was 6 or 7 then. It was and still would be self-entertainment.

In other news...... I noticed that the days I unwillingly noticed cow sex I had follow up busts the same days. If I see it now I turn around right away and start thinking up other plans for the day.

 

[Tim Stoecklein]

Originally posted by Mike Hollingshead
In other news...... I noticed that the days I unwillingly noticed cow sex I had follow up busts the same days. If I see it now I turn around right away and start thinking up other plans for the day.

No wonder EF doesn't get any weather in Michigan :lol:

Tim

 

[David Wolfson]

It's a fact that tornados are much more prevalent in the United States, where people drive on the right side of the road, than in the United Kingdom. :wink: :roll:

 

[Mike Johnston]

Physics and Tornadoes

There is a saying "you get what you measure." Widely used in business, I believe this wisdom applies to scientific observation to a far greater extent than perhaps many scientists would care to acknowledge. Think about it - if our limits of understanding are largely defined by our observational instruments, and we humans create the instruments, then what we "scientifically observe" will be, in large part, a reflection of ourselves, with all the limitations that implies. It is no wonder that many of our quantum leaps in scientific understanding have been through great intuitive "ah ha" moments rather than ever-increasing precision of our instruments.

I predict the true breakthrough in our understanding of tornadogenesis will not come about through more and better observational instruments, but rather by a theoretical leap, most likely akin to quantum mechanics and our holographic understanding of the workings of the universe.

 

[Jeff Wear]

Two things that come to mind.....

1) The observer's perspective of the storm is constantly changing as the storm moves past. I'm inclined to believe any perceived change in intensity of the storm is more likely due to this change in perspective than an actual change in the storm's intensity.

2) People tend to have better memories of events that fit some sort of preconceived pattern - and tend to ignore the ones that don't.

Given how many derechos and long track tornadoes there have been in history that have gone through populated areas with little change in intensity, I'd be inclined not to believe an observer would have any affect on a storm simply by being there.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

The only thing I notice is that when I'm getting lightning video, the lightning either completely stops or moves to a totally different part of the sky as soon as the tripod is set up. Just coincidental, but happens almost every time. It also seems inevitable that as soon as I'm set up in the hook, the rotation gets pretty unimpressive until the moment the rain wrap approaches, when the storm gets with it and produces a tornado, now in low contrast. It's pretty tough to keep the position just right the entire time. Position is everything, and mine is usually bad, seems like.

 

[fplowman]

when i was a boy and id go into the woods.. them squirells would be running through the tree limbs like it was the national squirell symposium and convention. Id think to myself .. wow.. Im a gonna come back here with my squirell rifle..

So a day or two later I come back.. bout the same time of day.. guess what .. them lil bastards was nowhere to be seen.. maybe it was the national squirell convention?? .. Maybe it was your there quantum physics explanation. :lol: hehehe