Friday, July 25, 2008

Overpasses

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/papers/overpass.html

In case any of you were under the impression that the overpass seemed to be a pretty safe place to be in the event of a tornado...

Labels: ,

posted by Marcian @ 2:26 PM 1 comments

Sunday, August 19, 2007

It's OUT!!!!

http://www.boston.com/travel/getaways/us/articles/2007/08/19/a_perfect_storm/

I hope this will make you all want to come storm chasing with the pros next spring!!!

www.tempesttours.com

Labels: , , ,

posted by Marcian @ 2:12 PM 7 comments

Monday, July 30, 2007

FINALLY DONE!!!

I want to live in a double-wide on the prairie.

Labels: ,

posted by Marcian @ 9:48 AM 4 comments

Friday, July 20, 2007

the Globe is taking the story!

and they want PHOTOS!!!

I will get paid!

Labels: , ,

posted by Marcian @ 10:39 AM 4 comments

Friday, July 13, 2007

"Does Not Play Well With Reality"

Martin is submitting my Macho photo to Optima Batteries for a testimonial from Tempest Tours.

Wow. I turned all school-girlish and couldn't stop giggling.

And to think I wanted to get out of photography for a while...

Labels: , ,

posted by Marcian @ 4:26 PM 5 comments

Thursday, July 12, 2007

I want to see it!!!

Have you seen the movie Twister? Well, I know you probably never thought to question whether or not I've seen it, if you've been a regular reader on r&r at least.

Do you remember the scene where Bill and Jo are under the bridge, right as her truck is getting sucked up by this possibly F2 tornado (moving at 65+ mph, and certainly inaccurate, but we won't go there for now)?

Do you remember when she turns around to the frustration of Bill, shouting "I want to see it!" and strains to get a glimpse of this powerful phenomenon she has dedicated her whole life to pursuing? To studying?

I feel that way when I think about getting to heaven and His love and patience with me is finally revealed in its fullest state. To see my depravity and selfishness lined up with His patience with me in everything. I hear those five words ringing in my ears with that same sense of desperation... "I want to see it!"

I want to see the depth of that love that I cannot grasp right now, that I can only sense, and that being because of my sin. I have a sense of entitlement that cannot be completely wiped away until I get to glory. I am humbled, but only as much as a depraved person can be by the grace of God. My own humility is still steeped in the rotting flesh that continues to die day after day after day.

And though I may not be perfect here, striving to attain holiness and righteousness is the least I can do for my Master, my Lord, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to even gaze upon, much less untie. And through it all, I pray that one day I will get to fully grasp the depth and height of the love of God that is behind the patience with me, even when I think I'm "doing all right."

I want to see it!!!

Labels: ,

posted by Marcian @ 12:43 PM 2 comments

Monday, July 02, 2007

I can't believe I saw this



Have you ever worked at something for years and never quite "got it?" And then one day it all comes together and you're sailing away? That's how I feel about digital photography right now. See, I understood film, and I felt much more comfortable with film. But now I have mastered a new skill, the art of digital photography, which is so much different than film. It's a different animal altogether. I stuck with it only because it's so cheap... simply the cost of electricity to charge the battery, and run my desktop PC. (My last developing/printing bill was over $100.) But I never turned out any of those digital images that make one stop and look again. Not like I could with film. And now I feel like I've finally achieved that with digital. I feel like I have mastered an art, AND a science. I still have my reservations about photography, and one's ethical and moral uses of it, where to draw the line with images. I could stare at this all day, though, occasionally blinking and wiping the drool from my chin (I HEART STORMS). I have gained a skill I never thought I'd acquire. I've forgotten how it feels to accomplish something like this...

Labels: ,

posted by Marcian @ 9:57 PM 4 comments

Sunday, July 01, 2007

More Postcards From the Edge

I've actually been pretty busy lately.




Labels: ,

posted by Marcian @ 7:30 PM 0 comments

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Editing Time

It's crunch time. 10 images for the Globe by monday. I have every image I want culled from the pack for editing and possible submission... all 383 of them. I am currently putting a copy of them in a separate folder in order to narrow my focus to one area of the computer...

You see, I originally took more than 1,300 photos on this trip. That's a lot of information I at one time deemed important enough to record. Isn't it amazing what we think is important at the time that we end up tossing later for something better? We are such a fickle sort, we humans.

Listening to: Mozart's 9th (in either Austrian or German... it all sounds the same when warbled out like that...)

Labels: ,

posted by Marcian @ 9:12 PM 0 comments

Monday, June 11, 2007

Boys of Tempest


Our Fearless Leaders

Labels: ,

posted by Marcian @ 11:19 AM 3 comments

Saturday, June 09, 2007

The Tornado Alley Leg

So, what did we do on our trip? Erik Trinidad was there, with an eagle eye and a great sense of humor. Check his blog of our trip at The Global Trip.

Labels: ,

posted by Marcian @ 9:04 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

And this is what I saw

The watermark is an evil necessity until I get a certificate from the copyright office.

Labels: ,

posted by Marcian @ 1:09 PM 5 comments

Monday, June 04, 2007

Tornado Count

I'd have to say a total of at least 2. Plus one landspout (its tornado classification is still being debated). Plus a gustnado (yes, that's the technical term).

Pictures forthcoming. Sleep imminent.

