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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 121 ISSUE 125
A strong tornado kicks up debris near Big Springs, Neb. on June 10, 2004. Scott Blair, a meteorologist for the Topeka National Weather Service who captured this photo, has chased more than 350 storms in more than 20 states.
Photo courtesy of Scott Blair/www.targetarea.net
Storm chasers brave the danger of severe weather for the thrill
BY NANCY WOLENS nwolens@kansan.com
The sky darkens.
Fifty-mile-an-hour winds whip debris across the open field. Blinding rainfall slams the windshield. Erratic zaps of lightning infuse the air. Scott
Blair's heart races. But he's advancing toward the storm, not running away from it.
Blair, a meteorologist for the Topeka National Weather Service, is a weather-hunting fanatic. During the past 14 years he has driven more than 200,000 miles, chasing 350 storms in more than 20 states. He has seen 150 tornadoes.
For him, chasing is a hobby. He captures the alluring landscapes of storms with his camera — and gets an adrenaline fix.
Habitual storm chasers such as
Blair and University students preparing to go into meteorology, look forward to the spring and summer months so they can monitor storms. What is routinely seen in movies and on television isn't always an accurate depiction of real-life chasers; it's their tactical preparation, sound execution and captivation with these mysterious storms that set them apart.
"When storms aren't doing damage there's really a certain beauty to them," Blair said. "There's something magical about severe weather
and it's neat to see something that some people may never see in their lifetime."
As a meteorologist, Blair has the knowledge to track severe weather without putting himself in danger. His knowledge is what separates him from amateur chasers.
David Mechem, assistant professor in the atmospheric science program, said chasing without proper training and knowledge was incredibly dangerous.
"There are a lot of people out there who go out and do it just
as a thrill-seeking adventure” sad Mechem, who chased about a dozen storms as an undergraduate at the University of Oklahoma. “You don't have to have a degree in meteorology necessarily, but you definitely need to understand something about storm structure.”
Mechem said it helped if chasers had a proficiency in forecasting so they could know what conditions were favorable for the kind of climates they were in.
Blair said that the peak storm season in Kansas was from April
through June, but that severe storms could occur as early as mid-March. The Southern plains have an earlier period from March through May, and the Northern plains have a strong season from June through August.
"Those are the times where the environmental conditions provide the greatest frequency of severe weather" Blair said. "That is when chasers really start coming out, in April, May and June."
To view an interactive graphic about storms, visit kansan.com/news
SEE STORM ON PAGE 3A
ART
BY ALISON CUMBOW alisonc@kansan.com
Answers about art only a dial away
"Why don't the musicians notice the murder taking place?"
This question is placed on a label by Thomas Hart Benton's painting "The Ballad of The Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley" in the Spencer Museum of Art.
To hear the answer to that question, and 13 more in the gallery, museum visitors can use their cell phones to call (785) 338-9467.
In August, the museum started a program called "An Ear for Art" with grant money from the Shumaker Foundation. The program is a free cell phone tour through the museum, the only one of its kind in Kansas. In two weeks the museum will use additional grant money to launch an expanded cell phone tour that will include 14 outdoor sculptures throughout campus. The tour will include the Jayhawk in front of Strong Hall and the Moses sculpture in front of Smith Hall.
TOP 3 MOST POPULAR QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED FROM THE CELL PHONE GUIDE TOUR:
SEE ART ON PAGE 3A
1.) Petah Coyne, "Untitled"
Were the candles on the sculpture ever lit?
2.) Thomas Hart Benton,
"The Ballad of the Jealous
Lover of Lone Green Valley"
Why don't the musicians
notice the murder taking
place?
To see the works of art above, please visit www.kansan.com or www.spencerart.ku.edu/ear4art
3.) Luis Jiménez, "Howl"
Is the animal hurt?
To hear the answers to the questions above, please call (785) 338-9467
Placards such as this one, indicate the art work is part of the "An Ear for Art" audio tour series, which allows observers to tune into more info via their cellphones. The placards are located in the 20th Century exhibit and the main level of the Spence Museum of Art. More placards will be added to outdoor art work.
Mia Iverson/KANSAN
ENVIRONMENT
Tanner Grubbs/KANSAN
Karin Scott, left, a senior from Dallas, Renee Boyd, center, a senior from Wichita, and Lydia Gibson, a senior from Prairie Village, sort through campus trash to see how much of the 'waste' could actually have been recycled.
Students dig deeper into campus recycling
BY BRENNA LONG blong@kansan.com
As he walks by a newspaper recycling bin, Nick Benson reaches in and grabs a pesy, misplaced soda can. He knows that if he doesn't do it now, he might be pulling it out of the bin and tossing
it with the rest of the aluminum and plastic when he goes to work at KU Recycling.
All recyclables must be sorted by hand at the Environmental Stewardship building, 1851 Westbrooke St., and it can be hard
SEE RECYCLE ON PAGE 3A
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