Ramblings of a Graduate Student » Science

Day 209: Overview of Thunderstorm Producing Record Hailstone

pmarsh — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:20:44 +0000

During the evening of 23 July 2010, Vivian, South Dakota experienced a severe thunderstorm no homeowner would enjoy; the thunderstorm packed winds estimated to be in the 110-120 miles per hour range. If that wasn’t problem enough, the thunderstorm was also producing hail that measured over 8″ in diameter and 18.5″ in circumference. (Anecdotal reports [...]

Mississippi Tornado Information

pmarsh — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:43:37 +0000

Below is from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Jackson, MS. I thought it important enough for it to be it’s own blog post. EF4 tornado with a maximum width of 1.75 miles. Simply amazing… 000 NOUS44 KJAN 260230 PNSJAN PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS 930 PM CDT SUN APR 25 [...]

VORTEX II

pmarsh — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:58:02 +0000

VORTEX II (Verification of the Origin of Rotation in Tornadoes EXPeriment) is scheduled to begin on 10 May and last through 13 June. I’ll be manning the VORTEX II Operations Center (VOC) here in Norman on a daily basis. In addition to this, I’m currently writing code (in my spare time) to generate images of [...]

Map Discussions

pmarsh — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:03:29 +0000

Last week a devastating ice storm ravaged parts of the United States; as of this writing, a little under 500,000 customers remain without power. Three days from now will be the first anniversary of the deadliest tornado outbreak in over 20 years. May will mark the 10th anniversary of the 3 May 1999 tornadoes in [...]

What the Hail?!?: Severe Thunderstorms and Climate Change

pmarsh — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:43:28 +0000

Tonight was the second installment of Science Cafe Norman. Tonight’s talk (title is the same as the title of this post) was given by me. We had a fairly large turnout of around 20-30 people and the talk lasted about an hour. While I was originally planning on talking more about climate change and less [...]

Science Cafe Norman

pmarsh — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:01:04 +0000

Tonight I attended the first “Science Cafe” in Norman, OK. Science cafes are live events that involve a face-to-face conversation with a scientist about current science topics. They are open to everyone, and take place in casual settings like pubs and coffeehouses. The Norman Science Cafe takes place at Hastings (in the coffee shop) on [...]