Tag Archives: DOW

ThorntonWeather.com junior stormchaser chases tornado for 7News

ThorntonWeather.com junior stormchaser Bobby pursued a tornado in Weld County yesterday and provided live reports for 7News.  Watch the video below (you may need to turn up the sound due to a lot of background noise).

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The DOW - Doppler On Wheels - as seen on Storm Chasers.
The DOW - Doppler On Wheels - as seen on Storm Chasers.

🙂  Okay, so maybe not but it still is kind of fun.  This was taken yesterday at NCAR’s Super Science Saturday in Boulder.  Channel 7 was there with their “24 / 7 Weather Experience” which was a lot of fun as it gives folks a small taste of what goes into a weather broadcast.  Unfortunately Mike Nelson, author of our favorite weather book, wasn’t there when we were but this was probably the highlight of the day up at NCAR for the kids.

There was also a bit of a celebrity there too as Justin Walker from Discovery Channel’s Storm Chasers TV show was there with their Doppler On Wheels (DOW) truck – a mobile radar vehicle.  Justin serves as one of the team members from the Center for Severe Weather Research that chases the storms.  He in particular is tasked with placing scientific probes in the path of the tornadoes.  We got to spend a good bit of time chatting with Justin about their chases this past tornado season and in particular the ones in the north central Kansas area where a good bit of my family lives.  He had some fascinating anecdotes to share about the storms, in particular the one that struck near Glen Elder, KS.

Bobby with Justin Walker of Storm Chasers.
Bobby with Justin Walker of Storm Chasers.

For those that didn’t make it up there, you really missed a great opportunity for kids to learn more about not only the weather but also things like energy, the environment and more.