Lovely day for a festival

By Carol Cole-Frowe

November 09, 2008 01:15 am

— If the organizers of the National Weather Festival had ordered up the perfect November fall day, they couldn't have done any better Saturday morning -- intense blue skies without a single cloud, sweater temperatures in the 60s and just a touch of breeze at the National Weather Center.
It was an open house of Norman's premier national weather facility -- the National Weather Center, which was lined with booths.
"Where else would you have all these people who are so interested in weather?" wondered Sandra Longcrier of OG+E, who passed out storm readiness brochures.
The thousands of festival goers spanned all ages. They quizzed storm chasers who stood by the many hail-dinged, equipment-and-gadget-laden sports utility vehicles in the parking lot. They chatted up meteorologists of every stripe -- from National Weather Service professionals to television's familiar faces. And they met the "Weather Friends" -- student meteorologists Keegan Schutz dressed up as "Blaze," and Kristen Daschke as "Tempest."
Hourly weather balloon launches were a big hit, with children crowding around the big yellow balloons and cheering as they went up.
Families with little children stood in line to learn more about weather and to get their green "bingo" card adorned with a sticker. If they turned in their bingo card just before they left, they got a cup that changes color when something cold goes into it. And some got extra special prizes of weather radios or pens.
The "rock stars" of the event were the weather professionals who participated. They seemed as happy as, or happier than, the attendees.
KOCO meteorologists turned out in full force -- with the longest line at the festival queued up to get pictures and autographs from Rick Mitchell, Rusty McCranie, Sarah Libby, Steve Carano and Andy Wallace.
"This is my office," KOCO's Chris Lee told one family, just after he showed them their pictures on a television monitor in the back of the KOCO truck. "Kind of a television station on wheels."
KOCO storm chaser Chris Caldwell brought his personal SUV with satellite-equipped radar that he said operates 24/7 when most storm chasers are wrestling with WiFi or cell phone transmission to get their video to the television station.
"You get in a really strong hail core or rain core, it will interfere with cell phone signals," said Caldwell, who is also a reporter for the North Central Reporter newspaper. His SUV was adorned with a vinyl radar picture of a storm with a hook echo that actually passed over his Ponca City home.
Also at the storm chaser vehicle show, a strong draw was TornadoVideos.net's nearly new Chevy Tahoe, which featured freshly acquired deep hail dents.
TornadoVideos.net storm chasers, billed as the "most extreme storm chasers in the world," showed off their 300-pound, concrete-reinforced "Intercept 500" that features video cameras and other equipment under a bullet-proof bubble on top.
"We're getting better at knowing how tornadoes form," said Matt Van Every, noting they still don't know why a tornado levels one house while the one next door is barely touched. "We're trying to get high-quality video. ... We're trying to provide the data so someone else can figure it out."
He said they provide scientists with the video at no cost.
Several of the South Canadian Amateur Radio Society, which helps Norman's Emergency Management with storm spotting, were showing off their Web site and recruiting new members.
"We're not trying to drive through it, we're trying to see it," said SCARS club secretary Chris Pape.
Home Creations touted their standard tornado-resistant features on every house they build -- tornado straps that tie the roof to the walls and anchor bolts that do the same for the floors, plus a solid wood wrap of the house that makes it more wind resistant, stronger and quieter.
"We do it in every one, no matter what price range," said Peggy Darr of the Dillard Group, who was there representing Home Creations.
Carol Cole-Frowe
366-3538
ccole@normantranscript.com