3 Days and counting...

Hello again everyone!

It's been about 11 months, but it's time to fire up the blog again for the second season of VORTEX2 which begins on Saturday. I'm still in State College, getting ready to fly out to Oklahoma City on Friday morning.

It's amazing that a year has gone by already. The highlights since the last project include a nice trip to Maine last August, starting grad school, road trips to away PSU football and basketball games, a trip to Atlanta for the American Meteorological Society conference, and a great spring break trip to Las Vegas. I've been busy with school work too. I've been averaging about 3 classes each semester and just finished up my M.S. research.

Unfortunately, the next 3 days will be the busiest of the semester. Leaving a week before the semester ends means that I'm busy making up final exams early, while still trying to finish up projects and homework (not to mention packing!). The good news is that all work will be done by tomorrow night so there will be some time to relax with friends that I won't see for the next 6 weeks (or longer).

This year's installment of V2 promises to be just as exciting as the last one. Though it's been another very quiet year so far in terms of tornadoes, the pattern has begun to shift with recent outbreaks in Mississippi and the Texas Panhandle. It looks as if a trough will dig into the Western US later this week and hang out for the next week or two which is a good sign for severe weather in the Great Plains. Last year we only saw one tornado-- though I certainly don't wish destruction for anyone, if tornadoes are going to happen, hopefully we can be there to collect data on them-- hopefully this year will be more active.

Things should be pretty similar to last year. I'll still be driving the same mobile mesonet probe with the same navigator, Spider-spud, and plenty of hail dents. If I remember correctly, we even left a few cracks in the windshield that need a good hailstorm so we have an excuse for a new windshield. A few new people are going along this year -- one of my roommates and fellow grad student Andrew, and PSU alum Julie. Unfortunately Kevin, Ben and Phil wont be out with us this year; we'll definitely miss them.

So that's all for now. Like last year I'll try to post as often as possible (probably 2 or 3 times a week) or whenever anything cool happens! Thanks for reading, and the next post will be from the field!