Weather 101 with Uncle Mike

Mike Morgan loves weather, trains, his family and really good sushi.  Tonight, while the country is freezing, Mike is hard at work to ensure everyone remains safe and updated on the latest weather.  Its a tough job that he does well.  Weather is his passion, something he takes very seriously, and he relishes every moment of doing his job.  While he specializes in tornadoes (and had a cameo in Twister), he can tackle any type of weather.  It was Uncle Michael who convinced my Dad to leave before you know who made landfall in 2K5, and it was Uncle Michael who lost his sweet baby Jaguar to a hail storm that tore apart the plains.  Oh the irony.  Everyone knows you have to do what you love in order to be good at what you do.  This is Mike Morgan in essence.  Check him out on the job here. 

Weather is small talk, a conversation starter.  Get this, did you know that on January 12, the only state in the union not covered in snow was Florida?  Heard briefly in passing on the Today Show, I confirmed with Uncle Mike later in the evening.  I said, "What about Hawaii?"  His response was, "A lot of people mistake Hawaii for ridiculously warm climate, but Hawaii's volcanoes are often covered in snow."  Whodathunkit?  See article here. 

Uncle Mike also gave me a debrief of tornadoes, a violent, quick burst of air in contact with a cumulus cloud and the ground, which tend to last a few short minutes.  Apparently, tornado rituals are no different than hurricane rituals.  I was mainly intrigued by the practice of survival in the bunkers.  While Oklahomans go underground for protection from crazy weather, in New Orleans we're already underground, so we just hold our breath and hope we don't wash away.  (Now, if that's not food for thought for Congress than I don't know what is.)

According to Uncle Mike and statistics, if meteorology is of interest, the place to go is Oklahoma University, the number one school for the study of weather.  Again, I was curious to know why......because Oklahoma is the heartbeat of America.  The state experiences just about any type of weather in the plains, so it is a great place for young Carl Arredondo's to get their hands dirty and study mother nature's wildest behaviors.