VORTEX2

[David Schuttler]

What's with the WC people calling it a wedge?

 

[Larry J. Kosch]

A wedge is a wedge...

It appears that after the tornado formed, it quickly grew into a wedge while it was rain wrapped. I believe Dr. Greg Forbes on the WC used that term. Then when the rain wrap lifed, the funnel had slimmed down into a "stove-pipe" and "elephant trunk". Again I'm using their terms. not my own.

For some people. a "wedge" is a tornado that is extremely wide, like at least a mile wide. What the WC people saw was a basic stovepipe/wedge combo.

Congrats to the Vortex2 team for bagging a "textbook" tornado. It was a perfect setup, out in the country, clear visibility, little or no property damage. The data sets they got from this "Perfect" tornado will keep researchers busy for years to come!!

 

[Jason McKittrick]

If they had wedge video they should have shown it because I believe the definition is very clear that in order to be considered a wedge it must be wider than it is tall, not just the shape of a wedge. I am sure that we have all gotten excited however when seeing a large cone such as the one they showed and incorrectly referred to is as a wedge. However, sitting in the WC studios far from the excitement in the field I would expect a little more from Dr. Forbes.

 

[Jay McCoy]

I agree with Jason that greg blew that call. At no time was this a wedge. A huge cone/elephant trunk yes but no wedge. I really do people would start geting this correct. I cant tell you how many times I have heard "wedge" used when its just a big cone or tube.

understand --- wedge = short and wide. It must be wider than it is tall..period..

I also heard the WC reporter say we have "a funnel on the ground". isnt that a tornado???

 

[Dean Baron]

Quick question. Just wondering when the V2 project is done for this season. If I remember correctly it was like June 10th, but I want to know exactly so I know what to expect on chases for the rest of the month.

 

[Kenny Drake]

Quick question. Just wondering when the V2 project is done for this season. If I remember correctly it was like June 10th, but I want to know exactly so I know what to expect on chases for the rest of the month.

I believe the last chase day for V2 this year is this Saturday (the 13th of June).

 

[Bill Hark]

Now that I am back from my chase trip, I had the opportunity to watch some of The Weather Channels coverage of VORTEX 2 in action. They were on the La Junta supercells yesterday evening. They broadcast the storms live and gave extended views of the changing storms. TWC switched between the live view and radar images and there was a very detailed discussion between Mike Bettes and Dr. Greg Forbes. The storms were changing and they were pointing out features in the storms and how those relate to tornado potential. This was rather in-depth for The Weather Channel. I almost felt like I was there watching the storms and deciding how to position myself. I will miss this when they go back to gardening and rain showers. I hope TWC follows VORTEX again next year. Impressive coverage!

Bill Hark

 

[Andrew Stoller]

Anyone know where V2 will target today for their last operations of 2009?

 

[Pat Darrow]

Bettes was talking this morning of a northern TX or eastern CO play. They were in Seward County, KS over night.

 

[Stephen Barabas]

Has VORTEX 2 considered the use of aircraft to probe into Supercell storms? I'm sure that's out of the question with the intense updraft and other meteorological factors. But I thought back on hurricane hunters and felt maybe the methodology could be applied there as well. Money is a factor as well. . . at least they have those model airplanes to fly around.

 

[Aaron Kennedy]

The quick answer is yes. Eldora (P3 with airborne radar) was supposed to be out there, but I assume it got nixed due to funding. I recall someone saying that for the same cost of Eldora, you could operate a fleet of MMs. UAVs were also supposed to be operational, however, the FAA has nixed that for now.

 

[Scott Nelson]

Although the 2009 Vortex Crew had a slow start to their 2 year (season) study, I'm glad they had at least one quality tornado to study along with thier numerous "I think I cans... but didn't."

That said--- I didn't read many complaints about chasers and the caravan running into each other once the project was under way. Hopefully some props will be given out and thier effort in 2010 will go just as smooth.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

The quick answer is yes. Eldora (P3 with airborne radar) was supposed to be out there, but I assume it got nixed due to funding. I recall someone saying that for the same cost of Eldora, you could operate a fleet of MMs. UAVs were also supposed to be operational, however, the FAA has nixed that for now.

The UAV was nixed by the FAA? When did that happen? Last I heard they had COAs from the FAA for much of western Nebraska. Did they get revoked or something?

I'm wondering if they're going to have Eldora next year -- I heard whoever was in the SPC modified ambulance (Wicker?) mention something over the radio about not being able to wait for next year's "repeater aircraft". He may have been joking, though; they seem to have a lot of in-jokes.

That said--- I didn't read many complaints about chasers and the caravan running into each other once the project was under way. Hopefully some props will be given out and thier effort in 2010 will go just as smooth.

That reminds me of a funny morning briefing slide by Erik Rasmussen:

 

[Dustin Wilcox]

Overall I was able to avoid vortex 2 for a good deal of the season, though I did see a select few STOOPID moves by members of Vortex 2 crew, sadly including the Bone Head of the Year move... Though overall I was somewhat impressed with how out of the way they seemed to be, seemed they were busy enough and spread out enough with their "tasks" that all went smoothly, excluding the one idiot and his extremely dangerous Bone Head of The Year move, I'd say they were Great and give props to vortex 2 members for sharing the road...

 

[Aaron Kennedy]

Last I heard they had COAs from the FAA for much of western Nebraska. Did they get revoked or something?

Well I'm not the one with the details Best I can tell, however, is when we were in that neck of the woods, I didn't see or hear anything about the UAVs?