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Getting to know our members!

Lori

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Just give out information that you are comfortable, I wouldn't worry about last names or your exact location of home and work. However, let us know a little about you, why you joined TW this time or the last time. A memorable weather experience and what section of TW you visit most and why.

I'll start....I joined in April of 2002, I was wanting to learn more about the 74' Outbreak. At the time I'd just turned 35, I had a 14 year old daughter that I was homeschooling, I was married to my high school sweetheart whom I'd just gotten back together after being separated for 5 months. He wanted to start our lives over so we moved into the middle of no-where in Clay County with the only neighbor being an arsonist-bootlegger (Clay County is dry but he never was!!).
I'd always known I was fascinated with weather but no one acted like it was normal nor could I find anyone as enthused as I, except for my Daddy.
TalkWeather was just the outlet I needed to hone my inner weather geek! John Oldshue had started the forum and was working at ABC 33/40 as a met. Back then social media such as Facebook and My Space hadn't taken over so a lot of TV mets and NWS mets posted information on TW.
Then it was decided to start meeting one another, I think the first meeting took place in Inverness or Birmingham.
After that we started having frequent meetings with good attendance, we even went to the movies to see The Day After Tomorrow and tour TV stations with the focus on the weather segment. Forum members started becoming my life-long friends as well as I was learning so much. That's when we started promoting Skywarn Storm Spotter classes, many of us took several of the first course and then the second course, almost all the classes were under Brian Peters.
Huntsville members had meetings too, visiting TV stations there and meeting with mets that posted on the forum as well. Huntsville has always had a good group of members some that are part of the behind scenes here.
For a while, the Mt Cheaha forum meeting became quite large and a wonderful tradition. Occurring usually during the AL/TN game (no worries, we had a TV or two) with a traditional forum members football game with a lot of smack talk that lasted till the next meeting. One of our faithful members to attend was the sweet, awesome and legendary J.B Elliot that would bring the equally sweet and legendary Molly.
Jack Watkins started being our grill master, cooking the most delicious grilled foods as we started meeting in the Pavilion.
The biggest meeting we ever had at Mt Cheaha that will live in infamy was when JB Elliot and Brian Peters attended in the 33/40 Storm Chasing van and David Neal and family came in the Fox6 Storm Tracker humvee. So many attended this meeting, many that would eventually become meteorologists in their careers. The group took pictures with both chaser vehicles parked among them. That will be something we will never see again but we all were just in weather geek heaven!!
In 2004 when ABC 33/40 held their first Storm Alert Extreme, Talkweather (via JO) was invited to have a booth. I printed out information about TalkWeather and promoted TW as best I could. When it came time for lunch, JB Elliot (whom I'd gotten close, as he was praying for my Daddy that had been quite sick a while, he'd check on him daily and had his SS class pray) asked if my friend and I would like to have lunch with him and James Spann, I thought my friend was going to flitter right there! LOL! We did and listened to their stories of the people they meet as they would tour schools and businesses. Then James asked me if I wanted to go on before his segment and promote the forum to the audience. OH YEAH!! What better exposure! But having to go on BEFORE SPANN??!! We were in the Civic Center ballroom, so there was a good bit of people there, I was so excited! I got up there and I promise I coined the phrase first, I asked; "How many of you are weather geeks?" That crowd knew exactly what I meant and all raised their hands!
By then JO had offered Daniel Lamb the forum and administrator title, Daniel in turn offered Jason McCay and I (we were all moderators at the time) co-administrator roles.
The most awkward and hilarious conversation we ever had was deciding what all bad/cuss words we wouldn't allow. I think we were all blushing in cyber space before that conversation ended!!
Move on a few years, Daniel became a met (he works in at the NWS in MS), Jason started a successful company and moved to California for a while (I think he and his family are back) and I was going through some personal crisis and needing some time off from my admin duties at TW.
Then Jack came into the picture with a great group of moderators such as Carrie and then help with administrative duties with Mike and Brandon on board for tech admin.
The most historic thread (and we still have it) was started by Michelle H in April of 2011....you all know which one I'm speaking....not to make light of that day but I tease Michelle all the time that she's not allowed to start a Severe Wx thread!!

