TVN Monthly Chaser - July 2011

8/6/2019 TVN Monthly Chaser - July 2011

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TVN Monthly ChaserDominating the Storm

Reflections, Hail Stones, and Gizmo...Oh My! July 2011

tightened and had begun torotate. A few short momentslater, the rotating storm hadproduced a small protrudingnipple which started its violentdownward tear away from thestorms base. The storm was

trying to become the PDS thatthe NWS had previously warnedeveryone of. Seconds later, the

nipple was a funnel and thefunnels circulation was on theground consuming wheat, dirt,and all matters of debris in itspath and it was less than 200 yards to our right! Success, anothertornado and another opportunity to study, document, and to learnfrom mother nature and one of her most impressive and unpredict-able forces!

We mobilized and prepared for our dangerous dance with the tornadoas it strengthened and sped across the road. As if the tornado knewthat we were about to probe and explore all of its secrets it bom-barded us with massive hail stones (the hail was so large, we tempo-rarily halted our chase and tornado research to collect and study thehail stones themselves) - they were the size of grapefruits! Aftercollecting a few hail stones, we refocused on our primary mission andcaught up to the tornado as it began debarking and clear cutting anold pine tree grove.

As we engaged the extremely violent tornado a second time, itwrapped itself in a curtain of rain and hid its violent rotation from oursight and research tools. The storm was no longer safe to study orpursue further. We had to abandon the chase and reposition our-selves. As we closed in on our next target, we observed an ominouslooking set storms developing further to our south with a massivehook echo that appeared to be dead set on impacting the town Nor-man - it was heading toward the TVN HQ! In that moment, the entireteam had a collective realization - GIZMO! (TVN's dog was at the HQ)- we called in a tornado warning to the NWS and abandoned thechase to return to Norman and save Gizmo.

At that moment, I realized why I chase these stormsAll the Above!!Story and Photographs by: Jeff Shardell - TVN Chase Team

After witnessing the Super Out-break of April 27, 2011 in DixieLand (five devastating tornadoes(two of which were rated EF-5)),I realized I needed to take astep back from extreme weatherto determine what initially hadsparked my interest in stormchasing. Was it the thrill of thechase, the focused task drivenscientific research, the teams

camaraderie on the road, or wasit my deeply rooted passion forthe outdoors and a primal needto further connect with nature?

I left the chaos and devastationin Alabama and returned hometo California for some muchneeded rest, relaxation, and self-reflection. While home the sunshined, the ocean breezes blew,and all the conveniences ofhome were readily available. Myself prescribed rest and relaxa-tion lasted a single afternoonuntil the guilt and longing for theroad set in. Reed and the TVNteam were busy helping withclean-up and recovery in Ala-bama and I was here pretendingto enjoy myself while my headand heart were in Tornado Al-ley. The door to my home hadclosed as quickly as it hadopened and after a quick andmuch needed date with the laun-dry machine I was out the doorheading back to my newlyfounded home and fam-ily...Tornado Alley and the TVN

team. I had arrived at the TVNHQ a few days prior to the guysand was primed and ready torejoin the chase.

The team had returned, and thenext day was shaping up to beone hell of a reintroduction toTornado Alley and the storms Icouldnt stop thinking about. TheNWS (National Weather Service)issued a PDS (Particularly Dan-gerous Situation) for the statesof Oklahoma and Kansas thatafternoon. We drove a few hourswest of the TVN HQ in NormanOklahoma and deployed our-selves in a dominating positionand waited for the days eventsto unfold. It didn't take long untilthe cumulus fields began firingup and evolving from soft pillowsto violent thunderstorms. Asmother nature transformed fromJekyll to Hyde, the storm clouds

Grapefruit Sized Hail Stone. Yep, this is the real thing!!

