Desierto norte de Chile

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Oklahoma rains

This month has been VERY rainy here in Oklahoma. The monthly total at the airport was 8.49", and the monthly total at the Norman mesonet station has been 10.43". The May avg. at Will Rogers airport in OKC is 5.15". The attached img gives the radar-indicated monthly precip distribution across the state. While subject to error, the map displays between 8" and 10" for Norman-Oklahoma City, which matches well with the observations. It's nice to have all this rain for a change. Last year's May total precip? 1.19" The final image shows the 90-day precipitation totals (compared to normal) for Oklahoma City. Notice the surplus of > 7". Yup, this year has been wet!

Friday, May 25, 2007

Life update...

It's been a little too long since my last post, so here is a list of recent goings-on.

1- End of the semester. Congrats to everyone who graduated and is moving on. I admit this time is a little bittersweet for me, as good friends from during the school year go home or to various internships. It's especially interesting this year since I may not be in Norman when they return in August, meaning that finals week was a series of "goodbyes" that take on added significance.

2- Storm chasing. After Friday's Greensburg, KS EF-5 tornado, I joined a few chasers on Sat. & Sun. in NW Okla. and SW Kan. No tornadoes (other than a 3-sec high-based funnel), but some pretty crazy storms nonetheless.

3- Calif. vacation. Charles, Rebecca, and I all three have (or will) graduate(d) in 2007 (CG & RR already have; I will), and so our parents sent us west for a 5-day holiday together. We originally intended to sit for a taping or two of the final episodes of the Price is Right, but alas they ran out of tickets (and we didn't want to go over and try to get in on a whim). So we instead road-tripped it through LA, San Diego, Palm Springs (via the Joshua Tree National Park, a very cool and desolate location!!), and Las Vegas. Good times were had by all, although I think we were all very exhausted on our return to LAX to fly home.

4- Job interviews. I interviewed at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, AZ (links: map, city of prescott) Mon-Wed of this week. I think the interviews went well, and I was very pleased by the campus, the department, and the "fit". I continue to pray about it, and am content in whatever comes about. Stay tuned! (The search committee indicated they would have some ideas in about a week).

5- Soccer. I played soccer for the first time 2 weeks ago. My friends Mee (from Thailand) and Amin (from Morocco) kicked the ball around with me on Friday, and on Saturday, I joined Mee and ~ 10 of his int'l friends (mostly from Vietnam, Thailand, and China, although a guy from Peru, another from France [Algerian], and a fellow from Nigeria joined us too). At the end, we were only 3-on-3, and I got to score a goal! Whoop :)

6- Zach. One of my good friends from church and OU, Zach Barnes, visited us in Norman over the weekend. He is teaching english in Kralupy, Czech Republic, and was in town for his sister's wedding. I got to visit Zach (& dog Benjordi) in Nov. of last year, and it was good to see him again, even if only for a short while. He'll be back in U.S.A. in about 6 weeks though. Zach, have a good trip back to CZ and enjoy your final weeks of the semester dude. Thanks for reading the blog!

7- New roommate. My current roommate Ryan is leaving next month (23rd of June) to go to school in S. Carolina, so Kris has moved in to live here during the summer. He enjoyed the day off of his landscaping job today (well, at least the morning) due to the rain.

I think that's it for now. You're officially caught up on the details of my last two weeks. Peace.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Weather update

For those who did not know, the tornado that struck Greensburg, KS, last Friday night was officially rated F-5 on the enhanced Fujita scale (meaning it is an "EF-5"). It was definitely the strongest tornado in the U.S. since May 3, 1999, and probably the strongest in the world since then. Here is a radar image of the incredible velocity couplet as the tornadic circulation crossed into Greensburg (img courtesy NOAA).

Also, yesterday, the first (sub)tropical storm of the season, Andrea, formed off the southeast U.S. coast. If it is considered a tropical cyclone (still some global debate), it ends the longest (32-day) worldwide tropical cyclone-free period since at least 1970. That record is interesting in light of some of the claims of global warming, that TCs are becomming more numerous. As was speculated on the T-Storms list, this 32-day record "drought" is likely to not be surpassed any time soon. At left is a visible satellite img of the remnants of Andrea's circulation (downgraded to a [sub]tropical depression at 1500 UTC today) (img courtesy NOAA).

I hear they registered for a plasma t.v.

This morning I took care of several things that I've needed to do but didn't have time. First, I went to get a haircut from "Mane Man" on W. Lindsey. The results are fine, but I was intrigued by their coupon policy. I thought I was doing well to scout the phone book to find a $10.99 coupon, but when I handed it to her, she returned a different, $9.99 coupon card. I wonder what she would have said if I asked to use it instead of the $10.99 one. Oh well, only $1.00.

Second, I'm getting my oil changed from Firestone. I say "getting" because I'm posting this entry using a wireless signal - quite strong (4 bars) - acquired here in the waiting room. I have no idea if the signal is their's, but probably not. Fortunately we're in a residential area and someone nearby has an open connection.

After the oil change (~ 15 more mins), I'm heading over to Al's Formal Wear to get measured for Chris & Emily's wedding (which takes place first Saturday in June). Best part about being an usher in Chris's wedding? He is paying for the tux! I've been in over 10 weddings, and only one other time did the groom pay for the tuxedos. My policy - while I've been a student - has been that if I am in the wedding (& have to pay for my own tux), that is my "gift" to the couple. So it looks like Chris & Emily have a different gift coming! I hear they registered for a plasma t.v. ...

In other news, the past few days have been good research-wise. I enjoy going to the schooner room in the union to work; it has just the right level of background noise to allow me to occasionally mumble aloud (sounds weird, I know, but in debugging Fortran code, I've found it helps me to be able to 'talk out' the particularly complex do-loops and multiple arrays). Also, last night, I discovered that I missed a deduction on my federal 1040 tax return, meaning the fed. govt owes me $75 more. Hopefully this additional filing will not trigger the dreaded audit (again, I have no idea how accurate my foreign tax claim was -- I think it's accurate, but their rules were amazingly ambiguous / complex!)

Well, the Firestone guy wants to push tires on me, so I've got to run.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Update

In a few days, I'll be heading to interview in-person for the faculty position. Should be fun! Stay tuned.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Job interview!

I have a job interview (over the phone) with a university tomorrow. Should be interesting! Stay tuned for later updates.

Storms on Friday and/or Saturday?

I've attached the latest operational NAM/WRF CAPE prediction for 00Z Saturday and 00Z Sunday (Fri. 7pm & Sat. 7pm). If either (or both) map times verify, any storms that do form will have the greatest available potential instability of the season (> 4000 j/kg). Bigger question: will storms form, and if so, where? There has been talk of northern Kansas, etc., but I do not like this location because of the "inverted trough" signature in the MSLP fields (not shown). I think I would rather try the dryline, perhaps closer to a triple-point in s.w./s.cent kansas or n.w. okla, both on Friday & Saturday. [Side note: 00Z models tonight focus more on the inverted pressure trough than on a closed surface low, meaning a triple point would be harder to locate... perhaps wherever the dryline intersected said inverted pressure trough...] One final note: both NAM/WRF and GFS are consistent on Friday with precipitation in the body of Oklahoma. I do not know the forcing mechanism (perhaps the dryline?), but wow, if storms do go up on Friday in a moderately-sheared and high-cape environment, they could be quite impressive. Still think the better show will be Saturday [altho mid-level (900-700mb) modeled winds have trended stronger over past 36 hrs, lending more credence to the 'Friday will be good' camp. Maybe a post-frisbee trip to Binger!?]

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