VORTEX2

End of Season, TX.

2010-06-15T00:44:00.008-04:00

A long, long time ago there was a young graduate student. He participated for several years in DOW field projects prior to Vortex2. One day a DOW broke down and Josh radioed, "We have reached end of season." Navigating the other DOW, unnamed graduate student (we all know who he is!!), looked at his map and asked "Where is End of Season?" At the time, the DOWs were in South Dakota. Vortex2 has reached End of Season, TX.

In short, the people who make up Vortex2 are fabulous. They are people you enjoy working with; they are old friends; they are new friends (I have never been quite sure on semi-colon usage!). As we return back to our "normal" lives, I would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the scientists, engineers, technicians, students, volunteers, hotel coordinator, photographers, and the public. It has been a great run and I wish everyone the best.

Here is to End of Season, TX!

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Picture 1: The CSWR crew.

Tornado. Tornado. Big Texan. Flash Ponding.

2010-06-14T11:23:00.008-04:00

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away (and without internet), lived a nomadic tribe known as Vortex2...

11 June: Last Chance, CO. Why did the tornado cross the road? Oh wait, it didn't. DOW7 meandered down to Road 2312 (I challenge you to find this road!). The tornado pod teams followed. A tornado formed about 23 km to our west over an open field. The pod teams lined up...and waited. And waited. And waited. And then there was no tornado.

12 June: Spearman, TX. Rain, rain, and more rain.

13 June: After a lovely, rainy evening (and morning) in Liberal, Kansas (home of the National Beef Packing Company. Steak usually is a good dinner choice!) we decided to tackle storms along a remnant outflow boundary from the overnight convection (rain) in the OK/TX panhandles. Basically, we returned to the same location we commenced chasing on the 12th, which was a bit....pondy. So we decided that dirt (mud) roads, were to be avoided. Storm #1 was targeted near Farnsworth, TX. The first storm was, for lack of a better word...boring.
A white rabbit named Harvey (or Frank, depending on your age) appeared in he DOW...yes, it is about that time of the season!
The FC (Field Coordinators--David Dowell and Mike Coniglio; the MCs of the weather world) encouraged us to be optimistic and found us another storm to target. Up came the second storm and it was a good storm! A tornado formed northeast of Booker, TX and DOW7 headed north with the pod teams to intercept. The lack of roads proved to be problematic and we raced east (at safe highway speeds) to to get to another intercept location. After driving through a lot of rain (and a generator failure...), we regrouped to the east as another tornado was forming near Slapout, OK. We tried to get the pods out in front of the tornado, but the path of the tornado was farther south than anticipated...and it dissipated before reaching the road. A few gratuitous pod deployments were made...just because.

I assume that the pod teams will soon mutiny...

So here we are in Amarillo, TX at the same hotel that we ended the season last year...interesting.

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Picture 1: The super secret PI morning weather briefing.

Picture 2: When in Amarillo...the Big Texan! Only twice this season...a slow year.

Picture 3: The omnipresent, all-knowing FC. And Arby's--Home of the Jamocha shake.

Picture 4: Pretty cloud. I think every single person in Vortex2 took this picture!

2010-06-08T10:19:00.015-04:00

Venturing a bit north of I-80, one finds:

1. Bluffs
2. Tornadoes
3. Team Howie

On the 7th and the 9th
the greater Scottsbluff area provided us with bluffs. On the 7th, it provided us with tornadoes. And Team Howie was with us all along (they finally crawled out of their radar trucks!).

The 7th was a bit of a challenge because of the usual suspects: multiple storms, fast storm motion, and not many roads. But, despite our nemeses (I would have thought it was nemesi!), we persevered and after a west (Henry, NE), east (Bridgeport, NE), west (Minatare, NE) trajectory on US 26 we deployed. The storm was not looking very interesting on radar (dinner plans were being made...Arby's, Sonic or McDonald's--decisions, decisions...) when, well, it began to look interesting... A weak tornado quickly formed, we moved the pod teams south to get in front of the tornado, but they could not make it in time--the tornado crossed 26 and quickly dissipated. Unfortunately, these weak, short-lived tornadoes are not conducive to pod deployments (slow moving, long-lived wedge, please), but, along with NOXP, we got good radar coverage of the tornado. Additionally, DOW6 got radar data up on (US? NE?)71 in an earlier tornado.

Time to go south...

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Team Howie (as I like to call the group of graduate students that work for Dr. Howie Bluestein):
Picture 1: Jana (left), Mike (right) and Chad (behind). (Chad is not really the radar--he is the radar engineer, but since he was not around, the radar seemed like a good stand-in). Jana and Mike are doctoral students at the University of Oklahoma and operate the mobile phased array radar (which also has a vertically pointing lidar).
Picture 2: (From left to right) Dan, Jeff, and Robin. Technically only Jeff and Robin are Team Howie--Dan is a postdoctoral scientist for CAPS (Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms), but he is married to Robin, so by association... Jeff operates UMASS-X (an X-band dual polarization radar) and Robin operates the UMASS-W (It uses a small wavelength (millimeters, as opposed to centimeters), which has the effect of increasing the spatial resolution (it can see smaller things). Therefore it is good for studying tornado-scale phenomena).

Picture 3: A bluff.

Look Kids, it's I-80...

2010-06-07T13:38:00.006-04:00

I have to be honest (because all my other posts have been lies, lies, and more lies...), I am starting to lose track of days (and I am not even that old!).

The only thing I know for sure is that we have not left I-80...
But, after polling other Vortex2 crew members, I believe it is the 7th of June...

4 June: Hmmm...I think we chased the hotel this day. Our target area was near Kearney and our hotel was in Kearney, NE....fortuitous. After checking in and lounging around (we never really "lounge" because we are always on perpetual stand by for favorable changes in the weather, which means that we can sit in a given location for 5 minutes....or 5 hours), storms started firing up to our north. So at ~630, we left Kearney for the Broken Bow McDonalds. By the time we got to Broken Bow, it became clear that these storms were not going to be supercellar and we headed back to Kearney for a late (but very enjoyable) dinner. In all fairness, I should also mention that an NSSL vehicle out navigated DOW7 to Broken Bow (a crushing blow to the DOW7 navigator/prince).

5 June: This day was a bit different...(still on I-80, though). There had been some indications in the models for severe weather threat in Iowa/Illinois for the last day or so. As we woke up that morning in Kearney, it became clear that we needed to get east...fast (at safe highway speeds, of course!). So we abandoned the morning meeting and headed to Des Moines (Iowa). Convection (storms) started firing in the vicinity of the cold front. After some pursuit, it became quite clear that these storms were destined for linearity... In other words, a big line of continuous storms formed, which is not conducive to tornado formation (very little rotation). The real action was in central Illinois, where isolated supercells persisted and several long(er) tracked tornadoes formed.

6 June: After a lovely evening of fine dining and hoteling (not a word, I know!) in Omaha, we headed west (on I-80, of course!) for a potential target in Ogallala, NE. The storms actually looked pretty good for awhile (and just plain pretty), but no tornadoes were to be had.

And here we are...the 7th of June....still on I-80...
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Picture 1: A pretty storm near Grant, NE on 6 June. I actually got out of the radar truck during operations. The first time this season.

These roads don't move...

2010-06-04T09:32:00.020-04:00

Or do they?

From 1 June to 3 June, the states visited by the Vortex2 armada were as follows:
Iowa (once), South Dakota (twice), Nebraska (lost count!), Colorado (once), Kansas (twice)...

1 June was a first for Vortex2--We had a mission in Nebraska, but I never turned on the radar.

2 June was almost a second--We drove from Kansas to Colorado to Nebraska to Kansas. 24 minutes of radar data were collected. This day was a long-shot from the start, so we were not overly disappointed.

3 June was almost a third--Not really, but it seemed to fit in sequence....This day actually looked promising...(by putting actually as a qualifier, you know how this story ends). Southeast South Dakota had the best potential. After a picnic, swim, sail, and nap at the (NO!) Snake River Recreation area, storms began to form just south of the NE/SD border near Naper, NE. For those of you not familiar with this region, there is this little thing called the Missouri River, which needed to be crossed (multiple times!) to intercept the storm du jour. Unfortunately, the storm du jour was not what the waiter told us it would be (he is so fired); instead it was the non-tornadic, outflow-dominated (Shear...where are you...?), rain and lightning producing type of storm. Once again, a good integrated data set was collected by Vortex2 (yeah us! nay weather!).

(BTW, thank you everyone for your comments! I am glad that you are enjoying the blog!)

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Picture 1: (Part of) the armada moving through Kansas (or Nebraska...?)
Picture 2: Erin Jones (Purdue graduate student and Pod Person) wearing pink! Wow! Oh yeah, she is also doing her daily check of the pods before operations.
Picture 3: Justin Walker and his banjo. Full-time CSWR engineer/technician (it suffices to say, he does it all!), DOW6 operator, banjo player, and half-time runner.
Picture 4: The foreign contingent--Rutger Boonstra (he is Netherlandish), The Germanator (Germany, of course!), and the esteemed Dr. Lindsay Bennett (England) enjoying the grass.
Picture 5: The CSWR crew realizing that there really are snakes in the river....

Kalo Mina!

