[R-390] Grounds

[mikea]

On Mon, Aug 03, 2009 at 09:49:29AM -0400, Shoppa, Tim wrote:
> Barry writes:
> > I was stationed at Ft. Riley, Ks and the thunderstorms there 
> > were more scary because they were just so big and you could see them 
> > much farther off as they grew.
> 
> I grew up in the midwest (Iowa) and when I moved to
> California, I really really missed summertime thunderstorms.
> In 8 years on the West Coast, I only once saw a storm that
> had any appreciable lightning activity.
> 
> Temprement wise, I think that some people like me actually
> find thunderstorms relaxing. The ozone in the air, the steady
> roar of torrential rain, the bright flashes and booms I
> actually find calming. Now I'm in the mid-atlantic and
> although the thunderstorms aren't qualitatively as good
> as the storms I grew up with, I am quite glad that
> I'm back where we get thunderstorms.
> 
> Of course, being from Iowa I'm quite used to tornado watch and alerts too.
> To somebody who didn't grow up in tornado alley, here is how they work:
> A tornado watch means that you should put a new tape in your camcorder,
> and be sure it's readily accessible.
> A tornado warning means that you should go up on your roof and try
> to get some footage of the tornado so that you can be on the TV news. It's
> very handy that most town in the Midwest have tornado sirens, just in
> case you aren't watching TV or listening to a radio when one comes.

What He Said Above. We get some pretty intense weather here, and the
National Severe Storm Center and National Weather Center were located here
for good reasons. The other thing we do -- here, at least -- is switch to
the indoors 2m and 70cm antennas and battery power on the V/U rigs and
start listening on the local repeaters. Eventually, if the wx is nasty
enough, someone will start a SkyWarn net on one or more of the repeaters,
and we start calling in big hail, high winds, and funnels.

It's a lot of fun, and frequently we hear one or more of the weather
guessers say exactly what we said, only they say it 10 to 15 minutes later.

-- 
Mike Andrews, W5EGO
mikea at mikea.ath.cx
Tired old sysadmin