Hardin, Al 1989-04-12
Al Hardin reviews storm spotting in the Lubbock area.
General Interview Information
Interviewee Name: Al Hardin
Additional Parties Recorded:
Date: April 12, 1989
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Interviewer: Richard Mason
Length: 1 hour
Abstract
Tape 1, Side 1: Hardin Al,
He is Lubbock ISD string teacher at 8 schools,
Survey of storm spotting group,
Initially with ham radio club,
Now a team with “basketball” methods,
Twenty volunteers,
National Weather Service hours and driving,
Training,
Radio equipment and public safety training,
Not just “hams that go
spotting”,
Night-time squall lines,
Radio repeaters in the area,
Volunteers at request of National Weather Service,
Lubbock police and fire monitoring of storms,
Maps and using paved roads,
Requests from Amarillo and Midland districts,
Strategy,
Monitor short-term forecasts,
Thunderstorms vs. rains,
Pager use and early spotting,
Scenario if Brownfield storm comes toward Lubbock,
Base station radio duty,
Spotter teams,
Driver and navigator,
Updraft/downdraft interface,
Wall clouds and persistent rotation,
Hook echo on radar,
Hot spots in wrap-around,
Tornado warning,
Problems with inexperienced spotters or public reports,
Rumor suppression for National Weather
Service,
Micro-bursts.
Tape 1, Side 2: Hardin Al (again),
Spotters going to storms,
Position in SE quadrant of up/down draft,
Wall clouds in in-flow area,
Humidity decreases visibility to a few
miles,
Rotation and vertical development,
“Does it exist and persist”,
Rain shaft 4-5 miles wide,
Hail “ambush” area,
Spotters about 5 miles away,
“Over the shoulder” back-up
southerly 7-10 miles away,
Ideal is 3 spotters in a row
in line of storm track,
Co-ordinate with
radio,
Interference by amateur operators,
False
reports from front edge of storms,
Spotters use own
radio and vehicle,
Public service aspects,
He enjoys the dynamics of storms,
“Hunting” instincts,
Team strategies with numerous
storms,
He used to be a pilot,
“Hours of boredom punctuated
by moments of terror”,
Night spotting (again),
More dangerous in recent storm over
Lubbock,
He has been spotting for 10 years,
He saw 3 tornado’s last year, and 3 prior
to those,
Also has observed about 12
rotating wall clouds,
He doubts intuition for predicting
development,
Squall lines versus super-cell spotting,
National Weather Service,
Six levels of storms on radar,
Level 5 and 6 are intense
storms,
Caution in reporting tornado development,
Public awareness and plans for tornado’s,
Lightning damage,
Storm 2 years ago turned west,
May 29th storm at county line,
Second wall cloud,
Interference on radio.
Range Dates: 1979-1989
Bulk Dates: 1979-1989
Access Information
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Recording Format Notes:
Transcript:
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