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Laura
About Laura
Hi there! My name is Laura, I'm from the northern end of Minnesota's "Tornado Alley" in the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities, and weather has been my passion longer than I can remember. At age three, I remember a few-second glimpse of being in our backyard with my mom. We were on our backs in the grass, and I showed and told her about the differences in the clouds - that they each had their own meaning. The last thing I remember from that time is my mom with a big smile on her face.
Years later, I asked her if she remembered that, and she said, "Well, I don't know if I remember that exact moment, but you were already telling me all about the clouds by the time you were two!" :-) Sweet. Whilst I didn't know then to call one a Cirrocumulus or the other a Cumulonimbus, it came with time.
By the time I was 11 years old, I knew how to identify all the clouds properly, and I had seen my first funnel cloud right over our house. That was 1986 - a crazy summer for weather in the area. An F2 (on the old scale) tornado touched down just a mile away from us then, and my favorite local news station was on it - literally. Max Messmer and Tom Empey flew around and taped that tornado in the Sky 11 helicopter, and it made local, national, and even international news for a long time... It was the closest anyone had ever dared capture a tornado on film at the time, and the footage was studied for years.
Even though it was "merely" an F2, it totally clobbered this part of town. After things cleared up, my dad took me through some of the hardest hit areas, and I distinctly remember a speed limit sign post that was twisted into what looked like a gigantic piece of metal macaroni. (Somewhere - there is a picture of it. I have yet to find it, though. D'oh!) And for many, many years later, all the trees in and near Springbrook Nature Center leaned heavily in the direction of where the tornado "hung out" (it literally just did its thing spinning about in one spot, like it was actually posing for the camera or something!) before it finally dissipated.
For at least a year or two after that, there was a very distinct spiral in the field at the nature center in which it hung out. I remember standing on its epicenter and wondering what it would have been like to be there at that moment. Perhaps I wouldn't be around to write about it now if I had actually been there, but... I think that curiosity is ultimately in all of us here - at least a little bit.
Here’s a link to an almost-ten-minute newscast from later that night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekVcUhr56sY&NR=1
And another perhaps better one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78UqUME9EsI&NR=1
But, I digress… From sixth grade, I went on to win highest honors in science fairs through ninth grade. Made it to the state level in 7th and 8th. Ninth grade was the best, though… It was a three-year weather forecasting study, and I was the runner-up for the International Science Fair that year. Unfortunately for me, the winner was able to make to the ultimate competition in Hawaii, but I was still happy. Even so, I decided to go out on top and not compete anymore – much to my father’s chagrin.
Perhaps I should have gone on, but ultimately it wouldn’t have mattered in the long run anyway. Once I got into college, I intended on majoring in Meteorology. In fact, I made a very concerted effort at it! Unfortunately, it involves A LOT of math. That is the only subject I have never been good at past Trig, and whilst I tutored every major subject except math, I couldn’t even get to where I needed to get to enter into the Meteorology program in college when I went to see a math tutor. :-( So I gave up, and went into Mass Comm (TV) instead. *sigh* For what it’s worth, my broadcast team won an international award for a show in which I was the “weather girl”. That counts, too, if you ask me. :-) Well, at least a little.
Whilst math may be important, I think it’s keeping a lot of scientifically-talented people out of the field – like me. I know I have what it takes. I’m not only a Skywarn spotter, but I know how to read radar. When a tornado touched down just east of us here in Coon Rapids earlier this year, I had my mom, younger sister, 2-year-old nephew, and 1-year-old niece downstairs ten minutes before the warning was issued. By the time it was issued, the tornado had already touched down – thankfully just to the east of us.
My point is, I know what I’m doing, and I’m proud of it. Weather will *always* fascinate me! Whilst I still yearn to be a Meteorologist, as I think it’s my ultimate calling, maybe it’s not meant to be in this life. Perhaps I’m on the brink of something, and when I pass on from this life, I will evolve into my next life, and stumble upon something major (perhaps along with one of you in your next lives), save millions of people, and live happily ever after in the history books! Or - at least live happily ever after that storm...
