Wednesday, May 23, 2007

A Busy but Special Afternoon

I had a wonderful opportunity to speak to the students at South Hutchinson Elementary and what a great bunch of kids. We did the cloud-in-a bottle trick, talked about weather balloons, and spent some time discussing severe weather. One student in particular, Garrick Beasley, a sixth grader at the school, has a true love for weather and was the one that invited the KWCH Storm Team to come visit about weather as part of their career day. Be sure to check the attached picture.
Garrick has a collection of the TV meteorologists from this area neatly filed in a notebook along with pictures of his very own weather station in his parent's basement. He has already attended storm spotting classes and has developed an internal sensor as to when there might be severe storms.

I'm still not exactly sure why, but most meteorologists say they discovered a love for weather at a young age and sometimes, it just takes one good storm to catch their interest. I can definitely relate to this and that's why when I meet students like Garrick, I want to do my part in helping to further educate them on weather and how the atmosphere works. I wish I could've visited with the students for a little longer, but severe weather cut our time short. I spent a great deal of time in SatCam Wednesday evening monitoring the storms across central and western Kansas. Fortunately, no significant tornadoes to report but the flooding is causing enough problems and concerns.

Have a great and safe holiday weekend! (the unofficial start to summer)

7 comments:

Geek Duchess K said...

Ms S from South Hutchinson Elementary.. Thank you so much for visiting it meant so much to Garrick and the other students.
You have gained some life-time viewers.

distimpson said...

Hi Ross,I live 3 miles West of Haviland and had some building damage from a storm last night, about 2am the power went out. A friend told me a there was a tornado 5 miles West of Haviland last night at about 1:30am, can you confirm or refute? Thank you, Don

Ross Janssen said...

Don,
It looks like straight line winds that moved through your area. There were reports of 60-70 mph winds in that area and reports of other wind damage 2 miles west of Haviland to some trees. It was a line of storms and most often you see damaging winds with that type of storm structure.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure you are a great role model for youth interested in meterology. It is a career path that involves a lot of passion and dedication! I'm proud to say that I have a brother with the passion and dedication to make it to where he is in meterology! I'm sure your family feels the same about you! Best of wishes to you Ross, I know you will go far!!

Anonymous said...

My niece just recently graduated from high school, and she plans to go to Iowa State to study meteorology. Do you have any advise for her just beginning the program?

Ross Janssen said...

The best suggestion I can give is to prepare for the math and physics. Students tend to get overwhelmed with the amount of math required for the degree, but study up on algebra skills and you will be fine. Best of luck to your niece.

distimpson said...

Yes! Math and Physics!

Thanks for the info and taking the time to do the blog, you're a good man Ross.

Best wishes, Don

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