2010-06-01T23:34:00.009-04:00

5/29/10: A picturesque chase near Hyannis...Nebraska. What the storms lacked (rotation and tornadoes), the terrain didn't--uhhh...rotation and tornadoes?? Let's try that again:
Storms = not supercells
Sandhills of Nebraska = super pretty.

5/30/10: Down in North Platte, NE.

5/31/10: The weather looked pretty marginal everywhere...really. Basically, we look for an overlap of energy (CAPE), favorable wind profiles, and a source of lift. Lately, the atmosphere has been refusing to allow these 3 conditions to overlap (I have already submitted a formal complaint to her boss). This translates to "tornadoes are unlikely, but there may be a region where tornadoes are less unlikely." Our "less unlikely" target region was near North Platte.
After monitoring the weather, it became apparent that Nebraska was unlikely the less unlikely region for tornadoes (I am trying to confuse you so you never make it to the punchline...). Therefore we decided to head east to Kearney (positioning ourselves closer to the Day 2 target region) and call it a day. We rolled into our hotel just in time for The Tornado...in SE Colorado. The less unlikely location.

But, it is a new month...

Let's make it HRRRt!!

(The HRRR--the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model--is one of the models we use for forecasting. It is pronounced "Her"...You can laugh, you know you want to...!)

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Picture 1: Super Pretty.

Picture 2: It HRRRts!!

All quiet on the western front...

2010-05-29T00:50:00.010-04:00

Except at 2, 4, and 6 PM (not AM, of course).

After a lovely day of touring, we woke up to a disappointing weather forecast: convection was unlikely in our target region (SD/ND/MT) because the atmosphere was too capped. "Capping" is almost a literal description...a cap means that there is a layer of (relatively) warm air above the surface that inhibits convection (like a lid on a pot). The warmer the air, the stronger the cap. Some capping is good because it keeps storms from going early (when conditions are not necessarily conducive to supercells) and it also precludes a gazillion (wow-no red spelling underline!) storms from forming at once. Usually (well, on a good supercell day!) as the day progresses, the cap erodes allowing for storms to form where there is strong forcing. The alternate scenario is that you get a bad sunburn (hence, you should were a cap. Ha? Ha?). Well, the latter scenario transpired. Fortunately, we never left the hotel so we took the opportunity to look over our data from the previous missions (and nap). It looked good--except the lack of the meganado (spell check caught this one).

Back to Nebraska!

The Mashed Potato Tower

2010-05-28T02:08:00.014-04:00

Greeting from Devils Tower, WY.

Today we visited Devils Tower. Wow! Afterward, we went to dinner in Deadwood, SD. It was great. Wish you were here!

Ooops--sorry, thought I was writing a postcard to my parents....!

After meetings (and more meetings), the Vortex2 armada departed Colorado for South Dakota (in anticipation of "Day 2" in SD/ND--we do not use dates. For us, it only is Day 1 or Day 2. Much easier!). Teams left at their leisure for the 350 mile journey.

What to do...what to do...

(Admittedly, I only have seen Close Encounters once. All I remember is the mashed potato tower and the keyboard music/light show when the aliens arrived.)

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Picture 1: Communicating with the aliens.

Picture 2: Dr. Chris Weiss (recently tenured at Texas Tech! Yeah Chris!) arrived on scene. Time to be serious (well, just Josh).

Picture 3: Is a W-band mobile radar always parked next to the tower? Weird...

The storm remains the same...

2010-05-27T11:42:00.011-04:00

or does it?

Since I last left you...(when was that?!)

I think in Ogallala (Nebraska geography check)...

We headed to Kansas, then to Colorado, then to Kansas, then to Colorado.

5/25/10
We left I-80 and headed south to I-70 and west into CO.
Initial target town: Sheridan Lake, CO (couldn't see a lake...)
We did our parking lot thing (napping, eating, napping) and I quickly was getting convinced I would not be turning on the radar that day (that would be a first!). Obviously, just by thinking such a thought (I think I uttered it out loud, as well), this Vortex2 "milestone" was not reached. A storm became interesting in western KS (Tribune, in fact). The interesting storm became interesting stormS. These storms produced numerous landspouts (5, I believe). Landspouts are nice, but not super nice (is there a synonym for nicest?). They are weak, short-lived rotations that last for ~ 1 minute. Storms moved north and west and then did not move...which makes targeting "projected" storm paths tricky. Overall, though, we collected some good data documenting storm interaction (this seems like a Miss America answer...but with non-nonsensical storms, it feels appropriate).

The CSWR crew returned to our Boulder home base (the DOWs needed some love) and the rest of the Vortex2 armada stayed about ~1 hour north in Loveland, CO in anticipation of a trip to Canada...(Montana, actually).

5/26/10--The gentleman's chase (almost)
The DOWs received their tender loving care starting at 600 AM. As tea time rolled around, the weather perked up just west and north of Boulder/Loveland. Our tea and biscuits were abandoned and the chase was on. We targeted a storm near Hudson, CO. We targeted it very well (A+ for Vortex2). Additionally, we were in a region where the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) could fly around the storm, getting thermodynamic and wind data above ground level. The storm did not produce a tornado (C for the atmosphere--presentation was good, but failed to produce).

27 May was looking good for NE Montana...but we decided it was not looking good enough...(and passports were still in safety deposit boxes).

East by Eastwest...

2010-05-25T00:24:00.004-04:00

The Good Life...
Home of Arbor day...

And the state of choice is...?
Nebraska.

Today was tough. We got arrived in Colby, KS around 930 PM last night, had dinner (watched House), and went to bed. We woke up to a SPC (Storm Prediction Center) forecast (based on a late night model run--we get model data a few times a day. this data is part of what we use to make our forecast) of a moderate risk for severe weather in South Dakota. Of course, we are all sensitive to South Dakota...!

We have a pretty good schedule in the morning--the "head" (i.e., funded) scientists meet first for a forecast discussion and then the rest of the Vortex2 meets. Usually we depart soon after the "all-hands-on" meeting. Remember there is 100+ people--so this is a very effective way for us to make decisions and communicate information. Most of the "heads" consult with their crew (bodies?) before the first meeting, so everyone usually is in the loop.

I give you this background only to say, in order for us to be in central South Dakota today (hey, that rhymes!), we would have needed to have 140 people leaving Colby by 630 AM. That's tricky. Especially when we positioned ourselves for a very reasonable (and meteorologically favorable) target in NE/KS. We decided to stick with our first choice (not the northern morning "surprise"--which I believe came with real Vermont maple syrup).

The armada got up to I-80, and storms fired fast and, well fast. Storms were moving at 40 knts. Storms moved north off of the dry line--one after another. We kept intercepting. Sutherland to Ogallala. Ogallala to Sutherland. Sutherland to Ogallala. Ogallala to Gothenburg (Have you consulted your Rand McNally, yet?). Radars set up. Disdrometers, WOWs, and Sticknets deployed.

The storms grew upscale quickly--Old Navy to Barneys (what "upscale" really means is that instead of discrete, isolated storms, storms congealed into lines. This is not so good because this "mode" does not favor long-lived tornadoes). There was some quality hail--which is good for the disdrometers--and some short-lived circulations (marginatoes or DOWnadoes, as they are affectionately dubbed).

Chase another day.

Picture 1: Rear view window.

Picture 2: DOW7 postcard. Admittedly lame.

There is something wrong with the atmosphere...

2010-05-24T00:46:00.017-04:00

not us!

Just trying to make myself feel better...

I am watching the nightly news and they are showing tornado video from South Dakota...yesterday (something about spilled milk...I think there still are a few more days of mourning).

Today we drove from North Platte, NE to Garden City, KS to Scott City, KS to Leoti, KS to Colby, KS (time to brush up on your Kansas geography). There was minor blood shed this morning in the forecast discussion...Wyoming or Kansas?

Kansas. We targeted near the triple point. In this case the "triple point" is where the dry line and the warm front intersect. The dry line (usually N/S oriented) and the warm front are each different boundaries that separates different types of air masses (warm and dry--behind the dry line and warm and moist--behind the warm front). Also boundaries can provide directional shear (good for rotation).

Storms formed in southern Kansas and moved quickly north. We briefly deployed near Healy, KS (geography check), but the storms were immature. Storms began to fire along the dry line in southeast Colorado. We scrambled west to Leoti, KS to intercept storms moving north from the dryline. These storms just could not get themselves together (I am totally blaming the storms!)--they barely rotated and they never right-turned (the sign of a good, mature supercell).

I think House is coming on...Chase another day.

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Picture 1: Hi, Kansas.

Picture 2: The masses departing the morning weather briefing.

Picture 3: Lunch. Probe 12 had an unfortunate incident with a bird that went well with cranberry sauce...and made a nice sandwich the next day.

Picture 4: DOW7 postcard from Scott City, KS.

Welcome Kansas. Welcome to Nebraska. Welcome to South Dakota?

2010-05-23T09:49:00.018-04:00

No.

(that was not as painful to write as I thought...after an extended period of mourning...).

After a long ferry from Edmond, OK to Colby, KS on Thursday (?), late (tornado-less) operations near Scottsbluff, NE on Friday (most groups did not make it to the hotel until 130 AM or so), Vortex2 decided that Saturday was a down day.