PS ~ Thank you, Paul Douglas (DPK), for everything you’ve done for me – and that’s a lot, weather [sic] you realize it or not! :-)
Years later, I asked her if she remembered that, and she said, "Well, I don't know if I remember that exact moment, but you were already telling me all about the clouds by the time you were two!" :-) Sweet. Whilst I didn't know then to call one a Cirrocumulus or the other a Cumulonimbus, it came with time.
By the time I was 11 years old, I knew how to identify all the clouds properly, and I had seen my first funnel cloud right over our house. That was 1986 - a crazy summer for weather in the area. An F2 (on the old scale) tornado touched down just a mile away from us then, and my favorite local news station was on it - literally. Max Messmer and Tom Empey flew around and taped that tornado in the Sky 11 helicopter, and it made local, national, and even international news for a long time... It was the closest anyone had ever dared capture a tornado on film at the time, and the footage was studied for years.
Even though it was "merely" an F2, it totally clobbered this part of town. After things cleared up, my dad took me through some of the hardest hit areas, and I distinctly remember a speed limit sign post that was twisted into what looked like a gigantic piece of metal macaroni. (Somewhere - there is a picture of it. I have yet to find it, though. D'oh!) And for many, many years later, all the trees in and near Springbrook Nature Center leaned heavily in the direction of where the tornado "hung out" (it literally just did its thing spinning about in one spot, like it was actually posing for the camera or something!) before it finally dissipated.
For at least a year or two after that, there was a very distinct spiral in the field at the nature center in which it hung out. I remember standing on its epicenter and wondering what it would have been like to be there at that moment. Perhaps I wouldn't be around to write about it now if I had actually been there, but... I think that curiosity is ultimately in all of us here - at least a little bit.
Here’s a link to an almost-ten-minute newscast from later that night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekVcUhr56sY&NR=1
And another perhaps better one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78UqUME9EsI&NR=1
But, I digress… From sixth grade, I went on to win highest honors in science fairs through ninth grade. Made it to the state level in 7th and 8th. Ninth grade was the best, though… It was a three-year weather forecasting study, and I was the runner-up for the International Science Fair that year. Unfortunately for me, the winner was able to make to the ultimate competition in Hawaii, but I was still happy. Even so, I decided to go out on top and not compete anymore – much to my father’s chagrin.
Perhaps I should have gone on, but ultimately it wouldn’t have mattered in the long run anyway. Once I got into college, I intended on majoring in Meteorology. In fact, I made a very concerted effort at it! Unfortunately, it involves A LOT of math. That is the only subject I have never been good at past Trig, and whilst I tutored every major subject except math, I couldn’t even get to where I needed to get to enter into the Meteorology program in college when I went to see a math tutor. :-( So I gave up, and went into Mass Comm (TV) instead. *sigh* For what it’s worth, my broadcast team won an international award for a show in which I was the “weather girl”. That counts, too, if you ask me. :-) Well, at least a little.
Whilst math may be important, I think it’s keeping a lot of scientifically-talented people out of the field – like me. I know I have what it takes. I’m not only a Skywarn spotter, but I know how to read radar. When a tornado touched down just east of us here in Coon Rapids earlier this year, I had my mom, younger sister, 2-year-old nephew, and 1-year-old niece downstairs ten minutes before the warning was issued. By the time it was issued, the tornado had already touched down – thankfully just to the east of us.
My point is, I know what I’m doing, and I’m proud of it. Weather will *always* fascinate me! Whilst I still yearn to be a Meteorologist, as I think it’s my ultimate calling, maybe it’s not meant to be in this life. Perhaps I’m on the brink of something, and when I pass on from this life, I will evolve into my next life, and stumble upon something major (perhaps along with one of you in your next lives), save millions of people, and live happily ever after in the history books! Or - at least live happily ever after that storm...
PS ~ Thank you, Paul Douglas (DPK), for everything you’ve done for me – and that’s a lot, weather [sic] you realize it or not! :-)
