Storm Spotting/Storm Chasing-related Pages

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NOTE: While we list both spotting and chasing references, here, it does not mean that we support or encourage storm chasing. The reason for the inclusion of storm chasing materials on this page is because a lot of the storm chasing materials often overlap in subject and they can still contain helpful added learning material that a spotter can find just as useful in his or her personal storm spotting educational pursuits.

INDEX:

Storm Spotting:
1. FAQs, Guides, and Information Sites
2. SKYWARN
Storm Chasing:
Technical Discussions, Research Papers, and Essays
Storm Forecasting Data Sites
Shops and Other Resources
Other Severe Storms-related Sites

(See also: Severe Weather-related Sites.)

SRH SERVERS HAVE BEEN DREADFULLY SLOW IN RESPONDING, LATELY. IF A LINK DOES NOT CONNECT, OR YOU GET AN ERROR, CHECK THE LINK TO BE SURE IT DOES NOT HAVE "SRH" IN THE URL. THAT MAY BE THE PROBLEM.

Storm Spotting:

FAQs, Guides, and Information Sites:
- Training/Guides:
  - Basic Spotter's Field Guide (Adobe PDF format) - NOAA/NWS
  - Advanced Spotter's Field Guide (Text-only - Adobe PDF format) - NOAA/NWS
  - A Look At Thunderstorms And Thier Severe Weather Potential - An Advanced Severe Storm Spotter Training Slide Series - NWS-Southern Region/NSSL
  - Getting Started in Tornado and Thunderstorm Spotting - Keith Brewster/N0IAW [10/13/2000]
  - NOAA Severe Storm Spotter's Guide (UIUC) - Steven E. Hall and David Wojtowicz, Weather World 2010 Project
  - NWS/SKYWARN Storm Spotter's Guide - NWSFO Norman
  - Spotter's Guide for Identifying and Reporting Severe Local Storms - USDOC/NOAA/NWS
  - Severe Weather Guide (New England) - New Hampshire Office of Emergency Management
  - Severe Thunderstorm Climatology - (aka Severe Weather Climatological Probabilities) - Dr. Harold Brooks, NSSL/SPC - Where and when do severe thunderstorms occur? Nice graphics and animations depicting severe weather seasons (tornadoes, wind, hail) and how they move across the U.S.!!! [10/13/2000]
- Storm Features:
  - A Distance Estimation Exercise for Storm Spotters - Brian Peters, NWS-Birmingham
    This doesn't get enough attention. Visual distance estimation of storms.
  - Identity of Storm Features - Gene Moore - Note: This slide series shows two diagrams from the Spotter Handbooks depicting thunderstorm structure from side and top. HOWEVER, these appear updated from the ones in the Handbooks, showing added placement of the shelf cloud relative to the wall cloud (in the side view), and of the location of the rain-free cloud base in relation to the precipitation (rain/hail). That helps.
  - Cloud Catalog - Univ. of Ill.
  - Cloud Boutique - Plymouth State College
  - Cumulonimbus clouds - Univ. of Ill.
