News DetailNational Weather Festival 2007
Posted At: October 20, 2007 @ 3:38 PM
Posted By: Reed Timmer
Related Categories: General
Here are some pictures from the National Weather Festival held earlier today at the NWC in Norman, OK, featuring a storm chaser car show, weather balloon launch, and several very informative presentations.
Here is the National Weather Center in Norman, OK, which houses the National Severe Storms Lab, Storm Prediction Center, National Weather Service Norman Office, and the OU School of Meteorology.
Above is one of the two "Smart-R" mobile doppler radars, which emits a radar beam with a 5 cm wavelength as compared to the 3 cm of the original DOWs...allowing for higher radar resolution given approximately the same size dish. The Smart-Rs have gathered data during several U.S. hurricane landfalls and many other weather events.
I was a little disappointed in the storm chaser car show overall, since there were only a few cars that entered, and most of them seemed to be local spotters or media chasers...Although a few of the cars were incredible. One family from Blackwell, OK, who entered their decked-out, red hummer in the competition, stated adamantly that they were storm spotters and not storm chasers, acting as if the latter label would be an insult. I'm thinking the only difference is that a spotter does not pursue the storm, but reports from a fixed location...so I'm not sure why she chased in a hummer, or entered the "storm chaser car show".
Here was the first of two attempted weather balloon launches...the one pictured here actually resulted in the balloon popping, but the second launch was a success.
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thats so kool and stuff reed and i heard another chnace of an outbreak this week or no?
Justin I don't think so...
The only thing I think we'll have an outbreak of is autumn leaves. ;)
The car show is my favorite part. hehe.
Hey guys.... police have just left me and my mum have to go to the station tomorrow to ve our finger prints cause we touched the back door handle so.... and i fount out they have the keys to the house and we cant get the dorrs changed for a few days so im kinda scared to say the least lol.....
Anyway yeh why did she eneter her car in a storm chaser car show if she was a spotter....and why need a car like that if you dont chase it lol..... looked like a great day out there though
Yikes Tim, be careful!
Reed, nice photos of the vehicles. I WANT!!!
Here is one of the best NWS event summaries I have ever seen concerning the tornado outbreak.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/iwx/?n=18oct07_tornado
I like the gray Tahoe the best I think... no, maybe the red Jeep... I can't decide ;)
Holy crap Tim. Be careful about that!
And I'm sure she was showing off the fact that she had a Hummer, which isn't that impressive a vehicle anyway. A stout Jeep would kick it's butt. hehe
Some of them cars look like complete junk!! hehe My ol Dodge woulda fit right in!! AJ Your absolutely right about ho hummers!! Unless they're the real deal they're garbage!! It's just a 6.0 small block and not even an Allison tranny!! =(
They look like a Tahoe with monkey bars on the bottom!! Just a bunch of plastic and electronic CRAP your paying for!!
What Happened Tim?? Is everyone alright??
haha. Agreed Brady ;) I think we'll both stick to our Dodge pickups.
I"ll be back later guys!
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Hey Brady and AJ....yeh everyone is ok thanks it a case of what could of been then what happened thankfuly.....
lol AJ, i kinda like hummers i have to say, but that is just cause ive seen a strecthed one lol, looked pretty cool :P
Our (dark blue) Dodge is *very* chaser-decked-out. I slapped a big yellow SKYWARN sticker on the back bumper and ever since, people know I mean business. It's EXTREME. I think next I'll get a siren.
Tim! AAAAAAAA!!!!!! Seriously! =-O
Hey Heidi...yeh really it did happen but no one was hurt lol...
That's awesome Heidi!! I need a CB with a PA! I have a lil 40ch Cobra!! but no PA!! hehe
Hey, what's wrong with 6.0's?
My '01 Suburban 2500 w/ 33's does just fine with it. 325 Hp stock is not too bad.
Tim, chances are pretty good that nothing will happen, but an aunt of mine had the same thing happen and they did come back. Lucky for her they got scared off by a neighbor's dog. Either way, be careful and hide the kitchen knives somewhere in case someone is looking for a weapon. Not trying to scare the crap out of you.
Reed ,
What did you think of the convertable ! I would love to see him in a hail core !!! What did you think of KOCO not showing for the first W/B launch. My kid's love seeing Dorthy from Twister , for me it was T.O.T.O. !
Have fun ya'll !!!
Jason Young
Sulphur, Oklahoma
Im out for the night guys, speak to ya'll later have a good one see ya!
KOCO didn't show for the first one?? I barely made it...unfortunately I accidentally slept through all the talks at the beginning!
Tim I hope things are ok over there...definitely sounds intense.
Question: Does anyone dare venture into mexico to quest the huge supercells ive read about? given right conditions that would be some heavy footage. I know the border area by texas is pretty unstable (people wise), I guess that could be a factor.