Since starting TW, I became a Memaw 3x!! This March, I will celebrate my 50th birthday!! I've watched so many members grow up, have families and also dedicate their lives to weather and it thrills me as I see them succeed, I tell many of them, I feel like a proud Mama!! I've made some of the most awesome life-long friends that I treasure so much.

Okay, y'all don't have to go into so much detail or write a novel, I'm known for novels because I can't express myself without a million details!

I'm so thankful for Wes, for bringing back TW, for many of us it's home, just plain and simple, HOME! Thanks to our administrators Jack and Mike, our moderators Brent, Tyler and Stormstalker.
I hope this forum lasts forever in some form or fashion and I hope everyone that joins or just visits, feels welcome and learns something or just has a good time!!
 
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Lori

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Lori

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Bump!!
Come on y'all, tell us something about our awesome members!!
How long have you been on TW (counting the old days)
You're reason for joining.
A memorable weather experience.
Just whatever you feel like sharing!!
 

Justin Gibbs

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Hi all,
I've been absent for a while but saw Lori's post elsewhere. I originally joined TW in 2003-4, somewhere in that ballpark as an outlet for my budding weatherweenism. It is pretty cool to think back to that time and the folks that were active in the forums and where they are now. I actually learned of the undergrad meteorology program at South Alabama through Talkweather and met quite a few folks here that became part of my pretty closely knit group of friends I battled through the program with there.

Lots of memorable weather experiences, but when I think of Talkweather, and Alabama April 27, 2011 I think stands out the most. I was a Met Intern at NWS Las Vegas, and got off a midnight shift at 9 a.m. Pacific time, got something to eat and sat down to take a look at things "real quick." I had watched the big MCV cut through north Alabama from work, and knew it was going to be a big day. Obviously it was, and 12 or 13 hours later I stood up from my computer and got ready for my shift that night having not left my seat all day, stunned at the impact and coverage. I had always wondered what April 3, 1974 would have been like with our more modern equipment and I watched it play out firsthand through a part of the world I had been through, and known people in (especially around Huntsville) for a long time. Hope we don't ever see anything like that again!
 

daculaweather

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My name is Steve and I'm a weather weenie. :)

Ever since I was a kid I've loved and followed the weather. After going through a divorce in 2003, I started spending more time tracking the weather and ended up buying a weather station. As you may know, if you have a weather station, you have to have a website to show off all of your data, so I started that as well. I've been through 4 iterations for design and I'm done! I'm actually dialing back on pages to make it more manageable as it's become too much to keep up with.

At some point the Patch.com sites started showing up, and the editor for the Dacula Patch said I needed to start blogging about the weather. I thought ok... sounded like fun. The next thing you know I'm blogging to about 20 Patch sites around the metro Atlanta area. All of that lasted until Patch was bought out by AOL and things quickly went downhill. After some time to think about it, I decided to venture out on my own using my own blog site as well as Facebook.

So here I am. I consider myself a weather aggregator, as I find and display important weather stories and information from hundreds of credible sources as well as automated messages from EMWIN/Weatherwire to both FB and Twitter. I've managed to collect more than 10,000 followers on my North Georgia Weather Facebook page without ads or boosted posts, so I'm pretty happy with that!

My job is with a school system here in the Atlanta area managing technology. One thing I get to do is use our virtual field trip equipment and hold classes on weather safety with 4th grade kids. Schools can connect to me and I do the class over the wire! We have a lot of fun talking about weather. :)

I am a SKYWarn and Spotter Network storm spotter and I am also a NWS Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador. I've also been graced with a login to NWSChat so I can stay on top of breaking weather information. I am also in the process of installing a lightning detection system at my house and will hopefully have that working before the end of the month. I use two different computers to process all of my weather data and webcams and here's a blog post about those and what they do.

