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JVC Updates

Nine - March 22

Hello everyone!

I have some exciting news!! Yesterday afternoon,
March 21st, was the first true storm chasing day of
the spring here in Oklahoma. My good friend Nic and I
have been looking forward to this day since last
August, and it did not disappoint - we saw our first
tornado ever!

His webpage gives a good overview of the day:
http://weather.ou.edu/~nwilson/chase1.html

Needless to say, we were both very excited, as the
rule of thumb is 1 successful chase out of every 10.
So far, we're 1 for 1! Our disbelief was best
characterized, ironically, when after following the
storm that produced the tornado literally from the
roof of the meteorology building on campus for about 2
hours or so into the hills and forests of eastern
Oklahoma, and watching 5 or 6 successive wall clouds
(the precursor to a tornado) form and dissipate, we
came to an intersection where we were faced with the
choice to either continue on our path, or abandon the
storm for another forming farther south. As luck
would have it, an emergency manager's truck with
lights flashing sped by going north. We decided it
was worth a shot, and followed him for about 3 miles,
came over a hill when we both noticed a white, funnel
shaped cloud descending from a rain-wrapped area of
the storm. We pulled over as the emergency manager
did and asked innocently "is that a funnel cloud or a
tornado?" (A "tornado" is only a tornado when it makes
contact with the ground, and as this was a wooded
area, we couldn't see directly beneath the funnel).
He all-knowingly replied, "That's a tornado of
course!" Thus, tornado #1. We later learned that it
indeed had been reported to the Storm Prediction
Center in Norman as being the Pharoah, Oklahoma
tornado, reported at 4:16pm. (exactly the timestamp on
my picture!) We were about 2 miles away from it, and
it lasted only about 2-3 minutes, but, still a
tornado. As you all might suspect, I have many more
pictures of the tornado and the storm that produced it
(it was truly a beautiful storm, complete with a
rainbow) so if anyone wants a full-size,
background-quality photo, let me know!

Despite all my enthusiasm for this and future
storm-chasing encounters of the spring, I have
struggled a little in my actual coursework here. This
has caused me to reflect a little on exactly how I'd
like to shape me career path in meteorology. Taking
this and my JVC experiences into account, working for
social justice and spiritual growth, as well as the
Jesuit mission of being "men and women for others", I
have decided to slightly tweak my plan for graduate
school. I have decided to leave the University of
Oklahoma this fall (yes, I'm moving yet again) and I
have applied to and been accepted to three schools for
atmospheric science & environmental policy - or what I
like to call "the social justice of weather". The
three possibilities this fall are American University
in Washington DC, the University of Maryland in
College Park (a short metro ride from downtown DC),
and Columbia University in New York City. I would
like to focus my study specifically on questions about
the societal effects of climate change ("global
warming"), like what are the responsibilities of
countries that contribute the most to increases in
greenhouse gas concentrations (like the US and Europe)
to those countries that will suffer the greatest
effects (like Bangladesh and the island nations of the
Pacific) and the effects of severe weather on small
town life and economies (how do towns recover after
getting hit by a tornado?, how do poor countries
respond from hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis?) and
what are the public policies, laws, and treaties that
could help minimize the impact of weather, or allow us
to benefit from it the most? (like water management
during a drought). Not to mention traditional
environmental issues, such as protecting the most
treasured parts of our natural ecosystems, parks, and
resources for future generations. I believe that my
love of weather and the natural world will just add to
my passion for these issues. I would love
suggestions/thoughts on my future plans, as well as
your continued prayers that God continues to lead me
down the right muddy country road without getting too
stuck! I just returned back from a week in
Washington, DC over spring break to check out American
University and the University of Maryland, and I'll be
going to New York on April 6-10th to check out
Columbia. Wish me luck!

It's my hope that everything is well with you, and
that springtime flowers are appearing where you are!

Many blessings,
Eric