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A GROUP OF
UNL STUDENTS
BRAVE SEVERE
WEATHER IN
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THE NAME OF
SCI ENCE
PHOTOS AND TEXT BY JOSH WOLFE
Every spring and summer, a few UNL meteorology
students gather to search for Earth’s most violent weath
er.
Led by graduate student Walker Ashley, the
Nebraska Vortex Intercept Team chases storms across
the upper Midwest every tornado season.
The purpose: to give students real-life experiences
of the severe weather they study in class, which
includes more than seeing the storms, but also forecast
ing where and when they will strike.
“Connective weather forecasting has exploded in
the last 10 years," said University Nebraska-Lincoln
Meteorology Professor Ken Dewey. “We can go out
now and have a target area and usually find severe
storms.”
On May 17, all of ingredients to mix up a severe
weather outbreak were present.
HoLmoist air had trekked its way up from the Gulf
of Mexico to Nebraska, where two warm fronts were
moving across the state. Combined with a dry line and
upper level winds, everything looked right to Ashley
and his team.
The following is an account of their storms case that
day:
10:00 a.m.
Dewey and an assortment of other UNL chasers
meet at Ashley’s apartment.
Ashley had spent the morning at his desk next to a
large tie-died cloth that hangs in his bed room, going
Over the weather data, making and remaking his predic
tion of where the storms would form and the best posi
tion for the team to intercept them.
Hastings looks like the place to head, considering
the a National Weather Service was there. Taking four
Please see CHASER on 6
