2008 Storm Season

Well, the season has begun with a unfortunate flair. The southern outbreak was tragic as many people were injured and some lost their lives. Many Chasers, myself included hope that our documenting and assisting in reporting severe weather events can avert this type of damage. The hope is that our reports and sightings will assist the forecasters in some small way of expanding their warning windows for the general public.

As it is especially important this year, and every year at about this time, we as storm chasers start to look at what type of season it may play out to be. For you that read my blog on a regular basis, you know that I am not a trained forecaster nor am I a meteorologist.. I simply use my passion and expertise as a hobby to provide some insight to weather events. with that being said, here is some fine reading concerning the 2008 storm season:

From the International Research for Climate and Society. This shows a number of models combined to predict a increase in severe wx for 2008. If you want to see specifics and details from the report, please visit the their site at:

http://iri.columbia.edu/climate/ENSO/currentinfo/SST_table.html

From the site, if you don't like a wall of words:



"The set of dynamical and statistical model forecasts issued during late December 2007 and early January 2008 are in agreement regarding La Nina conditions over the next couple seasons. The predictions of possible sea surface temperature conditions in the central/eastern equatorial Pacific, begin with moderate to strong La Nina conditions that gradually weaken through the first few months of 2008. The majority of models indicate a return to ENSO-neutral conditions by mid-to-late 2008. At the time of preparing this, the SST observations in the NINO3.4 region are below their average value, with an area-averaged weekly anomaly of -1.7 C. Tropical Pacific oceanic and atmospheric conditions suggest moderate La Nina conditions are likely through early 2008."


And from the Storm Prediction Center:
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/torn/monthlytornstats.html



This chart only goes back to 2005, it also includes the 10 year average. I know its early, but it looks as if we might have another season like 1999. But who knows!

We will see what the 2008 season turns out to be... Our plan is to be out for more chases and miles than ever before for this season. We are trying to refine and gain the experience to better predict our target areas. This winter we are trying out new technology that will help us better to see what we need to see, in addition, we plan on providing live video and data from the field. This is most exciting for us, as we might allow others to start to experience what its like to chase storms.

Wish us luck and keep checking back! Tell others about our blog! If you are so inclined, feel free to subscribe to the RSS feed, I even made a widget for you to add to your site.

Regards, Johnathan Brouwer