A group of local college students have returned from the mid-west following nearly half a month of storm-chasing.  SUNY Oswego meteorology students who participated in the “Storm Forecasting and Observation Program” drove literally thousands of miles across 17 different states from June 1^st through June 14^th.  Their quest?  To study powerful  thunderstorms in nature’s greatest laboratory: Tornado Alley.  The chasers shared close-quarters for two weeks in two vans as they criss-crossed the mid west in search of those powerful, and deadly, storms. 

The ultimate goal of observation like this is to attain a better understanding of everything that goes into making these storms so powerful, and in some cases, tornadic.  This will (hopefully) lead to less “false alarms”, so people take the real warnings much more seriously. 

The data collected from this journey will be analyzed not only in the weeks to come, but months as well.  The students took a nice break from their post-chase analysis to enjoy a visit from The Weather Channel’s Nick Walker late this last week.

We’ll be sure to pass along any interesting tid bits of research they stumble upon in the coming weeks.  If you’d like to check out their photos, you can find their Facebook page here.