Mike Peregrine
EF5
This was brought up in the 2/28 discussion thread. Since I feel like those threads should be reserved for event discussion and post-analysis, I thought I would bring the subject in here. The discusion in there leads me to believe that some of the same old rifts are still floating around between chasers, nets and mets - so I wanted to talk about it.
Warning: I'm going to go ahead and issue a High Risk on this thread for potential volatility.
First - here is the breakdown of what I believe on the subject, so we are clear:
*I still believe in reporting to the NWS. Not all the time, and not every time. But I do believe in it. If not during the event, or if I feel like the spotters have a good handle on what is going on, then I won't report at all until after the event, and then just with an email to the WCM with photos and what-not.
*I believe that ground truth reporting should be clear, concise and above all, accurate. When I call in a report I try to be as accurate as possible under whatever circumstances I'm confronted with.
In situations that are during the day and clearly lit, it's easy to stay calm and call in pure ground truth observation. But I've got to say that at night it's a whole other ball game, and my reports are filled with words like 'maybe' and 'possibly' and 'I can't quite make out what is going on at the ground'. Accuracy is still important, but unless a chaser happens to be sitting ten feet from the tornado, they are not going to be making out the same detail that is visible during the day. If, however, I feel like a situation is dangerous enough for some reason ... I'm getting clues that the storm is posing an imminent threat, then I will make sure my reports are STRONG enough to get that point across to whoever is looking at radar. My craziest report ever was on the Savannah tornado last year, but I had just barely survived a close encounter and had just witnessed peoples' lives being shattered right in front of me, and I was definitely rattled.
Going back to using 2/28 as an example, had I been on the storm as it produced initially near Colony - judging from the photos I've seen - I probably would have called in a 'very large tornado' at the least. But then I don't know ... because I WASN'T THERE.
I think the chasers who were there initially were AWESOME for calling in ANY reports, to TV or to the NWS. In fact, I think it's downright heroic and the ones who took the time to do it should be thanked for their service to the communities in the path of this thing. I got on the storm by the 3rd or 4th tornado and felt like the spotters had time to get up and operating by that point, so I really didn't feel the need to report at all. To me, it's not even my responsibility in the first place and I just do it out of a courtesy or sense of duty at times. Why? ... being that the NWS does not recognize chasers, has no official ties to chasers, does not train chasers per se, and refuses to acknowledge chasers until the time comes that chasers are the only ones calling in reports because the nets aren't on the scene, in my mind NOAA takes the position for the most part that chasers are a menace and prefers to turn their heads until they need something from them. So why should I bend over backwards exactly?
For me, EAX has been terrific. I know them, they know me, and I am confident in them. I have no problems calling anything in to them. Even if I'm mistaken on something and they need to rectify my error in judgment, I will still keep reporting, not because of the NWS, but because I feel responsible to the people around me. And in the middle of that extremely helpless feeling we get while watching nature's most powerful fury, it's the one little thing I can do. I just want to do something, whether it matters or not.
At this point I can honestly say that I've seen just about every shape, size and magnitude tornado this earth has to offer. I've been there under the storm base while the spotters are still getting their rigs ready. I've traveled with the storms through every little community on the way, leaving spotters behind each time, and just hoping that the next little town with 200 people has at least SOMEONE with a ham radio that will call in reports for them.
Anyway - here's my point with all this (I think). The problem isn't so much with the reports out there - it's actually with the relationships. The breach between chasers and spotters and their respective relationships to those on the warning side has gone on for years and years. We sweep it away, we don't talk about it, we ignore the jabs that the spotters take at chasers for being reckless and irresponsible, yadda yadda yadda. Meanwhile chasers will just keep making intercepts, keep learning about severe weather, and keep calling in reports - whether anyone officially wants us to or not. Even though they feel not only ignored - but downright persecuted at times. Is it any wonder why I feel no need to report at all sometimes?
ok ... have at it ...
Warning: I'm going to go ahead and issue a High Risk on this thread for potential volatility.
First - here is the breakdown of what I believe on the subject, so we are clear:
*I still believe in reporting to the NWS. Not all the time, and not every time. But I do believe in it. If not during the event, or if I feel like the spotters have a good handle on what is going on, then I won't report at all until after the event, and then just with an email to the WCM with photos and what-not.
*I believe that ground truth reporting should be clear, concise and above all, accurate. When I call in a report I try to be as accurate as possible under whatever circumstances I'm confronted with.
In situations that are during the day and clearly lit, it's easy to stay calm and call in pure ground truth observation. But I've got to say that at night it's a whole other ball game, and my reports are filled with words like 'maybe' and 'possibly' and 'I can't quite make out what is going on at the ground'. Accuracy is still important, but unless a chaser happens to be sitting ten feet from the tornado, they are not going to be making out the same detail that is visible during the day. If, however, I feel like a situation is dangerous enough for some reason ... I'm getting clues that the storm is posing an imminent threat, then I will make sure my reports are STRONG enough to get that point across to whoever is looking at radar. My craziest report ever was on the Savannah tornado last year, but I had just barely survived a close encounter and had just witnessed peoples' lives being shattered right in front of me, and I was definitely rattled.
Going back to using 2/28 as an example, had I been on the storm as it produced initially near Colony - judging from the photos I've seen - I probably would have called in a 'very large tornado' at the least. But then I don't know ... because I WASN'T THERE.
I think the chasers who were there initially were AWESOME for calling in ANY reports, to TV or to the NWS. In fact, I think it's downright heroic and the ones who took the time to do it should be thanked for their service to the communities in the path of this thing. I got on the storm by the 3rd or 4th tornado and felt like the spotters had time to get up and operating by that point, so I really didn't feel the need to report at all. To me, it's not even my responsibility in the first place and I just do it out of a courtesy or sense of duty at times. Why? ... being that the NWS does not recognize chasers, has no official ties to chasers, does not train chasers per se, and refuses to acknowledge chasers until the time comes that chasers are the only ones calling in reports because the nets aren't on the scene, in my mind NOAA takes the position for the most part that chasers are a menace and prefers to turn their heads until they need something from them. So why should I bend over backwards exactly?
For me, EAX has been terrific. I know them, they know me, and I am confident in them. I have no problems calling anything in to them. Even if I'm mistaken on something and they need to rectify my error in judgment, I will still keep reporting, not because of the NWS, but because I feel responsible to the people around me. And in the middle of that extremely helpless feeling we get while watching nature's most powerful fury, it's the one little thing I can do. I just want to do something, whether it matters or not.
At this point I can honestly say that I've seen just about every shape, size and magnitude tornado this earth has to offer. I've been there under the storm base while the spotters are still getting their rigs ready. I've traveled with the storms through every little community on the way, leaving spotters behind each time, and just hoping that the next little town with 200 people has at least SOMEONE with a ham radio that will call in reports for them.
Anyway - here's my point with all this (I think). The problem isn't so much with the reports out there - it's actually with the relationships. The breach between chasers and spotters and their respective relationships to those on the warning side has gone on for years and years. We sweep it away, we don't talk about it, we ignore the jabs that the spotters take at chasers for being reckless and irresponsible, yadda yadda yadda. Meanwhile chasers will just keep making intercepts, keep learning about severe weather, and keep calling in reports - whether anyone officially wants us to or not. Even though they feel not only ignored - but downright persecuted at times. Is it any wonder why I feel no need to report at all sometimes?
ok ... have at it ...
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