And I am probably older than most here, I'll be 62 next month. But trust me... I still know how to have fun! Other than weather, my main hobby is driving this Jeep looking thing at autocrosses. I've attended the SCCA National Championships in this car 4 times now and walked away with 4 - 3d place finishes... maybe this year. :)

Oh... I have two kids of my own, my son is almost 27 and daughter is 25 and I also have two step-daughters, 26 and 24. AND... I retire in two years. :) Can't wait! :)
 

Matt

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I joined the original forum September 2001. I was the 8th member. I have always had an interest in weather and politics. I know some of you are surprised to hear that, especially if you were on the other forum. Talkweather has been a great venue to learn more about weather and have many, many political discussions. I have enjoyed the forum over the years and most of the people as well.
 

wxlvr

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My name is Brad, and I'm a weather junkie! (Lol). I've been a member of Talkweather for many, many years (can't remember when I joined... early 2000's, I believe).

I live inTuscaloosa, but I travel about 120 days a year with my job. I mostly work in Alabama, but I occasionally travel around the US. For some reason, I have a knack of finding myself traveling "wherever the weather is".... for example, I was working in the same west Alabama location during the April 15 and April 27th tornadoes (made a fast dash home on the 15th but rode out the 27th out of town). I found myself in Winfield during the early 2016 (?? '15 or '16.. they all run together) snows, and I was also snowed in at work during "snowpocalypse". (If you wanna see crazy weather, follow me.. apparently)...

I'm so glad that the forum is up and running again. It looks great! Good to be back among some familiar faces!! (Hello old and new friends!)
 

Lori

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I'm enjoying getting reacquainted and learning new things!! Thank y'all!! Keep the stories coming!!
 

mike36

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I joined TW officially in 2009 I believe after lurking for several years. I became interested in the site when I first moved to Birmingham in shortly after graduating from college at Auburn. I moved to Atlanta in 2003 to pursue a job opportunity but have family in Alabama that I see quite a bit. My son attends AUM and my 13 year old daughter lives in Anniston, AL. My parents and brother also live in Montgomery. I work with an inner city social service agency in Atlanta and have recently moved to Cobb County.
 

Tyler Penland

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Name: Tyler
Age: Jeff Gordon's Car # + 1

Been a weather weenie for as long as I can remember (Katrina in middle school is the first big event I remember, but they say I was talking about the weather a lot even before then). Joined the old TW in January of 2010. Got a B.S. in Physics from the University of North Georgia in 2014 but haven't convinced myself to go back for meteorology yet (if I even could).

Currently living in the high country of NW NC near lovely Boone, NC at an elevation of 3,575ft where I get to enjoy considerably more snow than where I spent my first 23 years in Northeast Georgia.

I'm an amateur photographer and astronomer. Also run a FB page called Northeast Georgia Weather Information (haven't been posting a ton lately) and work for Now Habersham doing their forecasts (part of the reason my FB page is suffering). Work for Walmart for bill-paying money.

I'm also a big NASCAR fan. Go Gordon and Blaney!

I'm an avid hiker and love pretty much all things outdoors and science.

That about sums it up, I think. Any other questions just ask.
 

Lori

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Name: Tyler
Age: Jeff Gordon's Car # + 1

Been a weather weenie for as long as I can remember (Katrina in middle school is the first big event I remember, but they say I was talking about the weather a lot even before then). Joined the old TW in January of 2010. Got a B.S. in Physics from the University of North Georgia in 2014 but haven't convinced myself to go back for meteorology yet (if I even could).

Currently living in the high country of NW NC near lovely Boone, NC at an elevation of 3,575ft where I get to enjoy considerably more snow than where I spent my first 23 years in Northeast Georgia.

I'm an amateur photographer and astronomer. Also run a FB page called Northeast Georgia Weather Information (haven't been posting a ton lately) and work for Now Habersham doing their forecasts (part of the reason my FB page is suffering). Work for Walmart for bill-paying money.

I'm also a big NASCAR fan. Go Gordon and Blaney!

I'm an avid hiker and love pretty much all things outdoors and science.

That about sums it up, I think. Any other questions just ask.

You forgot you wrote an amazing book!! A beautiful story that incorporates the outbreak of 2011 with wonderful characters.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7052711.Tyler_Penland

We have another published author among us as well, perhaps she may tell a little about herself soon!!
 