2011 Chase Stats:Miles: 52,000+States: 21Tornadoes: 64Intercepts: 4Video Views: 4,200,000+

Key Chases:

Billings, MT- 6/10Limon, CO - 6/18York, NE - 6/20Minot, ND - 7/8

The tornado as it crosses the road 200 yards in-front from us!
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TornadoVideos.Net Tornado Research Tools

In science, the most effective way to gain understanding of the environmentaround us is to directly observe and measure it -- to "see" it up close and per-sonal. Tornadoes are no exception. However, since tornadoes are such dan-gerous and unpredictable phenomena, it has been nearly impossible for scien-tists to safely collect observations and study tornadoes from close range. As aresult, to date, very few up close tornado observations of significance ex-ist. Without direct and accurate measurements of atmospheric characteristics

like barometric pressure, wind speed, temperature, etc. associated with torna-does, meteorologists are left with many uncertainties and few options forstudying these dynamic weather events. Meteorologists rely heavily upon com-puter simulations to analyze and predict how tornadoes form and be-have. Unfortunately, computer simulations rarely hold true and cannot serve asa substitute for actual field data. With the Dominator and Dominator-2, TVNhas the unique ability to put scientist and weather instruments directly into thepath of tornadoes in order to collect in-field data that is vital to developing amuch more robust understanding of the physics behind one of the most violentnatural forces on Earth.

As a result of this unprecedented research, the benefits of collecting data in-clude developing more accurate tools for the meteorological community to usein forecasting tornadoes, increasing the lead time of tornado warnings, andreducing the risk of false alarms. Structural engineers can also leverage this

data to better understand the forces that affect buildings hit by tornadoes -- sohouses, office complexes, etc. can be built in a way that makes them moretornado resistant and, as such, safer for their occupants.

TVN has embraced this challenge and uses a number of instruments to collectdata within and around tornadoes. In 2011, the TVN team invested over$100,000 in our research equipment and instrumentation. The most powerfultool in our arsenal is our radar.

CLOVER is the 1st doppler radar used to measure updraft and downdraft windsfrom inside a tornado. Many different types of doppler radars have been usedto measure the horizontal (across the ground) winds of tornadoes in thepast. Tornadoes are capable of extreme upward lifting winds -- these windshave never been actually measured in any capacity before. The reason thesevertical winds had never been measured prior to the TVN teams radar project

is due to the fact that a vertical radar has to be directly underneath a tornadoin order to "see" inside the tornados circulation to measure its updrafts and

downdrafts. Only the TVN team has been equipped with this ability. The Domi-nator and Dominator-2 armored tornado tanks and the specially engineeredradars are capable of getting into the "heart of the storm" allowing for safetornado intercepts to allow for these types of measurements to be recordedconsistently and accurately.

Another critical piece of TVN's weather instrumentation array is the cannonsystem for launching parachute tornado probes. Using high pressure com-pressed air, the cannon system launches small weather probes (capable ofmeasuring temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, and GPS loca-tion) from Dominator-2 directly into a tornado's circulation. After launching,each probe is propelled over 100 feet up into the air before a parachute de-ploys, allowing it to be carried by the storm. Probes communicate their GPS

location wirelessly in real-time back to a tracking computer in Dominator-2. These beacons allow for the probes to be recovered after they land so theweather data contained on their memory cards can be downloaded. The can-non system is controlled from inside Dominator-2 by a touch screen computer,which allows the operator to launch up to a dozen probes at a time into a tor-nado during an intercept.

TVN also uses a wind instrument called an anemometer, which is mountedabove the roof of Dominator-2. The anemometer directly measures the horizon-tal "across the ground" winds inside a tornado. It is designed to survive windsspeeds over 200 MPH (into the highest EF5 category of tornado strength) andworks like a high-tech weather vane, pointing into the wind to record the windspeed and direction.


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Line-X: Protection from the Storm

LINE-X Protective Coatings, the nations leading developer and pro-vider of high performance protective coatings, offers a wide varietyof spray-on coatings featuring specially formulated polymers thatpermanently bond to almost any surface for unmatched durabilityunder the most severe use. This high-quality spray-on applicationcontours, seals and protects from weather, road grime, scratches,dents and most chemicals, while adding an attractive finish that bothprotects and enhances the value of the vehicle.