  - Local Weather: Sea Breezes, Land Breezes, and Coastal Fronts - John Nielson-Gammon/Texas A&M Univ.
  - The Semi-official Microburst Handbook Homepage - Fernando Caracena
  - Microbursts - A Handbook for Visual Identification - Fernando Caracena, Ronald L. Holle, Chas. A. Doswell III
  - Jacksonville Downburst - May 27, 1997 - Pablo Santos & Fred Johnson
  - Mesoscale Convective Systems: Squall Lines and Bow Echoes - Morris Weisman, Ron Przybylinski
  - The Structure and Dynamics of Supercell Thunderstorms - Ted Funk, NWS Louisville Science and Technology Page
  - Tornadoes - NOAA
  - Tornadoes - Nature's Most Violent Storms - A Preparedness Guide - NWS/FEMA/ARC
  - Suwannee County Tornado - Sept. 30, 1998 - Pablo Santos & Pat Walsh
- Severe Local Storms Forecasting:
  - Severe Local Storms Forecasting Primer (book - $40US) - John Sturtevant
  - Forecasting Severe Weather Events - Paul Sirvatka
- RADAR Tutorials/Understanding RADAR:
  - RADAR Tutorial - Dave Johnson/N0KBD - SKYWARN Central [10/15/2000]
  - SWAT's WSR-88D Mesocyclone and Tornado Signature Case Study Page - SWAT-NSSL
- Glossaries:
  - A Comprehensive Glossary of Weather Terms for Storm Spotters - NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS SR-145 - [Alternate Site] - Michael Branick, NOAA/NWSFO Norman - This is an excellent reference of spotter terms and definitions. Every spotter should study this particular document, especially. [Link Updated 09/26/2000]
  - Severe and Unusual Weather: Basic Meteorological Terminology - Paul Sirvatka/College of duPage
  - Weather and Climate Glossary - Okla. Climatological Survey
  - Frequently Used Contractions for NWS Products - Aviation Weather Center, Kansas City, Missouri
- Safety:
  - Florida Hazardous Weather Awareness - A Preparedness Guide Including Safety Information for Schools.
  - Severe Weather Safety Guide - NWS Field Ofc. at Norman, OK
  - Lightning Injury Research - Mary Ann Cooper, M.D., Principal Investigator
  - The Human Effects of Lightning Strikes and Recommendations for Storm Chasers - William T. Hark, M.D.
  - Tornado Safety Tips Brochure - FEMA
- Online Magazines:
  - Weathervane Magazine - Jeff Gammons - Nationwide weather magazine for storm chasers and weather enthusiasts alike.
- Internet Resources:
  - Selected Internet Resources for the Beginner - Allen Rosenberg [10/14/2000]
- Newsgroups/Mailing Lists:
  - Usenet newsgroup - bit.listserv.skywarn
  - Usenet newsgroup - bit.listserv.wx-talk
- Frequencies:
  - U.S. Spotting Frequency List - Keith Brewster/N0IAW [10/14/2000]
SKYWARN:
- Alachua County SKYWARN
- National SKYWARN Home Page
- SKYWARN-Texas
- SKYWARN Sites Across The U.S. - Todd L. Sherman/KB4MHH
- Storm Spotting and Public Awareness Since The First Tornado Forecasts of 1948 - Chas. A. Doswell III, Alan A. Moller, Harold E. Brooks [10/15/2000]
- Usenet newsgroup - bit.listserv.skywarn

