|
|
|
|
SPC 2
Wed Nov 17, 2004
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I’m Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook. Today, we continue talking with Dan
McCarthy of the Storm Prediction Center, in Norman, Okla. You may not have heard of
the Center, but it’s been around for a while.
DM: Last year we celebrated our 50th year of existence. What happened was, we had
two Air Force officers at Tinker Air Force Base – oddly enough right in Oklahoma City –
that were studying parameters that could develop tornadoes – you know, as far as the
meteorology and the atmosphere is concerned. They had suspicions when a tornado
hit the Air Force base, but then they saw the same pattern a week later and they issued
the very first tornado warning. From that came the initiative that a severe weather unit
be developed within the U.S. Weather Bureau at that time.
BRYAN: Why Norman? Well, if you were to paint a bulls-eye on the heart of Tornado
Alley…
DM: Yeah, if there is a natural laboratory to study severe storms, Oklahoma, North
Texas and South Kansas would be the area. We don’t have to go far every spring to
experience severe weather here. We were co-located then to Norman, Oklahoma with
the National Severe Storm Lab and the University of Oklahoma and thosetwo2
organizations are the known organizations that really study severe storms.
BRYAN: So, how do you operate?
DM: Well we have four people on at all times, 24 hrs. a day, seven days a week, 365
days a year. So that takes about 20 forecasters to do that and we do have rotating
shifts – midnight to eight, eight to four and four to midnight – so you have to be willing
to work all hours of the day and night.
BRYAN: And we will be back for the midnight shift tomorrow. Our show is funded by
Subaru, and produced by the Mount Washington Observatory.
|
|
