Warnings: Another Happy Customer and Another Important Story

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Just received the following via Facebook:

 We got our signed copy of Warnings and it is fantastic! What a perfect surprise for my husband - thank you so much, sir!

Warnings is the story of how courageous scientists fought the bureaucracy to create the storm warning system that saves so many lives today.

One of the stories in the book is how battle (and it was a battle!) to put the network of Doppler radars in place for better tornado, hurricane, lightning and winter storm warnings. The first of those radars was commissioned twenty years ago today.

Here is a perfect example. Here is what the current Wichita weather looks like with a radar of the sensitivity of the WSR-57 or WSR-74S at 2:38pm CST.

Now, here is what is depicted -- freezing drizzle -- with the WSR-88D. We can even see the heaviest freezing drizzle is a triangular area from Newton to Hutchinson to about Bentley.
With the older radar, someone might be mislead into thinking "nothing is happening" when in fact dangerous freezing drizzle has made the roads quite slippery. There have been a number of accidents including one between Wichita and Hutchinson where the car rolled over.

The story of the people who made this happen is not only interesting, it is gripping at times. If you are looking for a great book to take on spring break, please consider Warnings. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 1, 2014 at 4:54 PM

    I'm really glad I had the chance to read your books before going to the annual NWS presentation in our county. I had no idea that there was no uniform rule for when sirens sound, but thanks to your book, I made a point of asking our county emergency management team what their policies are on the sirens.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mike SmithMarch 1, 2014 at 5:31 PM

    Thanks, Diana. Hope the meeting was productive.

    ReplyDelete

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