LINE-X Protective Coatings is the perfect way for anyone to protecttheir investments, for the TornadoVideos.Net (TVN) researchers, itprotects their lives. Utilizing a full range of LINE-X Protective Coat-ings, the TVN team is well-protected from extreme weather elementswhile they gather crucial storm tracking data in dangerous condi-tions. The information gathered by the TVN crews is vital in helpingcities nationwide prepare for and safely respond to tornado threats.

The LINE-X coated vehicles provide protection from even the harsh-est conditions, including extremely high force winds, heavy hail, fly-ing debris and brutal weather commonly present in Tornado Alley.

TornadoVideos.Net Tornado Research Tools (cont.)

As storm research continues to evolve, one off-the-wall idea for a future TVNresearch project is video blimp probes -- slightly buoyant small blimp/balloontype probe that will be equipped with number of weather instruments. Similarto the cannon probes, these probes will also be equipped with HD cameras forrecording HD video of a tornado from inside and out at incredibly close rangeand at different elevations. The blimps would be released from Dominator orDomanator-2 and pulled into a tornado by the wind. Our long-term goal is to

have a fleet of Dominators, which will all launch cannon or blimp probes and beequipped with: CLOVER-style vertical radars, high-resolution conventional hori-zontal radars (for measuring the across the ground winds), anemometers, andbarometric pressure sensors. Surrounding the storm / tornado and producingthe first ever high-definition 3D "MRI" of a tornado.

Helping the TVN team with the development of these research tools is the Hy-perion Technology Group. The team is an employee-owned small businesswhose employees come from a wide range of engineering backgrounds. Withexpertise in mechanical, electrical, and industrial engineering.

For the TVN Dominators, LINE-X utilized its newest spray-on truck bedliner product, LINE-X PREMIUM. LINE-X PREMIUM offers the superior level ofabrasion and impact protection you already trust from LINE-X with an additional ultraviolet (UV) protection coating to keep it looking like new longer.Providing superior protection, the LINE-X coated TVN Dominators survived the record-breaking 2011 storm season. There was no damage from hail,debris or high force winds while facing the toughest weather conditions on the globe. Both The Dominator and The Dominator 2are the ultimateexamples of LINE-Xs rugged capabilities under the most extreme conditions. LINE-X products have endless applications and are utilized in automotive,commercial, light industrial, heavy industrial, agricultural, military, marine and custom applications.

For fans of the brand who arent chasing tornadoes, LINE -X offers a Nationwide Limited Lifetime Warranty for spray-on bedliners throughout its net-work of over 500 professional, franchised centers in 43 countries. For more information or to find your local LINE-X dealer, please visit www.LINE-X.com. Follow LINE-X on Twitter @LineXprotects, become a fan on Facebook ofLINE-X Protective Coatingsand check out what LINE-X is doing on

YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/linexprotects.
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On the Road with TornadoVideos.Net

June 20th York NE July 8th Minot NDTVN Storm Chasing

2011 Compilation - Very Cool
http://youtu.be/q-TXsrMeZqkhttp://youtu.be/q-TXsrMeZqkhttp://youtu.be/N-CPvLZtJuUhttp://youtu.be/N-CPvLZtJuUhttp://youtu.be/lU4SScycQJ4http://youtu.be/lU4SScycQJ4http://youtu.be/lU4SScycQJ4http://youtu.be/lU4SScycQJ4http://youtu.be/N-CPvLZtJuUhttp://youtu.be/q-TXsrMeZqkhttp://youtu.be/lU4SScycQJ4http://youtu.be/lU4SScycQJ4http://youtu.be/N-CPvLZtJuUhttp://youtu.be/q-TXsrMeZqk


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On the Road with TornadoVideos.Net
http://toddwenzelblog.com/2011/07/12/storm-chasers-timmer-chittick-to-appear-at-todd-wenzel-gmc-july-15-2011/


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TVN THANKS our PARTNERS & FRIENDSfor your continued SUPPORT

Questions, Comments, or ConcernsContact Us: www.TornadoVideos.Net/Sponsors

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TVN Monthly Chaser - July 2011

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