By all accounts, the weather set-up yesterday had its deficiencies...there was not a definitive region where good shear (wind profiles that favor rotating thunderstorms) and good CAPE (Convective Available Potential Energy; the energy needed to fuel vigorous thunderstorms) overlapped. Convective initiation was questionable...

In meteorological lingo, it would take a "mesoscale accident" for conditions to be favorable for supercells.

As we all know, accidents (frequently) happen...and we did cry over our spilled milk....(I am colloquialism-ed out or is it aphorism-ed?)

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Picture 1: Another postcard from the back of DOW7 (a coffee table book is in the works). "Greetings from Scottsbluff, NE!"

We did get a chance to review our data...(the silver lining--one more!)
The left side of these images show precipitation (reflectivity; pinker colors = more precipitation) and the right side shows Doppler velocity (cool colors indicate motion towards the radar and warm colors indicate motion away from the radar)

Picture 2: This is data from DOW(?) on 12 May 2010 showing a weak tornado near Clinton, OK.

Picture 3: More data from DOW(?) showing a BWER (bound weak echo region, of course!) on 12 May 2010. The BWER is a precipitation-free hole, indicating a strong updraft.

The day off and still...twisters!

2010-05-21T09:17:00.016-04:00

(20 May 2010)

Ferried from Edmond, OK to Colby, KS.

What do meteorologists while on their Tour of the Great Plains?

a. Visit the Twister Museum in Wakita, OK

b. Visit Twisters Bar and Grill in Colby, KS

c. All of the above

d. None of the above

Boundaries are meant to be crossed...

2010-05-20T09:23:00.015-04:00

(19 May 2010, Karen Kosiba)

As in real life, in the atmosphere, boundaries are potentially useful. In the atmosphere, boundaries can increase convergence (of moisture), provide a source of lift (get things going), and can locally alter the wind profile (making it more favorable for rotating thunderstorms)--more on how boundaries are potentially useful in real life later. A big mess of organized thunderstorms ("What is an MCS?" Alex: Yes. Although I like the SNL version better...) moved through OK the previous night leaving an an outflow boundary in its wake (we call this a mesoscale boundary, which just means that they are smaller and shorter lived than a cold or warm front). This outflow boundary was our target region for storm initiation today.

We left Amarillo early (well, early for us...), because initiation (storm formation) was forecast to be early (well, early for us...). We paused for lunch in Clinton, OK and, in addition to the Vortex2 armada, we were joined by the city of Tokyo. Maybe I am exaggerating...I stopped counting at 11 million. Let's just say there were a lot of chasers and very few roads. Traffic rivaled rush hour in Chicago...(my only point of rush hour reference).

The V2 armada targeted a storm north of Clinton, which made a brief, weak tornado. Once again, these storms move quickly...but rush hour did not. The DOWs were able to get east quickly enough to stay ahead of the storm, but the CSWR probe teams were stuck at the Irving Park exit. Although we were unable to deploy pods, the DOWs collected some good radar data on a couple brief, weak tornadoes. Unfortunately, the NOXP radar was stuck at the Ohio Street exit.

We chased the storm to Pops (Sodas, for the East Coasters), a super fancy gas station, near Edmond, OK, which provided us with hour(s?) of shopping and entertainment before enjoying a lovely steak (salad) dinner.

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Picture 1: A view of a part of the Vortex2 armada. Only New York city sized.

Picture 2: The DOW by a pop (soda) sculpture at Super Fancy Gas Station.

Picture 3: Mareike Schuster (left; also known as the Germanator) and Carrie Cunningham (right) shopping at Super Fancy Gas Station.

Picture 4: Eric Robinson (left) and Rachel Humphrey (right) admiring the pop (Eric, he is from Indiana) and soda (Rachel, she is from New York) sculpture.

Atmosphere, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship...

2010-05-19T02:27:00.009-04:00

(18 May 2010, Karen Kosiba)

(the CliffsNotes version...Did I just date myself?)

Morning forecast...the environment looked favorable for supercells from Midland, TX northward to SE CO.

Brief joust...moved from hotel location in Clovis, TX to Vega, TX. Inched (kilometered) up the 385 to a picturesque vista (artistic liberties).

Enjoying the 385, making dinner plans at the Big Texan...a storm quickly forms to our west and south. Storm intensity increases and increases and increases...we have our target storm.

Target storm...The armada moves north towards Dumas, TX. We do the supercell samba (that is such a lame analogy, I know! I just wanted to illustrate that we do a complicated deployment choreography--is the samba choreographed?!--where we have all of our instruments surrounding the supercell in some organized fashion and continually adjust as the storm evolves).

Road options were few, so we sambaed where we could. Radar data indicated good rotation (when not taking tornado-scale measurements, the DOWs are about 20 km away, so we do not see very near the surface) and numerous teams reported funnels.

We kept jockeying to the east, following the storm, until The Ultimate Road Hole was encountered by Stinnett, TX. It was late and the next north/south road was about 3o minutes to our east. We either could say" Goodbye" to the storm for the night or say "See you in 30."

"See you in 30"....The CSWR teams (DOWs and tornado pod teams) move east to Pampa, TX and north on 70 to make our last stand...

The circulation was organized, then unorganized, then organized...The pod people deployed their pods...then picked up their pods...then deployed their pods. They got wet. No tornado crossed the road...even to get to the other side.

Keeping score is getting complicated (especially with partial points), so let's just say Vortex2 wins!!

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Picture 1: The view from the back of DOW7. I really need to out of the DOW Cave.

Deja Vu...You can say that again!

2010-05-18T00:41:00.016-04:00

See previous post. Until tomorrow....

That was easy!!

That's cheating, isn't it?!

On Sunday, we traveled from Midland to Lubbock Texas (home of the Red Raiders AND Chris Weiss, Sticknet and TTU-Ka radar coordinator--I am pretty sure that is what the Welcome to Lubbock sign says...). It was a travel/down day, which means that we did laundry (the lucky ones--the others, well, stink), repaired radars, and backed up data. As a data backer upper (my official title), I am quite pleased with the data collected on 12 May--tornadogensis of a weak tornado (I will post some images soon)!

Today (Monday, 17 May), we revisited the Land of Enchantment, home of Peppy the Pistachio (I still have yet to meet the elusive Peppy--I am starting to doubt his existence). Amazingly, we traveled the same roads as we did on Saturday and intercepted the same storm! OK--same roads, yes, same storm, no. We collected data on a prolific hail producing storm west of Artesia, NM. Windshields were lost (3, I believe...) and Italian food was consumed.

Tomorrow weather conditions look more favorable for tornadoes (really!)...and Lock Ness Monsters (not really).

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Picture 1: The pod people maintain their pods. I think they are starting to bond...is it abnormal that the pod people tuck their pods in at night?

Picture 2: Alright, we don't REALLY derive equations ALL day...we also see-saw.

Picture 3: A glamour shot of the WOWs and a Smart-Radar. The WOWs aren't so shy when the lighting is right.

Picture 4: Yes! We finally made it to Roswell! The alien street lights and the UFO museum make it so!

The truth is out there...somewhere.

2010-05-15T23:20:00.020-04:00

Today we traveled to the Land of Enchantment, home of Peppy the Pistachio (you truly are missing out in life if you don't pick up travel brochures at gas stations...!).

After a noncommittal morning forecast, we departed Midland, TX around 100 PM CDT. There were two regions of not much interest (but we are optimists!) today--one in TX near interstate 10 (passports, please) and one in southeastern NM. The previous evening yielded a MCS (mesoscale convective system--a fancy name for a big mess of "organized" storms, BMOS. I think I will write my next post entirely in acronyms) that produced copious amounts of rain and clouds (R&Cs) . R&Cs can be bad for severe weather the next day because the R cools the air and the Cs prevent heating, both of which suppress vigorous thunderstorm development. Since only 6 Vortex2 crew members had their passports, we targeted New Mexico (it also emerged as the meteorological winner).

As roadrunners and yuccas began to dominate the landscape (artistic liberties), we drove farther west than...eastern Denver. Storms formed over the high terrain in NM, but dissipated as soon as they moved east (this is relatively common--the terrain provides a source of lift, which can get air moving vertically. If air rises to a height that renders it unstable, storms can form. But, if the terrain is the only thing that a storm has in its favor, storms will quickly die once they lose this lifting mechanism). Around 500 MDT, a storm finally showed signs of moving east off of the Sacramento Mountains. And east it moved. Since it was the only show in town, we bought a ticket. We collected dual-Doppler data with 4 radars (DOW6, DOW7, NOXP, and UMASS-X). The Ka-band radars, DOW5, and a SMART-R collected single Doppler data. The WOWs, Sticknets, and disdrometers deployed. Overall, it was a very good deployment...on a non-tornadic storm (but, we still have a lot to learn on these types of storms, as well!).

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Picture 1 (Left): Welcome to the Land of Enchantment! If we were to go any farther west we would be abducted by aliens. Wait...!

Picture 2 (Right): When waiting for storms, we like to sharpen our calculus skills. Matt Ryzdik (formerly a Nittany Lion soon to be a Badger), Mallie Toth (Boilermaker) and Evan Bookbinder (from the Kansas City NWS) quiz each other on the equations of motion. This is common practice (we do not play Frisbee, football or swing on swings, we do math) . Tomorrow, Maxwell's equations.

The long and winding road...

2010-05-14T09:29:00.012-04:00

(5/13/10)

from Wichita Falls to Midland Texas.

