Very rude skywarn guy

[poppafred]

Thousands of dollars in radio and computer equipment lying in plain sight in the front seat of this spotters car and the poster can't understand why someone, in this day and age, would roll up their window and not talk to a total stranger who seems MUCH too interested?

Duh, yeah!

If I am out spotting and you walk up on my car uninvited and start acting the least bit strange, you might see me pick up my Ruger P-45 and lay it in my lap. People are being robbed for pocket change & cell phones these days and high end electronics are a sweet target.

I am a spotter and I personally don't want to become a robbery victim.

 

[blueangel-eric]

I think this thread has gone far enough!!!!

 

[kc2rgw]

I went to the NWS course out of curiosity. It was a disappointment. Anyone with any science background at all, even in the slightest, that watches the weather channel or listens to NOAA already knows that "dime sized hail" is the size of....SURPRISE! a dime.

With all the hype people make of it, I really expected them to get into the dynamics inside a funnel cloud or the forces involved in fueling a hurricane....it was a very dumb course. "Put a rain gauge in your yard...when it says 1", you got 1" of rain". Very very dumb and a waste of my time honestly. Nice of the guy to come out and give the course though.

We're lucky in NJ that there is pretty much no need for Skywarn except for people to build their certificate collections. Out west with twisters, it's another story, they actually do something useful. Just not as useful as some in the whacker brigade would lead you to believe.

I lost my card so you're all safe from me.

 

[RandyB]

I went to the NWS course out of curiosity. It was a disappointment...

These courses are intended for people that know very little about the subject who are interested in serving their community. There is a much higher percentage of people in this category that attend these courses than folks who are looking for a college-level course in meteorology for free.

 

[N0IU]

...I really expected them to get into the dynamics inside a funnel cloud or the forces involved in fueling a hurricane....

I am sorry you were disappointed with your class, but things like this are really beyond the scope of what is expected of a spotter. As a spotter, all you really need to know are the basic elements of the makings of a hurricane/tornado and how to recognize them when you see them.

As far as the size of the hail, this really is sort of a big issue because people used to report hail size in so many different ways and there was no consistency. For uniformity sake, they emphasize reporting hail sizes in terms that are recognized by everyone such as coins. A dime is always a dime, but "pea size" or "marble size" hail can vary widely!

Admittedly, while the storm spotting classes taught me what I needed to know to be a spotter, like you, it still left me wanting to know more. I am lucky that I live about a day's drive from Norman, OK and took a weekend "Elements of Severe Weather Forecasting" class from Tim Vasquez a few years ago. He used to only offer his classes in person (at his house!), but apparently he will also be offering them online. Here is a link to Tim's web site: Weather Forecasting School. I am sure there are other schools out there, but this is the one with which I am familiar.

Good luck!

 

[ohiodesperado]

Someone needs to tell the truth.

The truth of Skywarn and weather spotting is simple. There are a small number of good spotters out there that diligently work with the NWS to assist them with weather reporting. Then there are the rest of them that sit on the Skywarn web site photochopping LED's on their SUV's and talking about how cool their lights are.

Then there are the guys that go out and get a laptop, load it up with a pirated version of GRLevel3 or something similar that they talked their buddy out of. Slap it in the car and grab a 2X4 with some amber flashers on it and call it a chase vehicle.

I know that there are straight up guys out there with Skywarn, I hear them locally on the repeater during the storm season trying to help out amid the continuous 'fair weather' reports and squirrels, and constant kerchunking of the repeater to see if it's in weather net mode. I am guessing that is the non-hams with a ham radio wishing they could put in their two cents but unwilling or unable to pass a 24 question test that the answers are in a book to be memorized.

Truth be told, with the current state of technology in weather radar, and the number of weather monitoring sites and camera's along the freeways and in cities for traffic monitoring, the need for weather spotting is drawing to a close.

And don't forget, Michigan finally decided that it's illegal for weather spotters to 'run lights' so there will be a few less weather wackers up there if you are from those parts.

 

[RandyB]

The Truth Refuted

It sounds like storm spotting is in rough shape in/around Johnstown, Ohio with only "a small number of good spotters." Awful, and very non-representative of the rest of the country.

Truth be told, with the current state of technology in weather radar, and the number of weather monitoring sites and camera's along the freeways and in cities for traffic monitoring, the need for weather spotting is drawing to a close.

Absolutely false. Weather radar will never replace spotters for ground-truth verification of hail size, wind damage, flash flooding, and tornadoes. Spotters will always be needed to report severe weather events between those "weather monitoring sites" and highway cameras.

 

[Kumba]

Truth be told, with the current state of technology in weather radar, and the number of weather monitoring sites and camera's along the freeways and in cities for traffic monitoring, the need for weather spotting is drawing to a close.

