A Ball State meteorology and climatology professor embarked last Tuesday on a 30-day trip with 14 students to chase storms through the Great Plains and to provide the students with an immersion learning experience.
David Arnold, a tornado researcher and professor, has held the excursions for 12 consecutive years to give students a different perspective on the weather -- one they would not get in a typical classroom environment.
"This is basically a mobile classroom environment, " Arnold said, "and we're teaching meteorology students to learn how to forecast storms. It's an exceptionally efficient teaching tool. It's one thing to look at maps and radar data, but it's a totally different thing to look at the map and then see the storm."
The group's research is aided by an XM radio satellite receiver that sends radar readouts to a laptop in the lead vehicle. From there, Arnold has the ability to see storms forming and direct the group toward the destinations best suited for storm viewing.
"We're following the environment," Arnold said. "We'll use the radar to watch a storm moving through the environment or see where one is developing over land, and that's where we'll head. The equipment is in the lead car with me, so I can radio back to the vans to tell them where we're headed."
The group has spotted three tornadoes in the first eight days of the trip: The first sighting was on Friday, 10 miles outside of Benjamin, Texas, and two were Tuesday, one just outside of North Flat, Neb., and the other 10 miles southwest of Holdridge, Neb. The group was headed toward Wichita, Kan., at press time.
"It's going very very well. We've had significant storms on six out of the eight days we've been on the road."
Along the way, the group plans to visit the National Severe Storms Lab in Norman, Okla., and the Forecast Systems Laboratory and Climate Diagnostics Center in Boulder, Colo. The group typically saves these trips for slow days that do not produce nearby storms.
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