No operations today--just a ferry from Wichita Falls to Midland in order to get in position for potential operations on Friday. As a fully mobile project, we spend a lot of time in our vehicles... A LOT!

Of course we maximize this time, backing up data, writing papers...

The DOW Prince tried to out navigate all of the Vortex2 teams to Midland. Of course this was all done within the confines of the law... But, we were not exactly sure if Texas had a 75 mph or a 80 mph speed limit, so a Google search commenced. Which led to another Google search on states rights... WHACK! The DOW King hit a bird. A big (but not yellow) bird. What type of bird? Google search.

We stopped at a truck stop for some gas and shopping...cup holders, maps, speakers, sombreros.

Back in the DOW, cup holders were installed and a glass case was (duct) taped to the wall. I told the DOW Deity that taping a glass case to the wall was nerdy. Somehow this led into a "Who's nerdier?" conversation... (After a Google search) I was treated to a rendition Weird Al's "White and Nerdy". Somehow this was meant to illustrate that I was the nerdier one. When pressed, the DOW deity said he could not possibly be the white nerdier one. Why you may ask? Because he only knows pi out to 236 digits (I know it pi out to 5 digits). And also, just for my information, Weird Al could not have gone to M.I.T. because M.I.T. does not have class rankings.

3 more hours to Midland...

Update: Probe 3 beat DOW7 to Midland

___________________________________________________________
Picture 1: I don't think any annotation is necessary.

A nice day.

2010-05-12T23:08:00.037-04:00

After a restful night of sleep (we stayed at one of those hotels that provide you with a pillow menu), the weather discussion commenced around 1000 AM. After some discussion (and 1 sword fight), it was agreed upon that we would target a region located ever so slightly to our south and west (we were in Weatherford, OK and decided to target south of Elk City, OK). Although the region we picked had an environment supportive of supercells, it was questionable whether storms would form before dark. The other choice was near Wichita, where there likely would be storms, but in an environment that was forecast to be slightly less favorable for supercells. Dilemmas of this sort actually are quite common--this is why we bring swords.

Since the region of interest was not too far away, we had time for a nice picnic lunch at Lake Foss. We spread out our little red and white checkered blankets, unpacked our wicker lunch baskets, and served the brie and crusty baguettes (artistic liberties).

After our picnic, we adjourned to a concrete park in Elk City, OK. As far as concrete parks go, this one was particularly nice. We played football (well, not me), ate ice cream (also, not me), and took naps (me).

Around 400, we moved south and attempted to collect data on the southern flank of a line of storms. It immediately became apparent that we were too far south and the more interesting storm was farther up the line, to our north. Near sunset, we successfully scrambled north (near Cordell, OK) and redeployed on a storm that was associated with a tornado report near Clinton, OK. It was a "storm-scale" deployment so no low-level data were collected. Our radar data indicated rotation aloft, so it is possible there was rotation at the surface (is that enough of an equivocal statement?! I should have been a lawyer, I know.).

By all accounts, the deployment went well. Dual-Doppler lobes were set up with DOW6, DOW7, Umass-X and NOXP. The WOWs (ha! ha! I think this name just might stick...now if I could only come up with one for the disdrometers...), sticknets, and disdrometers were in the dual-Doppler coverage area, which means we obtained a good, integrated (thermodynamic, surface, and radar observations at the same location) data set (bonus, since this is an objective of Vortex2).

It was a nice day.

Weather = 1
Vortex2 = 1.5

_______________________________________________________________

Picture 1 (Top Left): Our picnic lunch. I forgot to take a picture at Lake Foss, so I am taking artistic liberties and using a photo from another day (the checkered blankets were at the dry cleaners that day).

Picture 2 (Top Right): Justin Walker explains the intricacies of interpreting Rho-HV in to an aspiring meteorologist.

Picture 3 (Bottom Left): This is my idea of a storm picture.

Picture 4 (Bottom Right): A sleepy DOW north of Cordell, OK.

Pick a storm...any storm: Part 2

2010-05-11T13:01:00.022-04:00

So after some sleep and post morteming (apparently my grammar has yet to improve) with the other Vortex2 research groups, it is time for me to present the conclusion of this saga...

(according to my Google search on "story arcs" I should be about 75% through my story...)

Radar teams found "good" deployment sites.
Instruments were tested (and, in some cases, fixed. funny story about that...now).
The field coordinators of Vortex2 became one with their computers.

Teams converged in Stroud, OK around 330.
Storms had formed to the west of I-35.
There were no shortage of storms.
A target storm was picked.
The radars set up their network.
Now all we needed was for a tornadic storm to pass through the radar network...
No problem...except for the tornado part.
Some of the radars, disdrometers, mesonets, etc. were too far north.
Others were able to get south and east of Seminole, OK.
Some good data were collected near Seminole by the NOXP and the UMASS-X radars (Go Team X!). Ultimately, though, the storms were too fast and too numerous to collect the type of integrated data set that Vortex2 aspires to obtain (more on the holy grail data set later...). But we are optimists (and James Bond fans), so we will Chase Another Day.

If you are the type of person who likes to keep score (i.e., competitive):

Weather = 1
Vortex2 = 0.5

______________________________________________________________

Picture 1 (Left): The storm reports for 10 May 2010.

Picture 2 (Right): Some of the damage that the DOWs drove through en route to the hotel.

Pick a storm…any storm: Part 1

2010-05-11T01:59:00.014-04:00

(posted by a very sleepy and grammatically challenged Karen Kosiba)

Before picking a storm, I would like to extend my deepest sympathy to everyone impacted by today’s severe weather outbreak. At best it is scary, at worst it is absolutely devastating.

As tornado scientists, we cannot alter the meteorological conditions that produce tornadoes. We only can collect the data. We collect this data in order to improve our understanding of tornado dynamics. If we can better understand how tornadoes form, how they are maintained, and what the winds are like at building height, we can make better forecasts AND can provide engineers with the information necessary to design better buildings (this sentence contains a lot is a lot of “betters”—I know! I could have used “gooder”, but, for some reason, Word chose to reject this “Word”).

Today was tricky.

Let’s talk about the forecast:

1. Today's severe weather event was well forecast (which means that the more predictable ingredients for severe weather had been evident in the model runs for several days).

2. Conditions were favorable for severe weather over a broad region (500 miles may not seem like a lot, but that is a solid 7 hour drive, and with 40+ vehicles—Oi!). Since conditions were favorable over a broad region, many storms would form. But which of these would be tornadic?

3. Given the meteorological conditions, storms were forecast to move FAST (fast is bad, because that means we cannot “chase” the storms. Instead, we need to pick a location to sit, wait and let the storm(s) overrun our instruments. This is limiting because it is difficult to adjust once we are deployed).

4. The region that was most favorable (meteorologically) for long-lived tornadoes is full of trees and hills (which is bad for collecting radar data because the trees and the hills block low-level radar scans).

That was the forecast. Let’s talk about the deployment (i.e., strategy):

Given that the storms were forecast to (a) move fast and (b) occur in a regions characterized by less than desirable terrain, it was decided that the radar teams would survey an area that roughly comprised most of northeast Oklahoma in order to find locations suitable for radar deployments. The task was divided among 3 teams. This meant that each team spent 3+ hours (on the day of the severe weather outbreak) driving up and down roads looking for sights that were relatively flat and unblocked (very few trees) so that a radar could collect relatively unobstructed data. Ultimately, we needed 6 sites (for 6 different radars), but because there were no storms yet (this was about 1100, storms were not forecast to form until ~400), we needed to find a bunch of sites (roughly 10 billion--or maybe it was just 70??--one loses track after 3 hours) that would accommodate a multitude of storm scenarios (what if the storm forms here and moves this way…? what if the storm forms there and moves that way…?).

How does the rest of the day unfold for Vortex2?

Stay tuned... (I will say this much--we were/are in Oklahoma)

A “better” blog to come (Part 2)—I literally am in the dark tonight. Our hotel has no electricity, so I am in the DOW running the generator. I imagine most of the hotel patrons do not equate the sweet hum of the generator with a sweet lullaby at 200 AM...

Picture 1: 700 A.M. on 10 May in Perry, OK. The calm before the storm (hmmm…i get it!).

Picture 2: A picture of my computer screen (who takes pictures of their computer screen?!). It is the Storm Prediction Center's outlook for the probability of severe weather today. Severe weather is probable today (yes. I concur).

The Prima DOWna (DOW5)

2010-05-08T18:45:00.008-04:00

Since today was not a mission day...Meet DOW5!

DOW5...the square (literally) little sister of DOW6 and DOW7. She's quick, she's quirky, she's special.

As tornado scientists, we are interested in documenting the rapid evolution of a tornado's wind structure. We also are interested in the wind distribution very close to the ground, because these are the winds that cause damage to houses, office building, etc. Linking wind speed, direction, and duration with damage incurred is one of our primary objectives.

In about 7 seconds, DOW5 is able to scan 6 elevations (heights) simultaneously (this is accomplished through electronic elevation steering and mechanical azimuth scanning). Most radars can scan only 1 height at a time--which means it can take up to 40 seconds to scan 6 different heights (50 m then 150 m then 250 m...550 m...and then...40 seconds later...50 m). "So what?" you may ask... Tornadoes evolve quickly--and, actually, 40 seconds is quite a long time for an update in tornado structure (it is also an incredibly long time for a 50 m freestyle!). For example, if you observed me as a 5 year old and then observed me again as a 25 year old--I bet you would have a lot of questions! But, if you observed me every couple of years until I was 25, you would have a lot less questions about how I became the person I am (maybe!). See the advantage?

