ChristineClayburg's Blog

Wow what a day!  Science on skis!  gotta love it.  Spend Tuesday sniffing around for good stories about snow.  Kristine Kahanek from KTVT in Dallas and Dale Eck and I from the Weather Channel took a series of lifts all the way to the backcountry and up to the top of STORM PEAK research center at 10,000'!  You can't even get here without skis or a snowmobile!


                        Getting Directions to...


                STORM PEAK!!!!
        
This is The epicenter of climate research in this part of the country. 

The things they are learning about snow and atmospheric pollution affect all of us...and the things they are discovering are nothing short of amazing!  I'm in the middle of a great session right now...but a look inside is coming soon. 

For now...a pic in front of the research lab with of two of my dearest weather friends!  Dale Eck and Kristine Kahanek.  It's is such and honor to ski and discuss weather with all the great meteorologist here.



= )

This is the GOOD STUFF!  Streaming live right now!  Wow....totally fascinating!  Discussion Q and A with a BUNCH of meteorolgists coming later this hour.  Great stuff all week but if you're a weather geek this is a DON"T miss1

www.ustream.tv/channel/steamboat

snow pics coming soon...I promise.

Here's the link!

www.ustream.tv/channel/steamboat

Quiet weather at last across most of the country this am...compliments of Mr. Dale Eck's weather Briefing...Dale is the Global Forecast Director for the Weather Channel. One of many brilliant cats here at the conference.

Gorgeous sunshine outside now...more on that later....first the meaty stuff! ; )
?

Speaking right now is NOAA's Research Meteorologist and Director Frank Marks. Good/fascinating new stuff on their Hurricane Forecast Improvement project. Dr. Frank Marks has flown inside more hurricanes than most of us can imagine..and his first words today... "Everytime I go in these storms surprise me" We're still learning about hurricanes of course.

Dr. Marks rockin it...


One of the most interesting discussions on the agenda is the NEW Focus not just on number but on the SOCIAL and BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE involved in forecasting. We tv mets are getting "props" Mark for dealing with this "non quantitative" side of forecasting for as long as he's flying into the storms. It's new and uncharted territory...and SO important! It doesn't matter how accurate you are if no one really understands how it will affect them.

On the numbers side of things...storm track forecasting has improved by 50% since 1990 and gets' better every year. Until you get the track right a lot of the other variables...wind speed, precip etc aren't as useful if you aren't sure where it will hit. So this is a good thing!

And since 2001 the lead time on these massive deadly storms has dropped from 3 to 5 days. And that makes a huge difference in getting folks out of the way safely. So...the next challenge....better forecasts of INTENSITY. As we saw with Katrina...knowing the strength is everything for making the call to get folks out of the way and a huge factor in how deadly the storm will be. Next goal at NOAA...reduce intensity error by 50%. That sort of breakthru can make a huge difference on the economy too!

Anyway...off to a nifty start! Snow pics coming soon!


Dave Jones from Storm Center communications...also rockin it.  ; )

After three Wicked Raw Days We finally make it above zero and I'm off to Colorado.  No, I am not chickening out because we hit -22 below  (love that)   I'm going to attend the 20th annual Weather Summit in Steamboat, CO. 

Yes, of course I'm taking my skis (duh) But truly this conference is the neatest time to exchange ideas and discuss new research with top meteorologist from around the country and frankly just get charged up about weather!

In the years I've been going to this conference climate has gone from a brief discussion to a major topic..so much so that Cimate Change now gets top billing in many of the discussions...and every year there's new research, analysis and perspective to discover on this "hot" issue for our generation.  I'll be posting more details here about what's new in the days to come.  Fascinating stuff to be sure.

Also a  NEW study of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 vs. last year's Hurricane Ike should be VERY interesting

And here's something NEW for YOU:  This year you'll be able to "sit in" on some of these meetings via live steaming on the web.  Admittely you've gotta be a bit of a weathergeekamafreak to follow some of the stuff...but not as much of a weathergeekamafreak as IAN LEONARD!  (that dude is off the charts!)  ; )

Here are few highlights of the week ahead!

- 2008 Hurricane Season and Hurricane Forecast Improvement Prroject  (with NOAA Hurricane Reserach Division)

- Comparison of the 1900 Galvestion Hurricane and Hurricane Ike (with NOAA Hurricane Reserach Division)

- Climate Models, Climate Forcing and Climate Change (with NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies)

- Linking Synoptic Scale Events to Climate Change    (with the Weather Channel)

- 2008 Tornado Season ...are Tornadoes more intense?  New Developments in Tornado Observing and Forecasting (with University of Oklahoma)

- FEMA's Role Before, During and After Disasters (FEMA Region VII)

Anywho...I'l metcha back here for more discussion and chat after the events.

