Topic: Advice for a Newbie

[striker92]

Hi guys, as u can probably see from my status and my technical no how I'm relatively new to storm chasing, severe storms, structure and all the technical stuff that goes with it.
Any advice or guides that you can give me to go about finding storms, interpreting the various statistics and numbers that relate to CAPE windshear and the like would be greatly appreciated.
tyvm guys.
i just no that I'm gonna learn heaps from here from what Ive heard, its great to have a resource where i can access the experience of Jimmy Deguara, Michael Bath and all the other experienced storm chasers out there, keep up the good work.
Remember i want to learn as much as i can so feel free to post any information interesting facts and pretty much anything that will further my knowledge of storm chasing, how storms work and how to interpret what they tell us.
Cheers Mark

[Mike]

Hello Mark.

There are a lot more people on the forum that are knowledgeable as opposed to from those mentioned (no offence guys! just being fair!).

If you want to learn then you've come to the right place.  You can look on this forum site in the index for Jimmy's articles on cloud observation/techniques and also thunderstorm observation.

There are several sources of satellite pictures and weather charts and soundings

The Thunderstorm forecasting guide also has a vast array of info you can look at and make up a technical binder for yourself to study.  They have everything on there, even how to interpret Skew-Ts.

If you're unsure as to what to look for and the like if a storm is in your vicinity remember not to go out alone - things can get seriously dangerous with storms and better to observe from a safe location or with someone who is experienced in this field if you're able to find such a person in your area.

Skew-T sounding charts hold a hell of a lot of information so it's best to get some info on them first (which I've done for the last 4 months!)  Although they're invaluable they're not the only thing that you have to go by when observing the weather.  Your eyes are the best indicator along with all the info I've mentioned.

Forecasting is a fickle thing and even with all the info things don't turn out as you have interpreted - that's Mother Nature for you - she does that!

All you have to do is ask questions.  They may seem repetitive and sometimes may seem stupid - but for someone learning about meteorology and storm chasing no question is stupid.  It's up to the forum members to make sure that everyone is informed, because there's some things that even experienced chasers don't know and everyone has something to offer!

Better to give the right, commonsense advice rather than give answers that are incorrect.  Even if you're not sure of an answer go on-line and do some research and the post a reply back with what you've found out.  Every place has different atmospheric conditions and not all the info one researches relates to 'your' or 'my' area, so be aware of that too! 

No one is going to hammer you for asking too many questions - God knows I've asked questions relating to the same thing over and over and gotten lots of answers - sometimes things don't always sink in straight away with something you know nothing about!

I guess in summary all you have to do is research the index on this forum for Jimmy's articles, look at the thunderstorm forecasting guide mentioned above, and you'll get a good understanding to get you started and ask questions in the meantime.  Sometimes getting answers to the most fundamental initial questions satisfies ones curiosity and then gets you motivated to locate all the info and get the head down!

Good luck and hope my 'short' answer has helped!!

Mike


MB Edit: added direct links