As DOW5 is a tornado-scale radar, she tries to get close to the tornado (as is safe!). By getting close to the tornado, she is able to observe features of a tornado that are barely discernible to other radars. If Grandma was 100 yards away from you, she probably would be pretty indistinguishable from Grandpa. But, if Grandma was 10 yards away, you would be able to tell it was Grandma--not Grandpa (I hope!!). Similarly, although DOW5 cannot see the entire football field (that is 100 yards...right?), she can tell the difference between Grandma and Grandpa (and tell you what Grandma looks like).

DOW5 also scans lower than other radars, providing low-level wind information. This year DOW5 and the TTU Ka-band radars will attempt tornado-scale dual-Doppler...for the first time ever!

So who better to crew the Prima DOWna than Travis Lutz, Paul Robinson, and Jon Lutz? Who is the quick one? Who is the quirky one? Who is the special one?

Picture 1 (Left): Travis (left) and Jon (right) Lutz. The father and son team of DOW5. When not napping in the back of DOW5, Jon, a "retired" radar engineer spends his free time working on DOW6 and DOW7. He also operates DOW5. Travis drives DOW5 and in his free time fixes broken pods and mesonets. Travis would rather eat an orange than a cookie.

Picture 2 (right): Paul Robinson, a scientist at CSWR, navigates DOW5. Tornadoes like Paul. Paul likes tornadoes. Jon and Travis also like Paul. In Paul's free time he analyzes radar data.

Day 1: A picture is worth 1000 words...

2010-05-06T14:32:00.018-04:00

I do not happen to have that picture, so 1000 words it is...(don't count)!

Good morning! This is the first day of Vortex2 operations. We lost 2 of the mobile mesonet vehicles to a muddy road...if anyone is just south of the Nebraska border, the mesonets might appreciate pizza (2 pepperoni, 1 mushroom, and 1 cheese will do)...and a tow.

Let's start from the beginning...

In order to forecast the weather, meteorologists use models--not the kind that you draw in art class (after you have mastered the fruit platter)--but the kind that combine physics (how things work) and mathematics (solving for how things work). Meteorologists spend a lot of time looking at models prior to a mission. Meteorologists also look to see if a model is verifying... In other words if a model predicted it was suppose to be 75 degrees by 200 p.m. in Wichita--is it? If it isn't, why isn't it? We adjust our forecasts are based on the evolving weather scenario...

Today unfolded as follows:

Phase 1: Status Quo
630: Woke up.
730: Rolled out of bed.
830: Dragged a comb across my head (showered and dressed first).
945: Attended the weather briefing. The models indicated there were 2 regions in Kansas that had environments which "might" be favor supercells (but probably not tornadoes) later today (meteorologists really are lawyers at heart): northwest Kansas, which was pretty close to our current location, and southeast Kansas, which was about 5 hours away. Eeeny, meeny, miney, moe...

Phase 2: Watch and Wait (and Work!)
1100: Parking lot.
1200: Parking lot. Based on evolving weather, the decision was made to target NW Kansas.
100: Parking lot. Applied sunblock.
200: Parking lot.
300: Parking lot. Applied sunblock.
400: Parking lot.

Phase 3: Intercept
500: Drive west. NOW.
600: This storm has potential! Deploy!
700: What storm?
730: New storm! Let's move north! This storm looks good...!
830: What storm?
900: Fuel stop.

Phase 4: Food
1100: Dinner.

In summary, today was a great practice day for Vortex2! We realized early on that the storms would not be tornadic, so we practiced setting up the radars, tornado pods, disdrometers, mobile mesontes, etc. We gathered data to make sure it looked reasonable (some teams learned that it was necessary to turn on their instruments in order to get data...good to know, right?). So now we are ready...

Picture 1 (Left): A gathering of the masses...The Vortex2 public weather briefing.
Picture 2 (Right): The famed parking lot.

This is how DOW7 rolls...

2010-05-05T16:37:00.012-04:00

When we don't have any missions, I thought I would introduce you to our crew members and their vehicles.
Today I will cheat...

Welcome to DOW7!

During Vortex2, DOW7 functions as a mesoscale radar (there also are storm-scale and tornado-scale radars). As a mesoscale radar, DOW7 primarily takes data in the rear flank of storms. Although tornadoes do occur in this region of the storm, we are focused on obtaining data at a scale that is a bit larger than the tornado-scale (very generally, this is known as the "mesoscale"). We sacrifice temporal and spatial resolution in order to get data over a larger area, thereby capturing processes that contribute to tornadogenesis, maintenance and demise.

In conjunction with DOW6, we collect something called dual-Doppler data. All this means is that DOW6 and DOW7 collect data in the same area of the storm at the same time. We then combine this data to get a 3 dimensional representation of the winds in a storm.

The DOW7 crew is composed of 4 people: Herb Stein (DOW7 King), Jeff Frame (DOW7 Prince), Josh Wurman (DOW Deity), and me (Karen Kosiba).

Picture 1 (Top, Left): Jeff navigates DOW7. He routes us, directs Herb where to turn, keeps track of other teams, and eats Jalapeno Cheetos.

Picture 2 (Top, Right): Herb drives DOW7. But "drives" barely describes what Herb does. He drives long hours in bad weather, levels the truck, fixes anything that breaks, and eats peanuts.

Picture 3 (Bottom, Left): Josh is the radar coordinator for all of Vortex2. He has to get all (10+) of the Vortex2 radars in positions to take coordinated data throughout the duration of the mission. He also gives other (non-radar) teams storm information. All of this is done while drinking Perrier.

Picture 4 (Bottom, Right): That's me...in the far back of DOW7. I operate DOW7 and coordinate tornado pod deployments.

These pictures do not exactly solidify our position as the "cool DOW"...
(don't worry, I am in the process of obtaining "cool" pictures of DOW6)

Standby for potential operations tomorrow...!

They are mobile, they are mesonets...they ARE the Mobile Mesonets!

2010-05-04T10:30:00.015-04:00

(posted by Karen Kosiba)

Meet the mobile mesonets!

(they were all so shy--I could only get 3 of them to pose for pictures)

Led by Yvette Richardson and Paul Markowski (of Penn State), the mobile mesonets are weather stations on wheels (WOWs? Maybe...?). The WOWs (just trying it out...) provide critical surface thermodynamic (e.g., temperature, pressure, relative humidity) and wind information in/near the rear flank of supercell thunderstorms.

During operations, these distinct-looking (they have weather instruments are mounted on their roofs--that's distinct, no?) mini-vans drive in a very coordinated fashion (thanks to Yvette and Paul!) around/through the hook echo of a supercell.

While radars are able to provide wind and precipitation information above the surface, they cannot directly provide thermodynamic or wind information at the surface. The mobile mesonets provide this missing piece of the puzzle. For example, scientists are interested in how the rear flank downdraft (RFD) aids in tornadogenesis and maintenance. This requires knowing the thermodynamic properties of the RFD and how these properties change in time. Who ya gonna call...? MESONETS. (umm...this Ghostbuster reference did not work as well as I had hoped--or at all!)

BTW, no missions today and none planned for tomorrow.

Sunflowers, Sooners, and Sunny Skies.

2010-05-03T23:40:00.006-04:00

(posted by Karen Kosiba)

Since leaving Boulder, we have spent 2 nights in Kansas, 2 nights in Oklahoma and 13 hours in our vehicles . Cup holders were installed, fried okra was consumed, and ping pong tournaments were taken quite seriously.

While reuniting with the marvelous mallow was indeed rewarding, the real highlight of today was converging with the rest of the Vortex2 armada. What was once a party of 29, has now become a party of 100+ (I tried to count everyone as they walked into the hotel, but my abacus gave me a memory allocation error--someone please laugh. Anyone...).

No severe weather is forecast for tomorrow, so work on instruments, meetings about safety, meetings about strategy, and meetings about meetings will be tomorrow's course of action. We actually have a fair amount of work, that the lack of severe weather is not troublesome...yet.

Picture 1: Looking out the front window of DOW7 at blue skies (nothing but blue skies...).

Meet DOW6 and DOW7...

2010-05-02T00:10:00.009-04:00

(posted by Karen Kosiba)

Since the Vortex2 armada is still waiting for weather within the Vortex2 domain, I thought I would introduce you to 2 or our radars.

Hi -- I am DOW6, a dual-polarization, dual frequency X-band radar. I am blue.

Hi -- I am DOW7, a dual-polarization, dual-frequency X-band radar. I also am blue and MUCH cooler than DOW6.

Yes, it is true--CSWR operates 2 dual-pol, dual frequency radars.

What exactly is a dual-polarization, dual frequency radar you may ask (I hope!)...

Most radars are single polarization--which means that they send out energy in one direction (vertical or horizontal). These radars give you information about how much (and the size) precipitation is occurring. Obviously this is very useful information (will our town flood?)! But, what if you want to know if the precipitation is hail or rain or graupel? In thunderstorms, this information actually tells you something about the processes occurring within the storm that may affect tornadogenesis.

