gearing up

things are ramping up for the storm chase course.

we got together and decided who was going to be teaching which classes--mainly based on availability, as we're all qualified to teach every one of them.

today the college of dupage left for their second chase trip of the year. they're sticking around illinois, i think, although they'd be better off to use today for positioning--it looks like the central and southern plains might actually get fired up later.

which is good, because after my next set of shifts, i'm going to take off and join them down south, wherever they may be. like i mentioned in my last post, the models are still showing a major pattern shift (but i'll still say i'll believe it when i see it) to something a lot more conducive to severe thunderstorms where they should be this time of year.

i'm also slowly building up a page devoted specifically to the course, a resource for all the learning materials you'll need to excel in it. hopefully i'll have a version of it up and running before i take off to the states.

you know, looking over the first few posts, i realised i have made a glaring omission: why the heck am i doing this blog anyhow? well, here's the answer.

when we're out on the road chasing, i should have a laptop with me, and i'll be logging things--quotes, sights, storms we see or don't see, whatever. and every night, when we find internet connection, i plan to post these things, as well as maybe my own commentary and thoughts on what we've seen. it'll be a way for a) your friends and family to keep up to speed on what we're really up to and b) you to remember this trip--it promises to be a good one.

you'll all certainly meet a lot of interesting people (your classmates, as well as gas station attendants, maybe farmers, onlookers, and, i hope, the students and instructors from the college of dupage's 5th chase trip of the year).