Sal Tech
The Battalion
Page 3 • Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Storm chasers
Texas A&M Mobile Severe Storms Data Acquisition Team searches out the big ones
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By Amelia Williamson
THE BATTALION
Most people try to avoid getting stuck in the middle of severe
he sail leather, but members of the Texas A&M Mobile Severe Storms Data
enefei Acquisition group (TAMMSSDA) are constantly searching for severe
Itorms to chase.
Kevin Robert Walter III, an atmospheric sciences graduate stu-
ent and co-coordinator of TAMMSSDA, said group members
earn about severe weather, try to predict when and where it will
ccur and then attempt to intercept severe thunderstorms and tor-
J^Hadoes. While chasing severe storms, TAMMSSDA members
a *fc« o pe not only to gain further knowledge and a better understand
ing of the inner-workings of severe storms, but also to aid the
ational Weather Service in its mission to protect lives and prop-
|rty by issuing timely and accurate severe weather warnings,
'alter said.
(TAMMSSDA members) evaluate the atmospheric conditions
In the hopes that conditions are right for the formation of severe
thunderstorms,” said Gordon May, a junior environmental geo-
ciences major and TAMMSSDA member. “If (the conditions are
jght), we go out and try to intercept these storms so that we can
;ain a better understanding of what makes them work.”
The group chases storms throughout the academic year, but the
nost chases occur between the months of March and May, said
Jennifer Salato, a junior meteorology major and one of the fore
asters for the group.
“If there’s decent and predictable severe weather to be had in
he Southern Plains, we’ll chase it,” Walter said. “Between the
ickleness of Mother Nature and the academic commitments of
%ft H ur club members, we average about one full-fledged chase per
(cj tantfi.”
IP I The group is responsible for predicting when and where storms
ire likely to develop, Salato said.
“We have six forecasters and each forecasts for a week,” said
ason Sippel, atmospheric sciences graduate student and co-coordi-
lator for TAMMSSDA. “This schedule continues through the fall
nd spring semesters, so someone is always on the ball watching out
'or potential chase-able storms.”
The group spends most of its time chasing supercells, which
ire violent storms that are likely to produce large hail and torna-
loes, May said. When a forecaster thinks that the weather in an
irea is favorable for severe storms to develop, he or she alerts the
other members.
“The group chases whenever operations have been called by a
forecaster,” Salato said. “It is the duty of the forecaster for the
week to call operations if the weather set-up looks promising for
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PHOTO COURTESY OF TAMMSSDA
TAMMSSDA team members Jason Sippel, Rich Otto and Chris Daniels survey a severe thunderstorm in western Oklahoma on March 27, 2004.
This storm went on to produce three short-lived tornadoes.
severe storms.”
TAMMSSDA forecasters have predicted that weather condi
tions in northern Oklahoma will be favorable for severe storms
this Thursday. Operations have been called for members to pre
pare to head out to Oklahoma on Thursday in hopes of chasing
some good storms, Walter said.
Before the chase, group members run numerical models and
check data to find the position where severe storms are likely to
hit. They then pile into cars and drive toward the target area of the
predicted storms. Two to 15 members go on each chase, and the
group will drive as far as Oklahoma and southern Kansas to chase
a storm, Walter said.
The people who stay behind to give the group updates on storm
movement and help them to decide which way to go are called
“nowcasters,” Sippel said. The nowcasters use satellite, radar and
surface data to track storms and advise the group members who
are out chasing the storm where to go.
When the chasers find a storm, they follow it from a safe dis
tance, observing and recording what they see. The storm chasers
usually stay a couple of miles away from the storm so they can
observe the whole structure of the storm. They do, however,
sometimes get as close as a mile to a storm if they want to get an
up-close look at it.
See Storms on page 10
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