Now, in order to get information about precipitation type (dual-pol), these radars have to scan slowly ("slowly" is relative--tornado processes evolve over seconds...). When looking at supercell thunderstorms, we like to scan fast (also relative)! In order to scan "fast", two frequencies (dual-frequency) are used and we then use the combined information to get "fast" dual-polarization data.

So, in summary (if you only read 1 sentence read this one!) DOW6 and DOW7 are able to scan quickly (good for getting information on fast evolving phenomena like tornadoes) and obtain information about the precipitation type within a storm (useful for understanding thermodynamic and microphysical processes that are critical to tornadogenesis).

Newton: 2

2010-05-01T22:53:00.011-04:00

(posted by Karen Kosiba)

We have left Boulder and have arrived in the Great Plains (no more snow!!)!

Severe weather has been occurring (today and yesterday)--but to the east of the Vortex2 domain.
In order to get good scientific data (and safely!), we operate in regions that are relatively flat and unobstructed (i.e., not many trees). Not only does this allow us to have visual cues about the weather, but it also allows us to collect data that is not contaminated by the terrain.

Given the death of weather in the Vortex2 domain, our time was best spent working on radars, radios, pods, etc. (you would be surprised how much maintenance is required!). We tried not to work TOO late and enjoy our evening...

We also have linked up with the University of Colorado disdrometer team (yes--I know--in Boulder, CU is only a couple of miles southwest of CSWR!), headed by Katja Friedrich (more about the disdrometer team later, starting with "what exactly is a disdrometer?!"), and soon will merge with the rest of the Vortex2 team.

Picture 1 (Left): Justin Walker (DOW Master--you may not recognize him without his banjo) and Eric Robinson (Purdue graduate student) work on DOW7.

Picture 2 (Right): Josh Barnwell (FYI, for a cookie, I told Josh I would not post this picture. Given that I have yet to acquire a cookie...I bet you can guess which one is Josh) and Andrew Arnold work on radio communications in DOW5. Rachel Humphrey works on software installs (again and again...!).

...and we are off!

2010-04-30T16:42:00.016-04:00

Goodbye Mountains...Hello Great Plains!

(posted by Karen Kosiba)

After 4 days (OK--it really has been several months...) of frantic preparation, the CSWR crew is ready to get out of Dodge (Boulder).

It is time to put our systems to the test--radars, mobile mesonets, radios, tracking, etc.--before our first official mission.

By the way, it snowed again today!

Picture 1 (Left): Mallie Toth packs Erin Jones. I imagine we will unpack her by June...
Picture 2 (Right): Jeff Frame, Kristen Schuler, and DOW7. (I could not think of anything clever for this caption!)

Snow?!!

2010-04-29T17:08:00.015-04:00

(posted by Karen Kosiba)

Boulder was blanketed with snow this morning. Everyone is bundled up and trying to stay warm (currently the temperature is almost 48 degrees--a heat wave!).

Aahh...springtime in Colorado--time to get on the road! We are ALMOST ready to leave...

Photo 1 (Left): Lindsay and Herb enjoy a lunchtime serenade by Justin Walker (banjo player and DOW Master). At CSWR, we dine in style.

Photo 2 (Right): German native (this is her first time to the U.S.!) Mareike Schuster enjoys a (frozen!) yogurt.

Return of the Pod People...

2010-04-28T16:11:00.009-04:00

(Posted by Karen Kosiba)

The pod people (as we affectionately call them) have descended on Boulder...all 15 of them!

CSWR deploys 16 tornado pods, which are basically mobile weather stations, in the paths of tornadoes in order to get wind speed, wind direction, and temperature within the lowest 1 meter of tornadoes. As you might imagine, this not an easy task! The pods weight 120 lbs and the pod people have to wait until the last possible minute to deploy the pods. Speed is a requirement, gracefulness is not!

As scientists, we are interested in what the magnitude of the wind is near the surface so we can better understand how how these wind speeds match up with radar observations (which are >> 1 m) and what magnitude of wind speed is responsible for damage to houses, office buildings, etc.

Picture: Pod Master, Lindsay Bennett (a postdoctoral scientist from Leeds), is showing the Podettes (Andrew Arnold, Eric Robinson, Mallie Toth, and Erin Jones) how to retrieve the data collected by the pods after a huge tornado (OK--so it was really a light breeze one afternoon in Boulder).

Stay tuned for a REAL pod deployment...

Vortex2 2010 --Let the fun begin!

2010-04-27T18:05:00.020-04:00

Welcome to Vortex2, Year 2!

(posted by Karen Kosiba)

The last minute preparations are underway for Vortex2-2010! Here in Boulder, CO, at the Center for Severe Weather Research (CSWR), we are in the process of getting our 3 radars (2 of which have been upgraded to dual-polarization/dual-frequency radars--more on that later!) and 6 pod vehicles packed and ready for the season. We have 27 crew members from across the county (and across the pond--Germany, U.K., and the Netherlands).

Everyone is excited for the season to begin--as you can tell from Herb Stein's (left) and Paul Robinson's (right) expressions of happiness (or lack of sleep)!

Follow us throughout the season to learn more about all of our adventures in the field!

VORTEX2 finally intercepts a tornado

2009-06-08T17:35:00.003-04:00

After a long hiatus, we have a new post. Rachel Humphrey, a graduate student at the University of Colorado has written today's post.

I will add a pre-amble. The VORTEX2 fleet made tornado science history a couple days ago. We intercepted a tornadic supercell for nearly an hour, deploying mobile radars, sticknets, disdrometers, mobile mesonets, photogrammetry teams, and in situ tornado pods in an amazing integrated array. Integrated data were collected from about 20 minutes before the tornado formed, through its birth, and almost until it died. Never before has a tornado been studied in nearly as much detail.

Rachel's post:

Subject: It only took about five weeks...

...but today, V2 finally intercepted its first tornadic storm of its 2009 operations.

Our morning started off in Sterling, CO, and we left the hotel around 11:30ish, making our way north into Wyoming (in a similar location to where we chased yesterday, near the border of Wyoming and Nebraska) and opting to neglect the possibility of storm initiation further to the south. We targeted our first storm around 4:00pm local time, and headed towards the area of intercept in southeastern Wyoming. The environmental conditions were conducive to supercellular development (not amazingly great, but certainly better than what we had seen days prior), as there was sufficient shear and moisture present.

Once it became apparent that the targeted storm was more likely to become supercellular (and possibly tornadic) than the other cells in the region (there were two cells to the north of our storm, the topmost moving northeast, the second one down the line moving almost due east, and our storm moving east-southeast), the crew began to deploy their various instruments. The radars all got into position so there would be plenty of overlap for their radar lobes. The Probe vehicles began to get into position to begin their mesonet transects of the storm (as well as the eventual dropping of the PODs). The disdrometer teams began to scout out locations for good deployment sites of our own.

One of the main obstacles to overcome in our deployments was the lack of visibility due to the presence of large bluffs in the local topography. The radars had to find high terrain on which to scan, so as to not interrupt their beams. The Probe teams had to find terrain on which it was safe to deploy and where the PODs would be level and yet also exposed to the winds of whatever was coming their way. For the disdrometers, we had to make sure that we had good radar coverage as well as exposure to the elements. The bluffs were pretty to look at, but they definitely hampered all of our efforts to do that. However, we got it done - all of us - and once everyone put everything where it had to be, we were treated to the sight of a very large tonado that lasted (on the ground) over 20 minutes, snaking silently towards us (we were positioned near DOW 7 on US-85) while we watched in awe.

It's like a cliche scene from a movie: all the practice that we've been doing, all the dry runs, all the pseudo-deployments carried out in non-severe conditions all paid off today, as once the tornado formed, we were able to watch it from a safe distance while it came near (and, in some cases, crossed over) our instruments. Today's mission was a total success. Everyone's spirits were lifted (seriously, it was getting pretty snarky around these here parts), and all the data has been taken off the instruments already (everyone's eager to see what was obtained - after all, this is the biggest instrumented case so far this year!)

After the tornado roped out, we began to head down US-85 to connect up with I-80, with the intention of calling it a day and heading to Kearney, NE for the night (about 4 hours away from wehre we had just watched this amazing storm). However, while we were driving along, a cell to the north of us began to rapidly intensify, and showed signs of rapid rotation beneath its base. As a matter of fact, at times it looked like the entire mesocyclone had simply extended down to the ground! We (CU) headed north out of Chappell, hoping to rendezvous with DOW 6 to get some radar coverage as the core came over us, but that plan didn't exactly work out. For one thing, visibility was really strange beneath that storm, and it wasn't entirely sure that it would be safe for us to deploy in the core. So, we didn't. Though the storm itself was tornado warned, we never got confirmation that it actually produced a tornado, but we couldn't really be sure from where we were...We weren't in a !
position to deploy on it, and since it was becoming dark, the operations were ended for the day. However, on our ride back (we were on the second storm for over an hour, so our departure from the Chappell region was pretty delayed) along I-80, we at times were literally surrounded on three sides with storms which were either tornado- or severe-warned...It made for a very long, very slow, very intense, but very exciting ride back to Kearney tonight/this morning.