I get into Steamboat tomorrow afternoon and once I fire up the old laptop I'll post some links and a schedule.

Standby!  More details coming soon!

Best,

Christine Clayburg

This... I am told... is how it's pronounced .... (it helps to stuff your cheeks full of milk duds thill they're jammed in every molar).  ; )

Thanks to all the supercute ghosts and goblins at the Halloweeniest house in Hopkins for some super-fun live shots in the 5 and 6 shows tonight....here's the pic as promised!

 And hey...it's not too late Check it out for yourself!  The Halloweeniest house in Hopkins It's on Harrison street just south of Excelsior just east of 169.

As for the spooky weather?  Well..wait til election day...in the meantime...the weekend forecast is a real TREAT!

Happy Halloween!

Christine Clayburg

Yeaaaaahhhh! 

Once again Fox 9's Girls and Science  ROCKED!!  And this time we rocked the Science Museum!  Girls and Women scientists who flew in from as far as the East Coast to support this awesome event had an INCREDIBLE DAY!

This was year 6 AND our first year at the Awesome  Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul.  Wow I had a blast giving "weather wall lessons" and  4 hours flew by before I noticed I we girls were chatting up science so much I was loosing my voice!  Funny

And attendance?  WOW!!!  Bigger than ever!!  Our event nearly tripled the expected average attendance at the Scienc Museum and also TRIPLED the number of awesome girls, moms, dads and brothers that attended last year.

If you didn't make it this year...be sure and come next year!  As the pics on this link will show you!  We had an amazing time

http://media.myfoxtwincities.com/special/girlsandscie
nce/2008/2008GSphotos.htm

 

 Best,

Christine Clayburg

Thankfully Gustav dropped to a Category 2 before coming ashore.....but the winds are still raging and New Orleans is in the worst part of the surge.  Some levees are being topped as I write this.  It is a wait and see situation right now as the storm slowly tracks toward Texas.

Here's where things are the worst right now

 

As a child growing in Zambia, Africa I didn't have a single fair skinned playmate.

As a woman with a Mensa level IQ, and an intuitive knack for science I have never once had the opportunity in my career or in any of my higher level coursework of having a female colleague.

For most of my life I've been oblivious to any ceilings for women for for people of color.  I didn't believe they existed.

Over time as I progressed from a single wide trailer with a family of 7 to the college classrooms to a fast rising career that exposed me to people from all walks of life...I started seeing others hit that ceiling.  But when it was my turn... I didn't even see the ceiling coming.  And when I smacked into it I didn't believe it was there...so I just kept banging my head against it.  

I got a huge and painful lesson in the UNINTENTIONAL FEARS and MISUNDERSTANDINGS that otherwise decent and well-intentioned folks can have of people who have a different set of experiences in ilfe.

 I've seen and experienced heartwrenching discrimination....first as an observer of people of color and then personally as a woman who started coming into her own as a woman instead of pushing myself three times as hard to be a woman and still fit in as one of the guys.

SO color me thrilled with the breakthroughs in politics that are happening this year!  A double whammy of historical moments in 24 hours!

As a scientist I've always watched politics from afar.  I like to study catalysts, endothermic reactions, exothermic reactions etc etc etc.

Good science is based on a sequential progression from: 

 Observation, Hypothesis, Theory and eventually scientific fact. 

You must always be ready to be proven wrong. 

It seems to me that "Political Science" would involve the same progression..but most folks hate science....so I OBSERVE politics to be a very emotional and polarizing sport....which is why I stay out of it. 

BUT.....there's nothing more riveting in SCIENCE than a breakthrough!  The discovery of new catalyst that create new reactions.  The thrill of being onto something new will keep you up all night running thru the new variable...trying new endless combinations to find a lock that fits...and grows into theory.

In my own life and hopefully in the life of any journalist one is content to live only in the world of observation and the collection of evidence.  I prefer to focus on evidence , for formation of a hypotheses, test the hypothesis in the real world, then collect more evidence, analyze analyze analyze, try to DISPROVE the hypothesis. 

THEN if you are very lucky...your research will form into a theory.  As a scientist you accept that it takes a VERY long time before THEORY becomes FACT .  And you live comfortably in that process.

And I am determined to stay there...I vote on theory...not on any omniscient illusion that I have all that answers  .But this year...If we can agree that the value of each human being on this planet is a scientific FACT.  We win no matter what.

If there's anything the American People take away from this years election I hope it is proof that every human being on this earth has something of value to contribute.  No matter what their sex, race, beliefs, IQ, orientation, and on and on...anything that may seem Different...that (I hypothesize) is where the value lies...in our differences!

