January - February, 2007

WEATHER STATIONS IN ACTION :

NWS Award Winners All Count on Davis!

Proudly displaying their NWS awards are storm spotters/chasers (left to right) Mick Phillips, John Utech, and Chris Caldwell.

Mick Phillips’ Hummer got him the “Best Looking” award.

Chris Caldwell is ready for anything with his Storm Chaser vehicle.

John Utech, Oklahoma Storm Chaser Extraordinaire sent us this report on the new National Weather Center in Normal, Oklahoma.

The new National Weather Center, located in Norman, Oklahoma, conducted its long-awaited public open house. On display were the DOW (Doppler on Wheels) trucks along with new research vehicles. Visitors also got to witness weather balloon launches and take a tour of the NWC itself.

But the grandest display didn’t belong to the NOAA at all. It was in the parking lot! Storm spotters and chasers were invited to the inaugural 2006 Storm Chaser Car Show, and they brought their vans, cars, pickups, and SUVs from Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, and all over Oklahoma to show them off and possibly win one of the awards presented by some pretty savvy judges from NOAA. The vehicles boasted radio antennas, satellite dishes, and a lot of flashing lights. A few emergency management departments brought their vehicles to show off as well.

They were all vying for awards in six categories: Most Hail Damage, Most Working Sensors, Most Unique, Most Cutting Edge, Best Looking, and the coveted Meat-Wagon Award.

Are you ready for this? Five of the six awards were presented to a storm chaser and two storm spotters from Kay County in far north central Oklahoma. A single county! And those five winners all use Davis weather equipment!

John Utech, Blackwell Storm Spotter took home both the “Most Hail Damage” and “Meat Wagon” award. Chris Caldwell, storm chaser for KOCO TV OKC will display with pride his awards for “Most Working Sensors” and “Most Cutting Edge.” Matt Lehenbauer, of Woodward Emergency Management and KOCO TV OKC got the “Most Unique Award;” and Mick Phillips, Blackwell Storm Spotter, was named “Best Looking” (his vehicle, that is!).

(What’s a “Meat Wagon?” It’s a vehicle that has seen a lot of action, is pretty beat up, doesn’t look real pretty but can roll into any storm and accurately measure and report weather measurements -- thanks to the tough and rugged Davis weather stations. In other words, it’s worse for wear but still gets the job done!)

According to award winner John, “Davis weather instruments have played a very important role in Blackwell as well as the rest of Kay County. All of the Emergency Operation Centers in the county use Davis weather instruments. In the case of the cars, trucks and SUVs, Davis weather instruments play a major role the development of M.W.T. (Mobile Weather Technology).”

From the first day he was involved with weather reporting, award winner Chris Caldwell has relied on the dependability of Davis for his “FAST UNIT 55” chase vehicle, as well as for his website.

“I have been using Davis weather instruments since 2000,” Chris said, “and when it came time to equip my Dodge Durango chase vehicle it was a no-brainer to go with Davis once again. Davis weather instruments help me report the most accurate, up-to-date information from inside the storm back to the TV station I chase for and to the Ponca City and Blackwell EOC's. The Vantage Pro is one tough piece of equipment and it has been hit by low hanging trees and even a garage door or two during oil changes-- it still keeps on going like it was brand new. One thing that really stands out about Davis weather instruments is how low-maintenance they are. In all the years I have owned them, I have yet to even clean them out.”

Award winner Mickey Phillips is the director of field operations for the Blackwell Storm Spotters. He depends on Vantage Pro for accurate and timely measurements to report to the Norman Weather Office which uses the data in issuing severe weather warnings for Kay County, Oklahoma.

And if any county needs storm spotters, it’s Kay. According to NOAA data, Kay County is ranked third in the nation for tornados, with a total of 87 tornadoes -- one third of which have been in the Blackwell area. There are a total of 11 registered Storm Spotters for the city of Blackwell alone!

(Thanks, John! Sometimes we wonder why we don’t live in Oklahoma where they really know how to have weather!)

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