SEVERE WEATHER INSTRUMENTS
TOTO....... or Totable
Tornado Observatory, was a barrel full of atmospheric sensors. The device was said to
weigh about 400 lbs. (recently its weight was estimated by one of its handlers at
considerably less, maybe 200 lbs. or so). In the early 1980s, storm chasers raced around
with TOTO, trying to plant it right in the path of a tornado. It was a difficult endeavor,
like trying to thread the eye of a moving needle. A tornado never struck the device, but
it nevertheless won a small measure of fame when a TOTO-like imitation called
"Dorothy" appeared in the movie Twister. Credit to the Online Tornado Museum
DOW....... The Doppler On Wheels Project has
created two mobile Doppler weather radar's mounted on trucks that have explored rare and
small scale phenomena, permitting the first ever mappings of tornado winds and resolution
of detailed tornado structure and evolution at scales well below 100 m. The upgraded
radar's will study tornadoes at even finer scales in dual-Doppler deployments. Studies are
planned to observe the fine scale structures in hurricanes, marine and overland boundary
layers.
JRC 2000 marine radar. Portable radars for
chasers. For more information goto Trionics Home
Page
Dillo-cam..... (the name combines
"armadillo" with "camera"), was designed to survive the most violent
of winds. On May 25, 1997, it made meteorological history. Near dusk, in southeastern
Kansas, it became the first observation package ever to be deployed in front of, and then
struck by, a tornado. The recovered Dillo-cam tape revealed the image and sounds of the
twister approaching and engulfing the device. Storm chaser Charles Edwards of Norman,
Okla., created the neon-orange package out of junkyard lead, a secondhand videocamera, and
assorted cheap parts. Credit to the Online
Tornado Museum
Tornado siren..... These sirens are sound to warn the public
that a tornado has been sited and that it is time to take shelter. These sirens are
meant ONLY to warn the public while they are outside and away
from a TV or radio. They are not meant to be heard while inside a home.
TOTO....... or Totable
Tornado Observatory, was a barrel full of atmospheric sensors. The device was said to
weigh about 400 lbs. (recently its weight was estimated by one of its handlers at
considerably less, maybe 200 lbs. or so). In the early 1980s, storm chasers raced around
with TOTO, trying to plant it right in the path of a tornado. It was a difficult endeavor,
like trying to thread the eye of a moving needle. A tornado never struck the device, but
it nevertheless won a small measure of fame when a TOTO-like imitation called
"Dorothy" appeared in the movie Twister. Credit to the Online Tornado Museum