And I do hope (however observationally) that it one day it becomes a widely accepted scientific fact...that every living this on this planet has VALUE exactly as it is and deserved to be treated with respect

Here's to an exciting election.  I am one excited observer!

Yep...I did it.  I joined the Air National Guard.  (4 days before my 35th birthday...after which I'd be too old for the Air Force).  I'll be training in as a Loadmaster...part of the Air Crew on the legendary C-130 Hercules.   

One of the things I love about weather is being up in it!  I've loved aviation for years. I've also been incredibly fortunate in my life and giving back matters a lot to me.  So pursuing a private license never felt like the quite the right fit...but everything about about serving as aircrew on the C-130's feels right to me.

 A lot of folks (parents especially) have freaked about the fact that this may involve dangerous endeavors at times....as opposed to what?  My usual selfish adventures...climbing mountains up to 22,000, rock climbing, kayaking solo on Lake Superior, crossing the Sierra Nevada alone, biking 100's of miles alone.  Hmmmm...

Unlike the afore mentioned shenanigans...the missions on the C-130's involve disaster relief (the MN Guard was there for Hurricane Katrina), humanitarian relief, research (including both poles) and or course supporting our troops.  No...this is not a political statement on my part.  Just a willingness and indeed, great pride, to serve the American People where ever they decide the need is greatest.

Yeah, it may not  be as "hollywood" as my previous high-profile endeavors (aka. Desperate Housewives)...but it's already the proudest decision I've ever made...and I'm just getting started. 

 Here are a few pics of the shenanigans I'll be up to in the years ahead.  ; )

More details soon....

     

    

  

Yo!  Does anyone know a better Eden Prairie bike map than this one?

http://www.edenprairie.org/plug-ins/maps/

Discovered it on the Eden Prairie website...but impossible to print without chopping it up!  So many great looking trails...so little space!  Eeek!

Well it's a start anyway but if you know where to find a hardcopy of this then post it here!!

Happy Trails!

Christine Clayburg

Or just good T-Shirt weather?

Well Lollipop Fluffer-Nutter the short-legged cat certainly woudl purrfurr the former!.  (not that there's much he can do about it).  Hee Hee.

 

Wahaahaha!  Actually it was only three degrees above average today  (definintely warm enough to hang out inside and bother the fluffer-nutter)!  We topped out at 85 with a brief rumble of thunder.  More sunny days ahead. 

Of course the big question on a day like this is what shall kitty wear tomorrow?

 

P.S.  the shirt says "what happens at grammas stay's at grammas" so don't tell the neighbor cats!  lolly is SO humiliated!

 

Okay I have no complaints about this fabulousy comfortable weather but when it comes to forecasting things are getting downright Southern California dull! 

So let's talk about something fun....namely...Popsicle the world-cutest Welsh corgi Rescue dog  (no bias here whatsover).

 

Yeah she loves snow but her most favoritest thing in the world in summer  (after walking thru every mudpuddle and soaking her low rider belly)  is rolling around on the grass with the most ridiculous smile.  Hysterical.

Is this the perfect back scratch or just doggie frolic instint?  I'm intrigued. 

Happy frolicing!

Christine

Nothing like a beautiful spring in Minnesota to get one ready to conquer the world (again)!  It's me taken over year in Minnesota to recover physically, mentally and emotionally from two years in the concrete jungle of LA.  

Yes I WAS on hold for for over a MONTH for those Desperate Housewives Tornado Episodes (the season 4 finale)....and then  got written out....darn.  I have to admit...doing STORM COVERAGE on WISTERIA LANEwould have been toooo cool.  But let's be honest...the show is called Desperate Housewives...not Desperate Reporter craving Northen Climate!.  ; )  And there was that writer's strike...and who knows...maybe a SAG/AFTRA strike in the works next?

Am I bad and misguided if I didn't mind NOT getting on a plane to LA this season?  I think not....I love my Minnesota SEASONS!  Where better to prep for high altitude cold than a Minnesota winter! 

Besides the Housewives are coming to FOX! Reruns start on WFTC in the Fall!

So anywho.....I'm finally back to my frisky old self again and getting ready to climb another glacier covered volcano!  

Meet Mt. Adams!  

(and feel free to cross your fingers for DH season 5)

      

 

    More details coming soon....

 

Best,

Christine Clayburg

 

We are tracking another round of severe weather for this weekend.

Greatest risk tonight is in sW MN.

But SATURDAY.  Keep an eye on the sky.  Severe risk is likely in the afternoon.

Don't forget to go to www.myfox9weather.com and keep an eye on the radar.

Also be aware that these storms may develop very quickly.  So do your best to get off the lakes in the afternoon.

Sunday will be a bit better.

Best,

Christine