Labels:

posted by Marcian @ 11:35 AM 1 comments

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

It all started so innocently

Class is now in session
First, the review. What is this? It is a TVS - Tornado Vortex Signature. [EDIT: No TVS; only hook echo of RFD] Over DFW, no less. Looking directly to the west (left) of this "hook echo" is me. *waves* What does this hook echo mean? It could be that there is circulation to this storm. But the BEST way to know is by looking from the ground. This is why storm spotters are so valuable. I got to be a junior storm spotter today, and look at what I saw:
Look to the northeast of Arlington, and that is what these pictures are of.


I wish I could have seen what was heppening on the ground. Probably just a lot of dust being kicked up. But it was definitely updraft, with little overall circulation.


Here, I'm trying to get a sense of the overall storm structure. The contrast is pretty low because a storm to the west of us was obscuring the direct sunlight. You can barely make out slight stripes indicating rotation.

More "scud" close to the ground. Through all of this we didn't hear a siren. It was incredibly beautiful to watch, though.



These two above photos show a second rotation just above our heads with a funnel cloud poking out, but the rotation was not strong enough and it didn't last. It was very scary to watch for a second, as it was clearly rotating and elongating. "Marcia, are we gonna be okay?" "Sure, of course we are, um, I think so... no.... wait........."




Bell-shaped updraft base still clearly visible.



Bell-shaped updraft base with flanking line, I think.... correct me if I'm wrong.



Some rotation, but nothing to worry about. Just like the other funnel.



Look at the tight cumulus. This storm DEFINITELY had an updraft associated with it, the clouds kept being fed, even pushing a layer of pileus between themselves and the anvil from a previous storm.




Can you see the circular shape? It's a bit hard to distinguish here, it was clearer in person. They look like flat bells stacked upon each other.




Whew! That was it, until Mark called me and said "Hey, did you look outside? To your east?"




*gasp*


 Here she comes....



Some rotation, but mostly just updraft.




Still playing around, I see, but what is that to the upper right hand corner of the picture? Looks like a microburst to me. It kicked up the cloud edge and formed a curl.


Slowly fading away, just a small tail now.





And the beautiful parting shot of an LP supercell.

I'm going to go home now and eat. I forget that you don't eat when you're chasing, you just go go go go go (for me it's shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot) until the last possible sunray slips behind the horizon, and you're driving to your next position for tomorrow's show.

May 26th, here we come!!!!!!!

Labels:

posted by Marcian @ 6:54 PM 10 comments

Friday, April 13, 2007

No trophies today: a chase blog

This is a classic "hook echo" just south of San Antonio. We did not intercept this, but I sure hope no one was hurt. I didn't even see a tornado warning on this storm, and this was a pretty classic cell.

Turned on Mobile Threat Net... This is chasing in the computer age.



A nice break through the clouds... thinks the architect.



This just happens to be how I remember it.



On the side of the road, watching the inflow, feeling the outflow.

On a tornado-warned storm.


This was about as beautiful as it got.

I'm going to go dream about the 17-40L now, thanks.

Labels: ,

posted by Marcian @ 9:56 PM 3 comments

Gone Fishing




Labels:

posted by Marcian @ 8:54 AM 0 comments

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Postcards From the Edge

On a personal note, this is where I hope to be this summer.

Less than a quarter of a mile from the base of a tornado.

It's a completely selfish pursuit, and a dangerous one at that. No, no silly Tinman Tornado vehicle. No HiDef recording devices. Just lots of Diet Mountain Dew and bathroom breaks.
And our faithful companion Sven, the NOAA Weather-Bot.
For those of you who have deftly avoided ever watching this video with me (and you know who you are), THIS is the one amazing scene that was worth sitting through the hailstones for.
If you don't believe me, at least look at this.

Labels: , ,

posted by Marcian @ 9:34 PM 1 comments

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

TESSA National Storm Conference Announced!

The 2007 National Storm Conference location has been announced! It will again be located in the Colleyville Community Center, Saturday, March 10, 2007 from 9 am to 5 pm. This is the same venue as last year. It's a beautiful building with lots of space. Kudos again to Martin Lisius, TESSA Chairman.

www.tessa.org

This is the reason I would never leave DFW. Too many storm chasing opportunities here.

If anything, anyone interested in basic storm formation ought to sit through the Super Storm Spotter session in the morning with Gary Woodall. It's free to the public as well. Lunch is usually provided for around $5-10. They always have bar-b-cue... I'm going to have to bring my lunch this year.


Labels:

posted by Marcian @ 2:11 PM 1 comments

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Vacation?

The sad fact is that as an architect, and as long as I choose to be protected from the harsh Texas elements, I can NEVER get away from my job. Not unless I choose to live in a cave somewhere, but even then the distribution of forces down the sides of the walls will haunt me in my dreams.

What if I lived in the open prairie? Well, the sky and landscape are all architecture.

How so, you say?

Just read my forthcoming book.

Labels: , ,

posted by Marcian @ 10:42 AM 0 comments

Monday, October 09, 2006

Kelvin-Helmholtz


The truth about my cloud obsession is that the thrill doesn't lie in the tornado as much as the supercell that births it.

Here is a picture of a cloud I would give my right arm to see, the Kelvin-Helmholtz wave.

I'd also love to see lenticular clouds, but the KH apparently only lasts a few minutes, caused by a much faster moving layer of air above the cloud. Here are examples of lenticular (lenticular meaning "lense". I really oughtta brush up on my Latin) clouds.



If you want to see more eye candy, follow this link: http://valuca.funtigo.com/?preview=y&g=25544746&cr=1&rfm=y?cool

By the way, thanks to my chase partner, Jenna Blum, for sending me the link!

Labels: , ,

posted by Marcian @ 2:44 PM 0 comments