You make some good points, but this one is fairly unresearched and thus, inaccurate. Go to TrafficLand.com, and go find a few highways in central/southern Prince George's County, MD, and tell me where all these cameras are at. I'd love to know, because that'd help my commute in the morning for starters. A lot of nasty storms sweep across that area (and northern Charles county) at times during the storm season over here, and while they're nothing like the super-cell bonanza out in the midwest, the local NWS office relies heavily on spotters for reports from areas like these. There aren't traffic cameras that can supplant a spotter out there, and won't be for a very long time (mostly because PG/MD seems to be quite averse to deploying them, but oh, do they love their speed cameras).

This is same for a lot of areas around the country. Sure, around the cities, traffic cameras might supply a few vantage points that invalidate the need for spotter coverage 100% of the time, but there's a limit to how far out that camera infrastructure is going to be built. At that point, humans come back into the game.

 

[blueangel-eric]

shouldn't the mods close this thread. I feel it's run it's course long ago.

 

[rdale]

Truth be told, with the current state of technology in weather radar, and the number of weather monitoring sites and camera's along the freeways and in cities for traffic monitoring, the need for weather spotting is drawing to a close.

That's not truth. That's horribly wrong.

And don't forget, Michigan finally decided that it's illegal for weather spotters to 'run lights' so there will be a few less weather wackers up there if you are from those parts.

Not sure I heard that... Source?

And since you're from down south you probably aren't familiar with how things work up here. 1) I'd be surprised if more than 10 spotters have yellow lights in the entire state so 2) law enforcement has better things to do.

 

[ncarpenter]

Sorry to revive this post, but...

And don't forget, Michigan finally decided that it's illegal for weather spotters to 'run lights' so there will be a few less weather wackers up there if you are from those parts.

First off, sorry to Eric for waking this thread back up, but I just have to question ohiodesperado on this quote. What law was that? Could you please enlighten us on where this information can be found?

Thanks!

 

[rdale]

It never has been legal to run lights in Michigan for spotters.

 

[karldotcom]

This thread is awesome!

 

[redhelmet13]

Ground truth is a vital tool for the NWS. Radar cannot "see" a tornado. It can see the mesocyclone and computer algorythyms can infer a tornado circulation. Current radar can not tell what size hail is really coming out of the storm. Dual Polorization radar is in the works and can do a better job at that but ground truth (eyes on the storm) is the still and will be one of the best tools the forecasters have and will have. Skywarn is alive and well despite some sour grapes out there.

 

[cifn2]

I have to agree with many of the posts, just because I know about storms, and storm movements, and am out in the middle of no where with my antennas and appear to be doing nothing, doesn't mean that I am not working on something, I had a delivery truck drive down the lane I was on, then come back the same lane without stopping, just so he could pull up next to my drivers door and ask about the weather this year. I don't have any emblems or anything on my vehicle except my Ham radio plates, and antennas. I have been in the radio room at the EOC off and on over the past several years, we have those who call, and you can hear the weather channel in the background and the weather radio going off and they ask if we are included in the watch/warning, and if it is going to hit us. They even park in the lot at the EOC waiting for storms, then they come in and bring their own portable noaa radios and scanner and try to make sure they hear e very word we say on the radio. I know most people wouldn't introduce themselves, but obviously you had the desire to learn, you probably need to find a local skywarn group and learn that way, instead of approaching someone in the middle of no where. You always are hearing about crimes , and it seems as though the criminals just keep getting younger, and crimes more violent.

 

[comspec]

And don't forget, Michigan finally decided that it's illegal for weather spotters to 'run lights' so there will be a few less weather wackers up there if you are from those parts.

Thanks!

They just made it illegal!! You mean I have been waiting at Red Lights in Michigan all these years for nothing Oh wait, I think he means have amber lights on their cars.

But seriously, anyone who judges a group of people on the behavior of one is an idiot, oh wait I think I just judged a group of people on the behavior of one. Never mind sorry.

 

[Ensnared]

During my nearly twenty-three years working within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, I frequently ran into ham radio operators. However, the ones that I encountered were there for indecency with children. So, I suppose the radio spans all walks of life.

 

[newsphotog]

During my nearly twenty-three years working within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, I frequently ran into ham radio operators. However, the ones that I encountered were there for indecency with children. So, I suppose the radio spans all walks of life.

When I had a final interview with a metro dispatch center last month, the 911 center manager found out I was a ham. Boy, he gave me endless amounts of grief, and so did everyone else! It was all in good fun, though. Sometimes I grimace when they bring it up in interviews, but the 911 center manager understood and said that there are good hams, and bad hams, just like any other group.

 

[Ensnared]

Didn't you know that this Skywarn individual was on a mission from God? You would think so.

 

[Squad10]

This Skywarn member made national news a few months back. His Springfield XD handgun was ordered destroyed by a Court recently.

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