Strange Words: Unused Challenge Question

Well, you've covered the CAPE, but why is it important to these guys? What are these guys?

There are different types of charts used for soundings, which type are they looking at?

I've given you the clues, let's see what you can do with them.

People that have a death wish Tornado Chasers.

Thank you ozzb

I was going to place that in my earlier Post, but left that extra part (further) answer, just for you.

Kind Regards....

Weather pattern (tornado), Meteorologists, Doppler or Satellite

Well, because on one has responded in a several days, I'll post the "official" answer:

They are stormchasers trying to determine a "target area." Storm chasing involves driving long distances, and chasers don't want to waste time, effort, gas and money only to miss the storms. So, they will look at forecast models, radiosonde data, and current conditions to target an area favorable for storm formation.

CAPE is Convectively Available Potential Energy, a measurement of atmospheric instabilty, or the tendency of buoyant air to keep rising once it starts to rise. Instability is one of the four basic ingredients for severe thunderstorm formation. CAPE is usually given as Joules per Kilogram (J/Kg). The other ingredients are a deep layer of moisture, some sort of lifting mechanism to get the process started, and shear. The more unstable the atmosphere, the stronger the storms can become.

A "loaded gun" is a sounding, or radiosonde measurement, that indicates a high CAPE value ( > 2500 J/Kg ), and it typically shows a capping inversion above the surface. This cap will prevent storms from developing while it is in place, but if something can break the cap, storms will strengthen very quickly. A radiosonde is a package of meterological instruments carried by a weather balloon from the surface up through the upper atmosphere.

The chart they are looking at is a thermodiagram, a chart used to display and analyze radiosonde data. A thermodiagram shows temperature on the x-axis, and pressure on the y-axis. A variation on the basic thermodiagram is the Skew-T Log P, or just simply Skew-T, has the isotherms, or lines of equal temperature, slanted to allow more information to be shown on the chart. Meteorologists and chasers use thermodiagrams or Skew-Ts to determine CAPE or other severe weather parameters.

A few additional comments, in response to ozzb:

Not all storm chasers are tornado chasers. Some will chase only when they have a chance of intercepting a tornado. Some will chase primarily to get pictures of lightning or storm structure. Most chase to get whatever video or pictures they can get.

Storm chasers do not have a death wish. Storm chasing started with scientists and college students going out to gather data for research purposes. Most of those chasers are stilll alive. Other chasers follow storms for TV stations, and those stations will sometimes carry live reports from their chasers. These chasers have a strong sense of public service, and they are the first to speak of chaser safety.

You wrote:- "Most of those chasers are stilll alive."

How did the ones that die, finally end?

Famous last words?

They said I would get Blown, wow! See ya"

"Tornado, thats got to be the new one from Ford, Gotta see it! Bye"

"Someone just whistled for me up top, Bye"

You wrote:- "Most of those chasers are stilll alive."

How did the ones that die, finally end?

The first of the early scientific chasers that has passed away is Neal Ward, as far as I know. According to this site, he died of a heart problem, and, ironically, was buried on the first day of one of the first official tornado research projects. Others that have have died are listed here.

No chasers have died where the storm caused their deaths. A couple have died from traffic accidents on the way home from a chase, but they were not scientific chasers.

Thanks for such a serious answer to my frivolous question.

Have a great day!