Speaking of which, I should wrap this up and get on with the pictures, since today is supposed to be active, as well - barring any wiping out of regional instability as the result of the propagation of an MCS through most of the state of Nebraska...

Backwards Storm Intercept

2009-05-27T13:29:00.003-04:00

We intercepted the most interesting storm to date yesterday, in North Texas. For a while, a strong storm was approaching the Dallas/Fort Worth area. It was in 'bad' air, so we waited to see if it would cross Dallas and become a supercell when it emerged to the east. Instead it surprised us and split, and even more unusually, the right moving split died and the left moving split moved straight to the north. While 'left movers' are not VORTEX2's typical target type, we scrambled back to Slidell, Texas to get ahead of the storm. It had begun to rotate, and even had a feature that looked like a hook. A left moving storm like this is very difficult to intercept. We all had to put on our 'mirror glasses' since the storm structure was expected to be a mirror image of a normal supercell. It really taxed our adaptability, but the well practiced VORTEX2 scientists did great.

The storm made golfball sized hail and strong winds. One of the DOWs, the high-tech 6-beam Rapid-Scan DOW measured differences in winds across the rotation of 60 m/s (150 mph), which is quite intense. But the circulation was aloft and cut off from the ground by a cold outflow. There was not much chance of a tornado. The NSSL mesonets, the CSWR mesonets, and the TTU Sticknets all deployed in a box between the 6 X-band radars deployed close to the storm, so we collected very good data.

Eventually the storm morphed again, and a cyclonic, or normally rotating circulation developed. We collected radar data in that also.

It was our most intensively studied storm to date.

Today is a down day, so we are working on repairs, traveling north to our next target area, which may be in Nebraska or Iowa as soon as Friday, and doing our laundry.

Surprise supercell intercept

2009-05-22T09:16:00.004-04:00

VORTEX2 has been conducting missions in Nebraska for the past few days. It has been pretty disappointing most days. The Plains continue to be pretty quiet. Strong jet stream winds, frequently necessary to provide a source of rotation for supercell thunderstorms, and tornadoes, are flowing only in the far northern tier of states, in North Dakota and South Dakota. Hot moist air, necessary to provide the energy for thunderstorms to form in the first place, has been confined to the far south. So, there have been few places where the conditions for rotating thunderstorms have overlapped.

One of those places was Alliance, Nebraska on Wednesday. VORTEX2 started in Ogallala, Nebraska, and went north to get under the edge of the jet stream. We spent much of the day in a nice town, Hemingford, Nebraska, waiting for storms to develop. We met a lot of the townspeople and even gave a tour to an elementary school class.

In mid afternoon storms began to percolate west of town. Then the chase began. We debated whether to drive north or southeast since there were storms in both areas. The choice was not very clear, and there were a variety of opinions. Both choices had merit. The southern storm was stronger, but the northern storm was in an environment more likely to cause it to become a supercell. It was my turn to be 'mission scientist' who serves as a tie breaker when the 'Steering Committee' of VORTEX2, can't reach a unanimous decision. So, I said, let's go southeast after the 'bird in the hand', the stronger storm. We stayed ahead of that storm for about an hour, and considered deploying the huge VORTEX2 armada around it. But, it never matured into a supercell, so was very unlikely to make a tornado. Would it morph into a supercell when it hit a cold front? Would it never change? Again, we did not know and it fell to me to break the tie by deciding to give up and head back west.

As we headed back to Alliance, Nebraska, most of the Steering Committee, including me, were not optmistic. We were discussing whether to wait for a while, or just to give up and let our crews get dinner at some reasonable hour (at real, non-fast-food, restaurants which are often closed when we roll into towns at 10pm). But, one of our group was more optimistic and recommended that we try a little longer. He sure was right. A weak storm near Alliance quickly got organized. It became a supercell. And supercells are what make tornadoes? We quickly deployed our radars, Sticknets were dropped, mobile mesonets drove back and forth. We finally had a mission, an intercept, on a viable storm, an interesting supercell.

The storm had a hook echo and rotation. One team observed a gustnado, which is a small, tornado-like spin up below a storm. VORTEX2 collected data on the storm for about an hour before it moved away from any paved roads. It never made a tornado. But, finally, we had intercepted a 'real' storm. We were very glad that we had driven all the way to northwest Nebraska, and that we had been tenacious and had not given up. It was also nice to see how the project leaders worked as a group, even when we had different opinions. As it turns out, neither the original choices of north or south were correct, a storm in the middle that all but one of us, including me, wanted to give up on, became the supercell, and we were there.

Today we're moved even more northward, to South Dakota. Chances are only slight for a supercell. But, like we saw on Wednesday, the chances are not zero. Even if chances are slight, VORTEX2 needs to be in the right place at the right time if another surprise happens this afternoon.

VORTEX2 Goes Way North

2009-05-19T09:12:00.003-04:00

VORTEX2 has moved the massive fleet way north. Currently we are stationed in western Nebraska. We are poised to go more northwest in pursuit of severe weather. The problem for VORTEX2 (though not for the High Plains) is that the atmosphere has grown quiet. The jet stream is way up along the USA/Canada border. A storm in the Gulf of Mexico is preventing warm soupy air from flowing north into the Plains. The combination means hot dry conditions through tornado alley, and not many pickings for VORTEX2.

But, there are always chances. Today we are looking at slim chances in Nebraska. Tomorrow holds the possibility of operations in Nebraska, Wyoming or Colorado. The chances are slim, but we're out here anyway, waiting, so slim is better than none.

These types of lulls are par for the course in tornado research. Active periods alternate with periods of relative calm. During this time we practice on whatever storms we can find. With our uniquely numerous and diverse set of instruments we can learn valuable things about non-tornadic storms also.

A few days of being stationary for VORTEX2

2009-05-17T09:35:00.004-04:00

The skies over the High Plains have quieted for a while. After an excellent mission targeting a squall line in Oklahoma, VORTEX2 is now in a holding pattern waiting for the weather to become active again.

The squall line mission really tested out our equipment and tactics. We set up a line of 5 mobile radars (a first), both Sticknet lines in the dual-Doppler lobes (a first), and had 14 Mobile Mesonet vehicles driving back and forth across a pre-storm boundary and the storm itself. Disdrometers were deployed, and weather balloons were launched ahead of the storms and in the cold pool behind, we even dropped our array of tornado pods ahead of the line's gust front. Even though the line did not produce a tornado in our study area, the mission was very satisfying because we really succeeded in our choreography around the storms.

Now we have a few days with no missions. But, VORTEX2 is not at rest. CSWR is working hard on software and hardware modifications so that our radars work better. So are all the other groups. The Rapid-Scan DOW's generator is still stalling sometimes, so we're trying to shield it better from road splash. One of the DOWs went to Oklahoma City to get its hydraulics fixed. On Monday it will have yet another diagnosis of its drive shaft vibrations. We have a brand new International Truck that has had major problems, and we hope that International finally replaces our bent and vibrating shaft. And, one of the Tornado Pod's T/RH (temperature/relative-humidity) sensors got bent during travel yesterday.

We are gathering together the data we collected yesterday so that we can show it to and share it with other VORTEX2 scientists. Even though there was no tornado, we need to see how well the radars performed, how well the Sticks and Pods and Balloons, etc. did their jobs, whether they were directed to the best places at the best times, whether the data were recorded correctly and were calibrated.

Also, crews have to take care of personal tasks that are nearly impossible when we're nomadic, pulling into hotels late at night and leaving the next morning, things like laundry.

No gold at the end of the rainbow yet

2009-05-14T17:20:00.003-04:00

VORTEX2 conducted missions on Tuesday and Wednesday...but we didn't intercept any tornadoes. On both days we intercepted very interesting weather. Wednesday featured a line of storms which contained a couple supercells. One made a tornado, but VORTEX2 had chosen a different storm. We got a chance to test tornado pods on Tuesday and the Mobile Mesonets had a good mission on Wednesday. We deployed several of the radars on the storm, but not in the coordinated way we had written in our operations plan. The biggest problem was that the weather was very difficult with the target area moving in jumps from place to place (we call this discrete propagation. Also, the storms were moving in a very unfavorable direction compared to their shape, so radars had to run away from the hail cores very shortly after they parked.

Today we are 'down', which means we are working on various systems. We fixed a broken hydraulic foot on DOW7, fixed a broken generator on the Rapid-Scan DOW (yes the one we just purchased last week!), and worked on some computer problems on a couple mobile mesonets. With this many instruments (CSWR is fielding 21 separate weather stations), there are always things that need fixing.

Friday is our next mission day and we are hoping that we get some good data. And, we're hoping for an early night and some good rest this evening.

VORTEX2 hits the road

2009-05-13T00:22:00.004-04:00

VORTEX2 had its first real mission today. We departed from Clinton, Oklahoma and rushed to Tulia, Texas. Then, as often happens when pursuing tornadoes, we waited and waited for a storm to start. Finally, around 5pm storms started to get stronger to our west towards New Mexico. We didn't have much optimism that they would make tornadoes, but the massive VORTEX2 fleet really needed practice. So, we headed away from town to try our luck attempting to intercept a real storm, with real wind, rain and maybe hail. Well, with 40 vehicles trying to coordinate for the first time, the result was predictable: a certain quantity of chaos. But, it was a great mission. It was very hectic in DOW7, with all 3 radios blaring with different teams' questions and reports. The mobile mesonets reported a road was closed because a whole line of power poles had snapped and fallen, probably from about 100 mph winds in one of the microbursts. The dust was beautiful. We deployed the DOWs and scanned through the storms, we had our pod teams actually deploy in front of the outflow, we tested communications with the several other teams. Some things worked, some things didn't.

