Hardin, Al 1989-04-12

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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

Original Recording Format:

Recording Format Notes:

Transcript:



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