Monthly Archives: March 2011

RaXPol: Radar envy

Posted on 24 March 2011 by tornatrix

Yesterday saw the arrival in Norman of Howie Bluestein’s new Rapid-Scan, X-band, Polarimetric mobile Doppler radar (RaXPol for short). It’s a radar primarily intended for tornado research, but which also has a myriad of other potential applications. Yes, we’ve had … Continue reading →

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More thoughts about the disaster in Japan

Posted on 17 March 2011 by tornatrix

Okay, I know this is supposed to be a blog about my severe storms research. But the Japan earthquake, tsunami, and now nuclear disasters have all hit rather close to home. That’s because Japan was home for me, for the … Continue reading →

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Japan: A few critical seconds

Posted on 11 March 2011 by tornatrix

Today’s images of the earthquake damage and tsunami in Japan are gut-wrenching. By now, people around the world have seen the images of the wall of mud and debris sweeping unstoppably across the countryside in Sendai. I have relatives living … Continue reading →

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27 February 2011 Grainola, Oklahoma tornado

Posted on 4 March 2011 by tornatrix

My chase partners on this day were Dan Dawson and Jana Houser. We were attracted to the area around Enid, Oklahoma as an initial target, because of the strong shear, a narrow corridor of CAPE, and an incipient dryline push … Continue reading →

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On High Instability

Posted on 3 March 2011 by tornatrix

The mp3 version of my 2 March 2011 appearance on High Instability is now available in their show archives (Episode #81). Topics covered include my dissertation work on the Greensburg, Kansas tornado, my exploits with the UMass W-band radar during … Continue reading →

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Why “tornatrix”?

Posted on 1 March 2011 by tornatrix

Every so often, usually when some major transition occurs in my life, I take on a new online persona. This time, the occasion was the completion of my Ph.D., at long last, after six years of hard work and challenges. … Continue reading →

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