Storm Chasing:

FAQs, Guides, and Information Sites:
- Storm Chasers Home Page - Gilbert Sebenste - Now merged with StormTrack magazine site! [10/14/2000]
- Frequently Asked Questions about Storm Chasing - Charles Doswell III
- Selected Internet Resources for the Beginner - Allen Rosenberg - Excellent Site for some of the `How-To's' of severe storms predicting.
- Storm Chaser FAQ List - Tim Vasquez
- StormTrack Magazine Online - Storm Chaser magazine. A good site. Especially interesting are the numerous educational articles, including: Basic Storm Chaser's Guide, Suggested New Chaser reading Material, Educational Meterial for Classes, When To Chase, The Cap, Dryline Storms/Magic, A Look At the Energy-Helicity Index, Forecasting Supercell Type, Why Chase Tornadoes, and much, much more. [10/14/2000]
- Usenet newsgroup - bit.listserv.wx-chase
- Usenet newsgroup - bit.listserv.wx-talk
- Weathervine Magazine - Jeff Gammons - Nationwide weather magazine for storm chasers and weather enthusiasts alike.
Groups/Organizations:
- ALERT, Meteorological Research Teams
- Arizona Thunderstorm Chase Project, NOAA/ASU
- International Severe Storms Interceptors - Warren Faidley
- KWTV Storm Tracker's Page - KWTV Ch. 9 CBS affiliate storm chasing page
- Severe Weather Warning Application and Technology Transfer (SWAT)
- TESSA, Texas Severe Storms Association
- The MesoCyclone Palace - A. Probst
- TORRO, The United Kingdom Tornado and Storm Research Organisation
- Valparaiso (Indiana) University Storm Intercept Team
- Vortex100 Storm Chase Page - R. Lattery
Personal Storm Chaser Web Pages:
- Steve Albers, NOAA
- Chris Anderson, Iowa State University
- Sam Barricklow, SKYWARN
- Richard Bedard, Gilco Publishing
- Matt Biddle, OU - Moderate Risk Storm Services
- Howie Bluestein
- Keith Brewster, CAPS
- Harold Brooks, NSSL
- Chris Collura (South Fla. storm chaser.) [12/20/2000]
- Chuck Doswell's Home Page
- Robert Davies-Jones
- Laura Duchesne
- Roger Edwards, SPC
- Warren Faidley's National Storm Chase Homepage - see his video advertised on The Weather Channel
- John Finch, OU [Tornado Alley Tours, L.L.C]
- Tom Grazulis, The Tornado Project
- Jim Leonard
- DeWayne Mitchell, NSSL
- Al Moller
- Gene Moore
- John Monteverde's Storm Page
- John Moore, NJ7E, Arizona Thunderstorm Chasers, SKYWARN
- Scott Olthoff, UIUC
- Al Pietrycha
- Eric Rasmussen, NSSL
- Gene Rhoden
- Gilbert Sebenste's Storm Chaser Homepage
- Gary Skaggs, NSSL
- David O. Stillings, Lightning Photographer
- Greg Stumpf, NSSL
- John Sturtevant, Weather Scratch Weather Service
- Daphne Thompson, SSD
- Greg Thompson, NCAR
- Rich Thompson, SPC
- Tim Vasquez, Weather Graphics Technologies
- Josh Wurman

Research Papers:

Severe Storm-related Technical Discussions, Research Papers, and Essays To Help You Understand - at Gilbert Sebenste's Storm Chaser Home Page (see top of page)

Forecasting Sites:

Robert Prentice's List of Bookmarks - Robert Prentice - A huge list of various sites offering important storm forecasting related reports, images, etc.
APR Weather
Domestic Contractions - Comprehensive list of abbreviations used in many NWS reports.

Shops And Other Resources:

General:
- The Storm Shop - Sam Barricklow - Chase and SKYWARN video tapes and photos for sale.
- The Stormtrack Marketplace - StormTrack
- The Weather Shop - Intellicast
- WeatherScratch
- Weather Shops on the Internet - Intellicast
- WeatherStore ONLINE! - WeatherWatch magazine
Books, Photos, Videos:
- WeatherStock - Warren Faidley - Professional prints, film, videos, photo CDs, books, calendars.
Software:
- N2CKH Software Page - Stephen B. Hajducek/N2CKH - Some SKYWARN software available.
Weather Instruments and Equipment:
- Davis Weather Instruments
- Global Atmospherics, Inc. - Lightning detection equipment and services
- Kestrel Wind/Weather Instruments - NK Enterprises
- RadioPlus.com - Radios, weather radios, GPS systems.
- Zephyrus Electronics, Ltd. - Manufactures satellite and radio communications equipment and weather products.
SKYWARN:
- Places to Purchase SKYWARN-related Materials - Todd Sherman/KB4MHH
Miscellany:
- Twister Enterprises - Home of the Pet Tornado - Lyn Hosea
- Meteorology Source List - K-12 - Daphne Thompson - A list of meteorology resources and where they can be found or purchased.

Some Other Severe Storms-related Pages

Storm Spotting & Chasing-related Pages
Todd L. Sherman/KB4MHH
Gainesville, Alachua Co., Fla.
E-mail: afn09444@afn.org
Last updated: Decemer 20, 2000.

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