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Sunday, September 21, 2008

Grand Forks National Weather Service Open House

Thank you to Greg Gust and all of the staff at the Grand Forks National Weather Service office for inviting us up to their open house on September 20th. We had a lot of fun chatting with the staff, the public, and their Skywarn spotters. That CWA is very diverse and it was a very fun day spent hearing all of the stories of the locals covering everything from storm events I remember back in the late 80's all the way up to the Northwood tornado of 2007 and how slow 2008 was for the most part. Some of the Grand Forks county EM and the Skywarn staff showed off these "go kits" they made consisting of a totally portable APRS set up complete with an In-Speed anemometer. The cell phone coverage still has a lot of holes so epotter and Spotter Network are not an option over the entire CWA. It was interesting to find out my rotating wall cloud report prior to the Frazee tornado on July 11th of ths year was the first Spotter Network report they have ever received. So this prompted some discussion with their Skywarn people and a quick demo of how the reporting processes in the field makes its way to the consol inside the office. Sorry Pietrycha, Gust wanted me to make a wind report. Anyhow, it sounds like their Skywarn net is going to look into using Spotter Network for either their spotters who have internet access at home or the field. Good news.

It was also nice to have Kevin Skow from Anoka stop by for a nice visit. Also had a little time to chat with Aaron Kennedy (yes he was wearing an Oklahoma shirt LOL).


Here are some pics from the day:


Eric Whitehill talking Skywarn.



Cullen helping out the Salvation Army with the food.

Here is one of the go-cases the Grand Forks county EM and Skywarn people put together. Very slick for spotters without mobile internet access.


Eric and I taking a minute to enjoy the warn sun.


Melinda made the trip up with us too!


Cullen working on a 'Bou to start the morning



And lastly, what self-respecting Gopher hockey fan wouldn't want to stop by The Ralph, don the maroon and gold, and pay thier respects to the Sioux hockey program before heading over to The Red Pepper for a late lunch?

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