The Weather Here

Well the sun is out and all is well. We survived :)

Here is a video from this morning, followed by some photos:

WOW, did not realize it has been this long since I posted.

Well, up to now, I have not had much to post BUT the storm is a coming! Thought I would start chronicling what is coming. So far just a dusting of light snow but then again this in not the storm. I am in the South Suburbs of Chicago and expect a good 18" plus by the time things are over with. The Weather Channel is stating that this storm will affect over 100 million people and the snow belt is over 2200 miles long.

My Grand Kids think I am nuts, but I was a teen during the 1967 storm and remember it well. It was fun, but also scary. To be cut off from the normal flow of people and traffic was something, especially for a big city. Unfortunately I did not take photos, all though I think there is some video somewhere (not digital but VHS).

Here is the first of many (I hope) uploads of this storm:

Labels: Storrm 2011 - Chapter 1

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I see it has been way too long since I posted. I shall correct that right now. Today I had the opportunity to tour the Nation Weather Service's Chicago office. The office is actually now located in Romeoville, IL, a suburb of Chicago.

A little bit of history. The Weather Service implemented this office in 1870 right here in Chicago. It seems after some maritime incidents in the Great Lakes the Government was hoping they could nd chose Chicago to start it. The Burehelp by establishing a Weather Office aau moved from the Department of Agriculture to eventually under the jurisdiction of NOAA.

The tour consisted of the building and back grounds. The NWS is staffed 24 / 7. Total staff is 24 with at least 3 members on duty at all times. During weather emergencies, additional staff is bought in to man the extra computer work stations to keep ahaead of the storms.









This is the HAM radio station where outside observers and spotters can radio their info in directly to the NWS if needed.

Of course the big advantage of this facility is it's state of the art WSR-88D Doppler Radar. This baby stand 28' tall to the base of the dome and then the dome is at a 28 foot diameter. The radar looks out at 220 miles and can tilt from 1 degree to a 45 degree axis, with continuous 360 degree coverage.





Besides the on duty staff, in case of emergency, there are axillary units that can be called out to assist NWS in disseminating information.