Maryam Refan - Love it or hate it!

After days of chasing and getting busted, we finally had a stressful chase on Friday, May 25 in Russell, KS.

We arrived in the central Kansas at around 5 p.m. and waited for the storms to fire up. The area was surrounded by three supercells. It was a hard decision which one to chase. At around 8 p.m. we had visual on the first tornado of the day. It was a beautiful rope-like tornado that didn’t last long. The upper circulation of the tornado was directly over our heads and we needed to be ahead of it in order to deploy the pods.

Then the second tornado formed; it was dark and we could see the funnel only when there was lightning (Image courtesy of Rutger Boonstra).

This tornado hit two of our vehicles - Dow 8 and Scout 1- which is basically what I drive in except for this time! This could have been my only chance to be in a tornado. However, I am not sure if I want to have that experience as I saw my colleagues shocked after being hit by the tornado. Good news is that they are fine and the bad news is that this tornado hit a modular house and destroyed it completely (Read the complete story written by one of our group members.)

The damage survey performed by our structural engineer showed the house was picked up by the tornado and dropped 50 feet away from the foundation. It then collapsed around the owner of the house who was an elderly woman. I am glad she is going to be fine.

It was around 10:30 p.m. that the third tornado formed and passed two small towns and Scout 1 was sent to do damage survey. We were checking the radar while driving towards those towns to make sure that we are not going to get hit by the tornado. Fortunately, there was no damage.

On the way back to the hotel, everybody was exhausted and quiet! I guess everyone was thinking of their mixed emotions about tornado. Love it or hate it!

PS: Unfortunately, I could not take many pictures, so check out this video for the same tornado.

IIT - Jonathan Kusins

Alrighty, the move/ beginning phase of the adventure is over as everything is becoming more comfortable and the scams have been kept to a minimal over the past few days.

Allen and I have received our projects from Professor Ravindra on which we will be working on for the next 12 weeks. I have been assigned to study micro-engines, and more specifically the effects of scaling down a Wankel engine. For everyone that is not in engineering that is reading, I am basically going to try to create an engine to put in a toy car. Quite the daunting task for the next 2 months and I have no idea how far I will actually get, but it’ll be a good learning experience nonetheless. We’ve also been able to sit in on a class here called Water-Nexus Energy. Neither one of us (Allen, Anird, and I) has any idea what’s going on in the class but the professor seems to enjoy asking us questions pertaining to the class. Anyways, when the work week wrapped up we were able to visit the some of the forts situated around Jodhpur.

On Saturday, we rick shawed our way over to Umaid Bhavan Palace. As we were buying tickets to get into the palace, the prices actually read Locals – 20 Rs, Foreigners – 50 Rs. Combine that with the constants overpayments of taxis, scams, and inflated ticket prices India really knows how to treat tourists. We stayed there for a few hours taking pictures and looking at the museum. It was a smaller fort so there wasn’t much to do. Also, the king that built it is still living there with his family. After trekking around the palace for a few hours we were exhausted in the heat and called it a day.

On Sunday, we travelled to the Mehrangarh Fort. This fort was MASSIVE and there was plenty to do all day. Before entering the fort you have to pass through the market before you ascend up the hill to the fort. There were tons of people in the market trying to sell different merchandise. This and the fact that I am labeled as a rich tourist did not bold well for keeping a low profile. Every turn someone was yelling at you to come into their store or to try out the products they had. It was quite the scene but we made it through and to the fort we went. The fort was absolutely breath taking. The architecture is so old and does not compare to anything I have ever seen in Canada before. The best part of the museum tour was when a few locals approached us to ask us what we were doing in Jodhpur. After a small conversation they asked to take a picture with us which was fine. However, as we were taking a picture with the one locals, more approached to take pictures with us. Next thing you know there is a line up of people wanting to take pictures with us.

 

Maryam Refan - My first tornado!

May 19, 2012

And here we go …my first and sixth tornado! Yeaaaaay!

On May 18, we left Boulder towards northeast, Dodge City, Kansas and spent the night there. On May 19 we headed towards Pratt, Kansas, which was a two-hour drive. We were at a Walmart parking lot for couple of hours, waiting for the storm to fire up. As soon as convection started we were on chase standby.

Around 5 p.m. we hit the road to chase the storm, yahoooo! It was very exciting. As a navigator, I was supposed to focus on the map and orders from the radio and guide the driver. The wind peaked up, there was one inch hail, a visible rotation and funnels. Yeaaay!

We stopped at several places so the radar could scan the storm….

We saw four skinny, tiny funnel clouds...

...and gustnadoes...

...and then this almost stationary tornado just in front of us, less than 2 km away!

My first reaction: Wooooww! Second reaction: Somebody hug me! I am so excited. Third reaction: Take photo and video.

It was so coooool! While taking pictures and while Dows were getting data, a white plastic piece 2-3 meters long almost hit our vehicle.

One of the Dows reported a damage to a wind turbine and we were order to go the site and take photos and record the coordinate of the turbine. On the way to the turbine we were stopped by a technician from the wind farm as the power line was cut by debris. So, we took another road…

Oh my god! It was un believable!

The blade was torn off and broken from close to the base. The power box which looked very heavy was also flipped.

After all, it was one of the best moments ever. However, I should mention that none of these tornadoes were scientifically important as they were not deployable. These storms were not supercellular. There were spectacular landspouts which gave us an opportunity to collect some data and shake-out our systems. 

