Hey everyone,
After nearly two weeks of storm chasing, our SWIFT journey is approaching its end. While we didn’t get much luck in terms of tornadogenesis in the first week, we still got to witness some great storms develop. It was amazing being able to see classroom topics unfold in person; the photos and diagrams don’t do justice to the awe-inspiring effect that the weather can leave on a person. Also, one can never fully appreciate the force and energy exerted by the atmosphere until they are standing in the 60 knot winds created by a storm outlow or they are witnessing clouds form before their eyes beneath a rotating mesocyclone.
Photo credit goes to Sam ‘NASCAR’ Ford-Dirks
Despite the incredible atmospheric sights we witnessed on SWIFT, my favorite moment was visiting Caney Valley Elementary and talking to the students. Their excitement and enthusiasm was far greater than we could have expected and their knowledge on scientific concepts caught us completely off guard. Many of those kids have the potential to become great meteorologists or scientists in their own field and it was humbling to have the ability to teach them a little bit about the atmosphere and the Naval Academy in general.
Photo credit goes to LCDR Matt (rescinded) Burich
With thousands of miles under our tires, I would say SWIFT was one of the greatest opportunities I have been afforded while at USNA. Not only did we witness classroom concepts come to live in real-time, we also saw nearly half of the United States in the process. This trip has allowed me to greatly appreciate the awesome power of the weather, the hard-working NWS teams that strive to predict the weather, and the citizens of the Midwest and central U.S. who are subject to the weather. Not only did we learn a ton, but two weeks in a van made us grow extremely close to one another. I hope SWIFT will continue for many more years to come so others can be afforded the same opportunities that we had while on this training.
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