When we finally gave up on the storms we had a wonderful show, a beautiful sunset with storms and a rainbow and a spectacular lightning show at our hotel.

Tomorrow looks like a 'better' severe weather day, so we are trying to fix what we can overnight and prepare to start all over again in the morning.

Glamour, Sciance, and the Start of VORTEX2

2009-05-10T16:23:00.002-04:00

The glamorous part of our project is over. The real missions are about to begin. VORTEX2 cut the umbilical today and we became 'mobile'. I put this in quotation marks because we only deployed from Eastern to Western Norman, Oklahoma. But we are now all staying in the same hotel, working out of our mobile office not the comfort of the University, and doing our last minute preparations. Today we are holding a class, Tornado Pods 101, teaching our crews how to deploy the pods. We need them to know this like the back of their hands because they have 45 seconds to deploy each pod (we'll practice and practice until we get this time down to 45 seconds). Pod deployments happen in bad weather, to say the least. Our plan is that the 4 vehicles wait until the tornado is about 2 miles to their west, about 4 minutes away, before starting their deployment runs. Each team has to deploy 3 pods. 45 seconds for a deploy, 45 seconds to the next location, 45 seconds to deploy again, etc. Then they run away to the south of the tornado, wait until the tornado passes, then rush back in to collect their prizes, Pods with tornado data. After all that they rush back ahead of the tornado or tornadic storm and repeat the process.

Tomorrow we expect to go really mobile, and leave town.

Arrived in Norman for 'Media Day'

2009-05-08T15:04:00.003-04:00

We finally arrived in Norman for Media Day. It was well orchestrated chaos. Even more than usual, there were print, photo, and TV reporters, documentary companies, seemingly every kind of press out to take pictures of the VORTEX2 fleet. I'll post some pictures later, but this was surely the largest gathering of severe weather science equipment ever. Dozens of science vehicles, a large crowd of media, students, scientists, etc. Even Miss Oklahoma, in costume and crown, was there. Who knew that science was so glamorous? I was assigned a satellite truck and gave 15 interviews between 5:30 am and 9:30 am, then gave one of the introduction talks at the media day gathering. Many VORTEX2 PI's, the Steering Committee, and other scientists were at the meeting and we received several interesting questions from the audience and through call in lines and e-mail. Then we all went to the parking lot to be interviewed some more.

Meanwhile real work had to continue. We were real happy that the broken generator on the rapid-scan DOW had been replaced...until we found out that the generator shop had installed the wrong generator. Now we have to get yet another generator overnight from Texas and beg the shop to work on in on Saturday. Nothing is easy it seems.

The DOW7 rushed out of media day in order to get its transmission replaced. Otherwise the team is working on software, weather instrument inatalls, and completing two Pods for CU.

CSWR team in Hays, Kansas

2009-05-06T19:48:00.003-04:00

We've stopped in Hays, where we have rented a garage, so we can do some more work on a few of our systems. While we were driving we tested our radios, computers, and tracking systems in 'real world' conditions. Mostly things worked, but with this many radars, mobile mesonets, pods, computers, etc, there is always a bug list. One of the generators on the Rapid-Scan DOW is idling roughly, so we've sent it out ahead to Oklahoma City to get fixed. Maybe it will be fixed by the time we get there.

Our crew ate lunch at a real restaurant today. For a group that has been eating every lunch and every dinner in our Boulder hanger for the past 2 weeks, this was quite a treat.

This is Dr. Karen Kosiba and Paul Robinson working on some software installations. Karen is a recent PhD from Purdue. She is studying low level winds in tornadoes in VORTEX2. She has been on several DOW missions including 4 tornado seasons, a few hurricanes, and to a project called COPS in Germany. Paul is an analyst at CSWR and is working on radar and tornado pod analysis. He is going to have a very tough job this year, at the receiving end of the fire hose of all our data. Jon Lutz is inside the DOW7 making the antenna spin better. Jon is a radar engineer who has been working on DOWs since 1995, on the original DOW1. Jon has been on dozens of field programs with NCAR and other groups, all around the world and is one of the best all around people to have on any field project.

DOWs, Mobile Mesonets, Tornado Pods on the Road

2009-05-06T14:21:00.002-04:00

The CSWR and CU teams have left Boulder, finally. Late yesterday we got the newest DOW, DOW7 working well enough that we could leave our lab. We made it to Limon, Colorado where we spent the night. Now we're heading to Hays, Kansas. We're spending the road time testing and shaking out our systems. As is to be expected we have a long bug list. This includes a broken air conditioner in DOW7. It is getting quite hot here in the back with all these computers and electronics. Spirits are way higher today; the crew really needed to get out of the shop and on the road.

2009-05-05T13:06:00.002-04:00

I am writing from Boulder, unfortunately. We tried until 12:30am last night, but couldn’t get our last radar working. The problem is that the antenna will not spin. We got all packed up, but then had to have our crew go back to homes and hotels. This morning we’re trying again and we hope to leave by afternoon.
The picture is of a radar that we did get working. It is the Rapid-Scan DOW. Normal radars send out one beam, kind of like a flashlight beam. This is great for most uses, but not for studying tornadoes. The problem is that even the very fast-spinning DOWs, take a full minute to collect a 3D volume of data. Essentially we just get a picture of a tornado once per minute. But, tornadoes change very very quickly, sometimes evolving a lot during that minute between our ‘pictures’, and we miss how those changes happen.

The Rapid-Scan DOW has a pretty clever design that allows it to send out 6 beams simultaneously, but at different inclinations. So, we can ‘rake’ the sky with these beams, and in one sweep of the antenna we have a 3D image in the lowest few thousand feet of a tornado…every 5-7 seconds. Now we can see those extremely rapid changes.
The first time we took the Rapid-Scan out to see tornadoes, it was able to collect 3D images. We collected data in 6 tornadoes in 2005. But, it was not able to see enough, was not able to see what radar meteorologists call ‘clear air’ echoes just outside the tornado. We have that fixed, and have upgraded other components, and we’re ready to go. We did some final tests by placing a microwave ‘beacon’ on the roof of my house, and seeing how the 6 different radar beams saw it.

But, back to today. We are itching to go. We’re all waiting for the final DOW radar, DOW7, to have its problems fixed and tested. Maybe my next post will be from the road

2009-05-04T19:06:00.003-04:00

We are in our final hours of frantic preparation before leaving Boulder. We’re behind schedule, so everyone is very anxious to leave. We have lots of our equipment out in the parking lot and we’re packing boxes of spare radar parts, medical kits, cables, computers, etc.

Most of our crew are here. So, we have a dozen or so people working on our 9 vehicles. An IMAX crew showed up yesterday too. They’re filming an IMAX documentary about VORTEX2. They shoot through a whole roll of very expensive film in about 3 minutes.

We’ve had a couple very very long days here since my last post. Some of the hardest tasks are pretty mundane, but critical. Here we’re trying to pull radio cables through a hose that coils up a 56 foot mast on one of the DOWs. It took hour and many attempts. It was a hard, messy greasy job.

The vehicle behind the hose pulling team is one of our mobile mesonet / tornado pod deployers. It has a 13 foot mast with two anemometers (in case one is smashed by hail), and a thermometer and relative humidity instrument inside an S-shaped shield which keeps dry air flowing over them. Yes, we've hit branches, wires, and fast-food drivethru overhangs with them; it is pretty ugly. But, getting the instruments as high as possible above the ground and into the wind is important.

Our newest DOW will be tested in just a few hours. If it works, we can go, if it doesn’t, it is another long night of work in our hangar.

Well, that’s all for now. Next time I write, I hope it is from the road, after some successful practice deployments.

2009-05-01T19:33:00.002-04:00

The VORTEX2 project is about to begin. We have been working on asking which questions about tornadoes are most important, designing VORTEX2, planning, writing proposals, gathering community input, more planning, etc. for several years. With substantial funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, several universities, government labs, and private companies are coming together to begin the largest, most ambitious tornado project ever. It all starts in several days.

I run the Center for Severe Weather Research in Boulder Colorado, and perhaps the largest individual group within VORTEX2. We will be fielding 3 radars, 4 mobile mesonet vehicles which deploy a total of 12 tornado pods, and support vehicles, operated by a staff of about 24, ranging in background from senior engineers and meteorologists, recent PhD's, to current graduate and undergraduate students.

We hope to leave Boulder very very soon so that we can get in a week of practice before
the main VORTEX2 operation starts. Preparations are ongoing at a frenetic pace. We're my dedicated, but a bit burnt out, crew is here from 0800 to 2300 every single day. (Is it a weekend? Not in the CSWR DOW hangar.)

I'll be introducing our vehicles, instruments and crew in upcoming posts. For now, just one
picture of our two new DOW radars. One is raised up next to the other since we had to drain all the diesel fuel from our newest truck so it could pass its initial registration weigh in (yep, it is legal to drain the fuel). We had to come in at 25,999 lbs or less, we squeaked in at 25,940.
Whew.