Dr. Bohlen's Blog: June 25th, 2010 - "Thunderstorm"

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by Julie Tork

Story Created: Jul 21, 2010 at 7:25 PM CDT

Story Updated: Jul 21, 2010 at 7:25 PM CDT

This week started with a storm. This storm brought about a 20 degree drop in the temperature which lasted the whole week. It was a really nice break in what had been a consistent month of heat. The week also brought on an increase in violence outside the wire. We have been here 9 weeks and had no explosions besides the ones shot at us. This week we have had two incidents of IED's. The first one took a man's life that was an interpreteur contractor for the US. The soldiers were in there vehicle and got stunned. The second attack took place today and brought me my first case caused by outside forces. The soldiers were out on patrol and from all accounts the vehicle they were in was destroyed. The only injury was a significant hand injury in which I cleaned and repaired. I sent him to Germany for further care the following day. I am not sure what all this means but it seems like there is more tension this last month then the 2 previous months. We are removing more people as the month is progressing which is awesome. The word is that we will probably be out of this hospital by this time next year. It will be interesting to see how this place ends up as the years go on.

I have had 3 episodes of storms here. The first one I showed you pictures of with the sand and dust. This one started with the change in wind from the ocean sde of the world. The humidity came and then came the clouds. The sounds from this storm were impressive. It reminded me of home. I walked outside of the my humble little home to see what all the fuss was about. The typical farmer in me to watch the storm right. I remember many a times that my father would go outside and watch the clouds. I think it is the fascination with the strength of storms that make me want to watch also. The unknown. One of my favorite shows is Stormchasers from the Discovery channel. It is interesting how people can make money and live by doing this job. I think there is a significant need for research into storms and early warnings. It is obvious over my 3 decades of storm watching that the weather warnings are better. I understand why the government is putting money into this project but there is an end to it. We can watch and take measurements all we want of these storms but who is going to stop them. It pretty much is going to happen and go where it wants to go. I often wonder what the endpoint is for the stormchasers. If your familiar with the show and most are familiar with the movie Twister the excitement that goes along with the chase. Last year they successfully stuck themselves in the middle of a few small ones. I saw this years show comes out in October and from what I can tell it has been a devastating storm season this year. I will watch as most of us do b/c of the unknown and wonder that nature can do.

The first picture is taken by Dean.



This kind of looks like a tornado. It pales in comparison to the ones at home but this is a still picture that I got from Dean's phone of a stream of video that he took. This swirling funnel of dust was pretty big and formed. Once again, not even close to home but more surprising b/c unexpected to see here. This storm really produced a ton of gusting winds that really did remind me of home. This large funnel like activity actually did a little damage. Here is a picture of a bus stop waiting area in the base that not only got flipped over but got tumbled about 20 feet behind where it sits.



As you can see it just didn't tip over but actually rolled over 2 or 3 times onto a car. I am not sure what to make of it except that funnel like cloud was in this area. I just think it is interesting that there is so much force in a storm here. Even the fact there was a storm here.

This next picture is taken from my phone when I went outside.



The storm caused this huge flow of dirt/dust/sand flowing around everywhere. You can see some of the organization to it. It was so bad that we couldn't really stand outside very long b/c it was making your eyes hurt and you could feel yourself being pelted by the fine dirt/dust. You could see it lightning a few times and then it tried to rain. That is what I meant. It tried to rain. It sounded impressive on the metal roof and you could see and kind of feel it come down. The whole episode of intensity lasted about 45 minutes and it rained for about 20 minutes. When it was all said and done the ground was barely wet. It almost seems like the water evaporates as soon as it hits the ground. It also appears that most of it never makes it to the ground b/c it is too hot.

I took this last picture down the CHU line of housing.



There isn't much to this photo except the distortion that your seeing of the picture. This is b/c of the layer of dust/sand that had accumulated on the lense of the device.

That's my thunderstorm activity of the spring season. I know all of yours has been pretty miserable but also helpful for the farmers. It is that balance of rain that is needed and the hail that can change your year in a a heartbeat. That is why I like to be in control of what I'm doing. That doesn't make much sense b/c I am here b/c I gave up my control to the Army. Maybe that is a good thing for a spoiled kid like me. Anyway it is about over and I am hopefull to see a real rainstorm this year. I might even stand outside in the rain to enjoy it.

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