Friday, October 7th, I motored down to Norman, Oklahoma for a tour of the National Weather Center on the campus of the University of Oklahoma. I'm a big fan of Discovery Channel's "Storm Chasers", ironically, I am TERRIFIED of tornado's and hurricanes. I think it's ironic that I'm fascinated by the science of something that puts me in such a tizzy during severe weather season. If I was positive that I wouldn't totally freak out, I would do a storm chaser tour, but I'm pretty sure they would have to sedate me!
NOAA and the University of Oklahoma partnered over a decade ago to build a 244,000 square feet facility that has state of the art everything to keep over 500 researchers, teachers and meteorology students occupied. The facility was completed in 2006 and boasts 6 floors, numerous classrooms and study areas, a large commons, a cafeteria, the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center, and the local division of the NWS Warning and Forecast Operations for the regional area.
This massive globe was suspended in the commons area and showed various satellite and infrared imagery for the last month or so. I'm sure it was a pretty costly centerpiece.
Our guide, Brian, took our group of 15 (included 3 prospective students and parents) to the National Severe Storms Lab vehicle bay. This is where the storm chasing vehicles are outfitted, serviced, and repaired! This minivan with it's mobile mesonet had obviously seen some intense action as evidenced by the hail damage (double click photo to enlarge).
In outside storage, ready to go at a moments notice, a Doppler on wheels. This large vehicle does have its limitations in that it takes 5 to 7 minutes for a complete scan, And if memory serves me correctly, it must be stationary while scanning is occurring.
The University had developed some new technology though that it employs. The nearer vehicle with the refrigerator looking object, is a phased array. This does rapid scans of 360 degrees in just a few SECONDS and gives better spatial resolution. The other vehicle with the cone shaped instrument uses RAXPOL or dual polar immetric technology, also quicker and more portable than the Doppler radar. Over the next 2 decades, all scanning radar will be updated to these new technologies, but obviously, new technology is not cheap, and with the economy slumping something has to be delayed. So, when you hear of your local TV or NWS or the Weather Channel talking about this, here's a first hand look!
Heading back inside we stopped for a quick look into the cafeteria/souvenir shop, very appropriately named.
Upstairs we went to the observation deck and also one of the lounges used for group study. Who knew meteorologists were required to employ so much math! They are required to take up to Calculus 4 AND differential equations. Ugh! It nearly gave me a headache just looking at it remembering my own classes in advanced mathematics!
For the final part of the tour, we were ushered
into a hallway that led past the NOAA offices and the Storm Prediction Center. The focus of these folks is to monitor deep convection and to issue WATCHES (meaning conditions are favorable for a specified event) for severe storms (thunderstorm, snow, hail), fire, floods, heat and the like. About 2 dozen folks are responsible for manning this department 24/7. And this is NATIONWIDE, not just this geographical area!
Here sits the man, who today, is responsible for issuing ALL severe weather watches throughout the entire USA. So the next time you are under a severe thunderstorm watch, tornado watch, or flood watch, this is the man (or one of his cronies) that made that call.
One of the many monitors in the Storm Prediction Center.
Next door, is the local office of the National Weather Service. Like the other department, it is staffed 24/7, but they are responsible only for issuing WARNINGS of various weather events affecting the Oklahoma City area. I'm not sure how wide their territory extends, but there are well over 100 of these local offices throughout the country.
Now it may appear that they are watching TV while on the job. We were informed that the reason they have local channels up there is so that when they issue a warning, that they must be assured that it IMMEDIATELY runs along the bottom of the TV in that orange print (along with that annoying noise).
Anyway, I found it to be a very worthwhile and informative tour and would highly recommend it to anyone passing through the area! Be advised that reservations and proper ID are required.
This massive globe was suspended in the commons area and showed various satellite and infrared imagery for the last month or so. I'm sure it was a pretty costly centerpiece. 
Our guide, Brian, took our group of 15 (included 3 prospective students and parents) to the National Severe Storms Lab vehicle bay. This is where the storm chasing vehicles are outfitted, serviced, and repaired! This minivan with it's mobile mesonet had obviously seen some intense action as evidenced by the hail damage (double click photo to enlarge). 
In outside storage, ready to go at a moments notice, a Doppler on wheels. This large vehicle does have its limitations in that it takes 5 to 7 minutes for a complete scan, And if memory serves me correctly, it must be stationary while scanning is occurring. 
The University had developed some new technology though that it employs. The nearer vehicle with the refrigerator looking object, is a phased array. This does rapid scans of 360 degrees in just a few SECONDS and gives better spatial resolution. The other vehicle with the cone shaped instrument uses RAXPOL or dual polar immetric technology, also quicker and more portable than the Doppler radar. Over the next 2 decades, all scanning radar will be updated to these new technologies, but obviously, new technology is not cheap, and with the economy slumping something has to be delayed. So, when you hear of your local TV or NWS or the Weather Channel talking about this, here's a first hand look!
Heading back inside we stopped for a quick look into the cafeteria/souvenir shop, very appropriately named. 
Upstairs we went to the observation deck and also one of the lounges used for group study. Who knew meteorologists were required to employ so much math! They are required to take up to Calculus 4 AND differential equations. Ugh! It nearly gave me a headache just looking at it remembering my own classes in advanced mathematics!
into a hallway that led past the NOAA offices and the Storm Prediction Center. The focus of these folks is to monitor deep convection and to issue WATCHES (meaning conditions are favorable for a specified event) for severe storms (thunderstorm, snow, hail), fire, floods, heat and the like. About 2 dozen folks are responsible for manning this department 24/7. And this is NATIONWIDE, not just this geographical area!
Here sits the man, who today, is responsible for issuing ALL severe weather watches throughout the entire USA. So the next time you are under a severe thunderstorm watch, tornado watch, or flood watch, this is the man (or one of his cronies) that made that call. 
Now it may appear that they are watching TV while on the job. We were informed that the reason they have local channels up there is so that when they issue a warning, that they must be assured that it IMMEDIATELY runs along the bottom of the TV in that orange print (along with that annoying noise). 
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