Hey guys! Wassup?
Anybody remember seeing this on tv about Moore 99 and tornado season 99 overall?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEW5UCIMyrQ&mode=related&search=
Tim...Good luck there..Hope everything goes well.
Jon did you watch my video, go on msn too btw.
Brady, Snow's suppose to come on the 30th, 31st, 2nd and 3rd. I'll try to get you some nice snow pictures, and you too Reed.
Brady, the PA system is a great idea. I definitely need one of those, so I can just drive past people's houses going AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA instead of calling to tell them to put their hot-rod under their carport because of possible hailstorms. :D
Hey Andy...we've been tempted to cross the border for years now. We went down to near the Rio Grande back in 2000, but decided to chase in TX instead. It seems that every time we go down there, it either doesn't pan out or conditions look better in the states...and then the best storms are in Mexico. This was definitely the year for that area.
The road network is actually not that bad, but almost all the roads are dirt, with the exception of a few highways.
I know the COD tour group crossed the border for an event this year, but didn't get anything good.
Haha!! Ya need a REAL LOUD one too!!
Strike: I'm not saying the 6.0 chev is junk!! I'm just saying that Hummer could do a lil better for a $50K vehicle!! At least a big block!! Obviously someone who buys an H2 is not worried about gas prices! Which a 6.0 is probably the best V8 for that!!
Yeah, makes sense... Im looking forward to next year, I hope things go well for TV.
Why do storm chasers need to make their vehicles look like the Ecto 1?? Doesn't a cell phone and a laptop pretty much cover needed equiptment??
Just a lil TV.net sticker is all I need!! hehe Nothing big, just a lil one for the back window!!
We'll make that happen for you Brady in time for next storm season..we also wear tv.net bike helmets during big hail days.
Have you ever thought about crossing the border to chase andy? Good luck to you too next year...hopefully we'll get a another fall chase before winter..
Oh yeah!! I need one of them too!! I have some snowmobile helmets!! The old bubble kind too!! hehe Hell I'll just suit up in the ol hockey pads!! hehe too bad I out grew em when I was 14!!
Hey guys! Yeah I went to the national weather service festival today, and it was so cool!!! The first weather balloon launch was hilarious! Yeah I agree with Reed, the storm chaser car show wasn't impressive. Most of them werent even storm chasers! Oh and there was this ball inside of the national weather service and it showed graphicasts, radar imagery and stuff. I have so many pictures..... If only I knew how to upload them.
Have you guys checked out the temps for next week? Highs are expected to be in the 50's!!! brrrr!
Reed, nice pictures! The festival looks like it was fun and interesting.
LMAO! Dude, dont take this the wrong way but all those vehicles look like Ecto-1 rejects from Ghostbusters LMAO!
I agrre Matt!! I don't get the lights and all!! It's not like they have extra authority on the streets or something!! I get bad enough looks from people while I'm standing on the side of the road snapping pics!!
I don't know if ya guys know this, but a lot of people think storm chasers are nerds!! In some cases they're right!! hehe
Cmon... let's try to prove them wrong now!! I think we do a good job here of keeping out the nerdy!! hehe
Guys I made a new Website AGAIN, I need to stop making new ones but anyway...This is my final one. I have a link page with 4 or 5 different websites.
Reed I have 6 bateries left, and I'm saving them for Oct 30th-31st, Nov 2nd-3rd!I promise ya some snow pic's!!!
Morning guys....
Looks as if it could be another quiet day, SPC doesn't predict much happening
Just a 70% chance of more rain here!! =( Do'nt ask why I'm still up!! psyco is on AMC!!
lol Brady yeh you are up pretty late, well i guess pretty early now lol, just watching some of your vids there ace.....and yeh those clouds dark but the scuds coming off them look ace
Nice photos, I wish I was able to be there, looks interesting!
My chasing vehicle is a VW Polo 4 (9n), not that big, but I would say it's enough.
Some videos from the Central US Outbreak:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAq1ap_nRuc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS7m3RbpHU4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNjWrvOaw24
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DIgXL5IawY
Severe Weather Update for Europe (with a nearly high risk (level 3) threat) for the Greece, Crete, western Turkey and the Aegean Sea region:
http://www.estofex.org
Okay, a high risk (level3) is issued for portions of S / E Greece, the Aegean Sea and extreme western Turkey with possible severe wind gusts over 33 m/s and an enhanced large hail/tornado threat. For more informations click on the link.
What's cool about the red jeep is that it only cost about 3 grand to build and despite having 188k miles it is still a strong runner. Also the Hummer was an H3 with the inline 5. I thought all of the vehicles were cool with the exception of 4's and 9's.