After a two-hour drive we arrived at the hotel at Woodward, OK. We started downloading data and pics and finally headed to bed at 1 a.m.! It was a long day!

Maryam Refan - What do you do between chasing tornadoes?

May, 17, 2012

You may wonder what do we do when we are not chasing…hmm… First of all, we work on our vehicles and instruments, and then when we are done we go hiking, fishing or we party. :D We partied to celebrate our first clear air bust of the season!

We went to Estes Park for a short hiking trip...



... and we also went to Foothills for fishing and photography.



Boulder is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been in. It is so much fun. It is small, but dynamic... Mountains and people are awesome.

I was in this city last year for almost 10 days and I loved it. However, this time I am in a love-hate relationship with Boulder as any time we are not chasing we return to Boulder. :(

Maryam Refan - A tornado chaser without a tornado

The weather for the next few days does not look favorable for tornadoes, so we are going back to Boulder, Colo. today (May 15). This sucks!

By the way, I took a picture of the vehicle I am in which is called Scout1. Ronan usually drives and Amanda and I are the navigators :D

Maryam Refan - Back on the road again...

The target is Marathon, TX today (May 14)…small chance, but let’s give it a shot!

Four hour drive towards south.. We have new people group who just joined us … Heavy rain and lightning!

We just arrived at the target city .. a small city with a population of approximately 400 people.

After a short meeting on forecasts.. we are heading back to the north. The weather is cold for any supercell formation … Next activity is predicted to be at east Colorado/ west Kansas on Wednesday ... So we will be on the road for a while!

Maryam Refan - Why am I scared of lightning?

It's Sunday, May 13 and the group is on standby for departure from the small city of Carlsbad, NM ...  the TIV is here too ....  We are at the Walmart's parking lot and almost the whole city is here to talk to the crew and take pictures... They are mostly big fans of Storm Chasers, an American documentary reality television series ... people's reaction varies: some get excited alot and some get scared as they believe we are here because of a huge storm, So they keep asking us if they are safe or if they should change their plans for trips and etc...

After going back and forth between Artesia and Carlsband, we are on the way to a hotel … no tornado!

After checking in at the hotel, some of us went out of the city to take picture of lightning... unbelievable lightning. We left as soon as the wind peaked up. I was mostly watching the storm and lightning, as I did not have tripod.. It was amazing! All the time I was wondering, "Why I am scared of lightning??!!"

Indian Institute of Technology - Jonathan Kusins

Anirduha and I hit the town big time

Due to the lack of sheets and pillows in our hostel a trip into the city was in need. We braved the friendly confines of the IIT campus and into the hectic commotion of the streets we went.  The first thing I noticed about street etiquette that was different from Canada was that apparently cows are allowed to “hang out” wherever they want. It was pretty crazy to see a herd of cows walking down the center line of the road unfazed by the beeping of vehicles that passed. Also, another thing that I noticed is that it is not rude to stare in India. And by stare, I mean to the extent to where a biker will drive past me and continue staring instead of looking at the road ahead (happened multiple times). Anyways, we did a little GPSing to the closest mall from the campus and tried our best to get there. Within seconds, due to the sun and plus 40 weather we decided to settle for a smaller store instead. We ended up buying sheets and pillows and started heading back to the campus. On the way home a local seen me and was ecstatic to the point that he wanted to shake my hand. Unknowingly as Anird was in front of me, Anird decided to shake his hand instead. It was one of those bodyguard movie moments and thankfully for me, Anird diverted the attention and no one was harmed. We ended up making it back to the campus with everything we needed plus some fresh fruit. Total win for the good guys. Funny moment of the trip: watching 2 guys carry a 10-15 foot pipe on a motorcycle while trying to bob in and out of traffict

Local Fruit Market

First Day of Class

This was definitely the best day to date. Firstly, we woke up pretty early due to the jet lag which gave me a chance to catch up with everyone back home. After arriving to campus for the day, I met with Professor Ravindra and received the details about the project. Anird and I hit the lib for a bit and next thing we knew our fellow traveler Allen found his way to Jodhpur. The three of us went out to some local stores to buy some supplies. Funny moment of the trip: herd of water buffalo running down the middle of the street. Its been a pretty uneventful day but actually staying up long enough to watch the sunset over Jodhpur’s horizon was a good unwind to a pretty crazy week. 

Maryam Refan - I really want to see my first tornado

We departed Boulder at noon today (Sunday, May 13) and drove 400 miles to Santa Rosa, NM. Interesting things on the way: double rainbow, a car on fire and lots of lightning....and about lightning: tornado and lightning comes together and I think lightning is more frightening than a tornado! ... I will let you know if I change my mind after intercepting my first tornado! :D

The vocabulary of the crew is kinda different from me. Everybody talks about different types of clouds. They get excited by temperature of 35 degees Celcius and higher and they have all of their radar applications on their smartphones! 

We are gonna leave Santa Rosa tomorrow at 10 a.m. central time towards southeast....That's where we expect to catch a supercell....I really want to see my first tornado! or at least first supercell!! :D

Maryam Refan - Excited to leave for New Mexico

Yeaaaay....We are going to New Mexico tomorrow (May 12) at noon :D ... Chances are not high for supercell formation but everybody is so excited and hopeful! ... it is a 12-hour drive...fingers crossed!