PerryW

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Rest in Peace
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I'm a lifelong science nerd from Douglasville, Georgia who became fascinated by severe storms after a pre-dawn tornado wrecked my family's home when I was 12 (March 1974). Began researching meteorology, severe storms, and hurricanes with a passion afterwords. Became a Skywarn certified spotter in 1982. Have chased both hurricanes and tornadoes. Also enjoy the challenge of forecasting severe weather, and using what I've learned to give family and friends on social media a heads up when severe weather is a threat. Have also authored several historical weather articles on blogs, including one in 2011 at AlabamaWx http://www.alabamawx.com/?p=43454

I came onboard the internet in 2000 and discovered Talkweather a couple of years later; loved it immediately; especially my fellow southern weather enthusiasts (Lori, Jack, Justin, Brent, etc). Am a security officer by trade, but sadly my career came to a screeching halt two years ago with a cancer diagnosis; my second since 2008, but this was far more serious. A large. aggressive sarcoma in my thigh that didn't respond to chemotherapy cost me my entire left leg in May 2015. Was hopeful of beating cancer again, but learned it had spread to my lung and lower abdomen last October. Was deemed terminally ill by my doctors in November.. Cherishing every day the Lord blesses me with.
 

ARCC

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Andy Robinson in Coosa County aka ARCC.

I joined talkweather in late 2004 where I have discussed all from Hurricane Katrina to the snows of 2010 to April 27. I am a weather nerd that is married to an amazing woman for seven years. I have three crazy kids. I work for a local water authority as a operator. I enjoy everything from blacksmithing to beekeeping to gardening and taking things apart.
 

Kory

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Kory Pilet (pronounced like filet but with a P) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

I am a UA student/employee. Originally from New Orleans, decided to try something new for college and left the state of Louisiana. I am one of the more recent members joining in early 2014. Have a fascination with hurricanes/tornadoes....both products of where I live or have lived. Currently studying geology with a concentration in hydrology (water is the MOST important resource on our planet). Other things about me...I am a very outdoorsy person. Love camping, hiking, kayaking, etc. About the biggest Alabama fan you'll find (who wasn't born in Alabama).
 

locomusic01

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Howdy folks! My name's Shawn and I live in northeast Pennsylvania. I joined TW probably five or six years ago - actually stumbled across the old "strongest tornadoes in history" thread, I believe. Anyhow, I'm a weather weenie in general, but I particularly enjoy studying extreme weather. Some folks may remember my blog on historic tornado events and/or the "Significant Tornado Events" thread that existed on the old forum and became quite a repository of rare information and photos.

Unfortunately I haven't posted anything new in quite some time, as I went through a battle with lymphoma two years ago and, just as I got started on the road to recovery, my father was diagnosed with a very rare cancer called cholangiocarcinoma. So, the last few years haven't been much fun. I've still got several posts partially written, though, and I hope to be able to finish them eventually.

Outside of that, I work as a freelance writer and, until recently, also worked as a security officer. I'm a pretty big history nerd and a huge sports fan, especially the Dallas Cowboys and Kentucky Wildcats.
 

WesL

"Bill, I'm talkin' imminent rueage"
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Greetings all. I guess it is my turn to chime in on how and why I'm here at TW. Back in 3rd grade I was the kid the extended day teacher would position in front of the weather radio when the forecast called for storms. Little did she know she was fueling a passion for all things weather. I'm not sure what year I joined TW but I was much the lurker just sucking in all the information and learning as much as you could without a meteorology degree. I actually considered it for a while but mathematics has ALWAYS been my enemy.

I ended up working at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center as a co-op student in HS which later led to me running their membership and volunteer departments. From there I went to work for a defense contractor at a help desk helping deployed soldiers which led to several other jobs in the DoD/DHS consulting world. About 2 years ago I got smart and ended up taking a job with a privately owned company in Huntsville where I thankfully don't have to deal with the lack of a balanced budget or constant fear of a government shutdown. Strangely enough in my business intelligence role I do a lot of math so I should have just went for the met degree after all.

I've done some storm chasing over the years in Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida and Kansas. Had some successes mixed with some random hail damage :) Early last year I had some health issues pop up but I am planning on getting back out on the chase this spring.

Looking forward to learning more about you guys!
 
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