Chasing the Tempest

Tornadoes are exceedingly rare manifestations of a thermodynamic symphony—remarkable winds born of large storms that themselves tower in size larger than Mount Everest and often wider than Rhode Island is long. Because the conditions that produce them are rare, most tornadoes last less than ten minutes. But in that short time they can cause untold devastation. Storm chasers are hobbyists who relish hunting this elusive and dangerous prey. They also offer a vital link to the science of "tornadogenesis" by helping to verify forecasts and warnings issued by the National Weather Service (NWS).

Chasers must know quite a bit of meteorology in order to position themselves in the right area, often hours before a storm has even formed. In addition, they need to understand a storm's motion and the limitations of the geography. For example, if there are too many hills, it's hard to maintain a safe viewing distance, and it can be difficult to get close to a tornado, or get away from it quickly, in areas without a substantial road network. Needless to say, highly detailed and accurate maps are critical to minimize the chances of being boxed in by a tornado or hydroplaning into a ditch.

In the past, tornado chasing was exceptionally challenging due to the lack of up-to-the-minute data. Chasers would visit their local NWS office in the early morning of the chase day to get the current data on the day's weather conditions. Unfortunately, weather conditions change frequently, and these changes often result in missed opportunities. Today, however, cell networks provide real-time weather data even in remote areas of the Midwest (particularly in the prime chasing real estate known as Tornado Alley). Coupled with GPS, a phone-enabled PDA offers all the versatility a chaser needs to safely chase the tempest.

Scoping things out in advance

"The severe weather outlook calls for a possible severe weather outbreak tomorrow"

I fly into Tornado Alley annually at the end of May when the chance to chase supercells, tornadoes, and lightning are at their peak. I am on the road constantly, traveling hundreds of miles a day, going from motel to motel, (camping out in my car when I can't find one) and often rack up 5,000 miles during these two week vacations. Cabled Internet connections can be hard to find, so I rely entirely on my Sprint PPC 6700 Phone Edition Pocket PC to connect to the Web.

The evening before I chase, I spend an hour or two analyzing several megabytes worth of maps and weather data. Given the size of the maps and amount of data I have to study, I use my laptop PC for this. Fortunately, the 6700 can be used as a wireless modem for the laptop. To do this, you need to have Sprint's "Phone as a Modem" data plan, which gives you unlimited data transfers at speeds above 230 kbps. The device achieves high speeds even when I am connection to non-Sprint, 1X CDMA networks. It often exceeds the performance I get through a Wi-Fi connection at motels. To use the Phone as a Modem data plan and access these transfer speeds you need to install a phone dialer application on the laptop PC and install a ROM upgrade on the 6700. The ROM update is necessary because the new software allows data roaming off the Sprint network. Sprint definitely doesn't advertise this key functionality, but it is by far one of the most vital things my PDA provides me.

How to connect the wireless modem to the laptop PC