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SPC 3
Thu Nov 18, 2004
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I’m Bryan Yeaton, and this is The Weather Notebook. This week, we have been
talking to Dan McCarthy, the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the Storm
Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. Today, we get down to the juice!
BRYAN: What’s it like in there when a lot is going on? Does it get particularly tense or
quiet or can you describe what it’s like?
DM: To me the most tense part is the anticipation for severe storms. Once the severe
storms do develop, then everything is pretty much of a rush – it’s like – like going on a
roller coaster – anticipation is going up the hill and then when you reach the peak and
the severe weather develops then it’s just a big ride all the way through.
BRYAN: And, it certainly came through on May 3rd, 1999. It was pretty close to home.
DM: May 3rd was an incredible day in the fact that I was working the day shift that day
and I was the outlook forecaster. In this particular case on May 3rd 1999, the sun and
the heat were doing its thing; we were waiting for the winds. And the winds kicked in
within 30 minutes of the first tornado. So, everything happened very fast – within 30
minutes of shift change, no less – within the SPC. We had over 9,800 structures,
buildings and that, totally destroyed. Only 40 people died. So it does work.
BRYAN: Each year, the Storm Prediction Center, along with the National Severe Storms
Lab and the several other organizations, runs the National Severe Weather Workshop
in Norman. You can link to the SPC from our website: www.weathernotebook.org.
The Weather Notebook is a production of the Mount Washington Observatory, online at
www.mountwashington.org. We are funded by Subaru of America. Thanks to Trish
Anderton for putting our show together.
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