In The Vortex

Category: General News

  • 5th Annual Severe Weather Awareness Day in Lubbock, TX

    I’ll be out at the Science Spectrum in Lubbock tomorrow with the chase vehicle on display and talking to people about storm chasing and severe weather. Come on out and join us!  At the end of this post is a video on YouTube that is the beginning of a 9 part series from last year’s event, so you can see what kind of weather enthusiast fun you’ll miss out on if you don’t come!  It’s also a great chance to get storm spotter training and a tour of the Lubbock NWS office.  The event is free (except for the IMAX movie).

    Sat., February 26th (11:00am to 5:00pm)

    The Student Chapter of the American Meteorological Society at Texas Tech University along with the Science Spectrum, KCBD News Channel 11 and the National Weather Service will be hosting Lubbock’s Fifth Annual Severe Weather Awareness Day on Saturday February 26th, from 11:00am to 5:00pm at the Science Spectrum & OMNI Theater.

    Activities will include hands-on weather experiments for kids of all ages, live weather demonstrations with a tornado simulator, information on severe weather preparedness, and door prizes.  Storm Chasing vehicles, weather instrumentation from Texas Tech’s Severe Storm Research Team as well as a mobile Doppler radar will be on-site and open for all to see.

    The national Weather Service, whose regional offices are located in the Science Spectrum building, will also be providing a certified Storm Spotter Training seminar and guided tours of their offices to the general public.

    Additionally, special OMNI Theater screenings of the film, Storm Chasers will also be featured in celebration of the day’s events.  Storm Chasers lets audiences get closer to real tornadoes, hurricanes and other severe storms than most would ever dare!

    Come out and meet John Robison and the whole KCBD weather crew for a weather-filled day of fun! This is a *FREE event for the general public and will be located in the Science Spectrum’s Exhibit Hall .

    *Regular OMNI Theater ticket rates apply for all films.

    Showtimes for Storm Chasers on Sat., Feb. 26th will be at 2:00 and 4:00pm.
    General Admission Ticket Prices for OMNI films:
    $8.00 Adults
    $6.50 Seniors (60+)
    $6.50 Children (ages 3-12) ?

  • Explosion Video Release Update

    My apologies for the lack of posts lately.  The difficult chase season this year, combined with the explosion, destruction of the old chase vehicle, building of the new one, etc etc etc  finally wore me down and I had to disconnect a little while and do some other things.

    I wanted to post an update about the status of the explosion video for those that inquired about getting a copy.

    First, because of a contractual arrangement with a production company, I can’t release it until a certain program airs, so that is the reason I haven’t had it available as fast as I thought I would. It will be as soon as it airs. (No, I can’t say which one yet either).

    Secondly, the cost of getting a copy…

    I had full intentions of making this freely available on a DVD for any official fire department who wanted it.  What I didn’t take into account and completely underestimated was the sheer amount of requests I would receive.  Well over 500 at this point.  This basically makes it economically impossible for me to give them away free of charge.

    My alternative is a minimal charge that covers cost to produce them and shipping. With that in mind, that is the best I can hope to do and still be able to get a copy to everyone that wanted one.  I don’t have the final cost yet, but it will be very minimal and should easily be within reach of anyone (think less than $10). My apologies now that I am unable to do a free one are in order, but as you can see, the postage alone would be a significant amount.  This wasn’t a decision I wanted to make or take lightly.  But it had to be done nonetheless.

    Once I am able to release it I will make a big deal about it here and do my best to let everyone know that emailed about it that it is available.  The fire departments that were involved in the fire still will get free copies.