This is Part 9 of Cracked.com’s series that highlights unbelievable photographs untouched by Photoshop. As usual, they are remarkable. My weather friends will certainly appreciate #15 - the very cool wavy cloud structure that is now being called “undulatus asperatus.”

(via: Dr. Aaron Kennedy)

Arata Yamamoto, reporting for NBC News in Tokyo, on the incredible story of 16-year-old Misaki Murakami’s soccer ball. The soccer ball was a gift that Murakami received from his class when he had to change schools seven years ago. The ball was found washed ashore in Alaska, over a year after the devastating tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011.

Japan’s Kyodo news agency said Murakami had been at home at the time of the tsunami disaster in March 2011 but managed to escape the waves by running to higher ground with his pet dog.

His family lost everything, including their home, and are currently living in a temporary housing provided by the local government.

Murakami told the news agency Sunday that he had been searching for his family’s belongings, but that until the ball was found he had had no luck.

It is amazing the forms in which hope chooses to present itself.

Another spot-on assessment by Dr. Chuck Doswell:

In my experiences here in Norman, the politicians seemed distinctly uninterested in taking full advantage of the numerous subject matter experts in the university and the Norman Weather Center.  Similarly, it seems many of those experts have little interest in contributing to the improvement of the community’s preparations for storm hazards.  That this is the case here in Norman seems incredible to me.  How can we presume to lecture to others about what to do to prepare for storms, when our own community is not a shining example of what can and should be done?  Is Norman truly storm ready?  I don’t think so!  That should be an embarrassment to everyone.

Last December, the National Weather Center hosted a workshop entitled, “Weather Ready Nation: A Vital Conversation.” The stated goal of that workshop was:

Initiate a national conversation among the user, service and science (physical and social) communities, including key stakeholders and America’s weather enterprise, to identify, prioritize, and set in motion actions to improve the nation’s resiliency against severe weather, especially tornadoes, to protect lives and property.

That a city with arguably the highest concentration of atmospheric scientists (academic and research), private weather corporations, and knowledgeable citizenry has proven itself so woefully unprepared is unacceptable. That is especially true considering the impetus for their confederation was the devastating Moore tornado of May 3, 1999. For that community to be so presumptuous as to tell the rest of the nation how to be “storm ready” is laughable. I’ve already pissed off colleagues for saying so, but when I hear terms like “storm ready” or “weather ready”, my political bullshit meter is triggered.

As Fenway Park celebrates its 100-year anniversary, many have referenced the first game played between the Boston Red Sox and New York Highlanders. Keith Olbermann offers an interesting historical look at the naming of the New York franchise and why the monicker Highlanders isn’t entirely accurate:

I thought we had cleared this up yesterday, but evidently not. Now my old friend Joe Buck has repeated a mistake that has unfortunately attained the aura of official history. Simply put, when the Boston Red Sox opened Fenway Park 100 years ago Friday, the faithful would have called the visiting team “The New York Yankees” – not “The New York Highlanders” (we’ll leave out any more troublesome things they might’ve called them).

27 World Series titles and 40 AL Pennants by any other name …¹

Posted without comment.

Zach Carter, The Huffington Post:

Bank of America is suing itself for foreclosure.

[…]

… in Florida’s Palm Beach County alone, Bank of America has sued itself for foreclosure 11 times since late March

Numbers 2, 4, 16, 17, and 20 really piss me off.

Morgan Clendaniel, Co.EXIST, in an infographic that describes the insane economics tied to the failed “war on drugs”:

Across the board, we have spent $33 billion on public service announcements to get kids not to smoke pot since 1969 and the rate of 12th graders who use marijuana is exactly the same as it was before we spent those billions.

Mary Niederberger, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

By all accounts, Annie Clark, 7, a first-grader at Wilson Christian Academy in West Mifflin, is a hard-working and determined student who makes a point of learning from her mistakes and strives for perfection in her work.

So on the surface, it should come as no surprise that she won a national handwriting award from the Zaner-Bloser language arts and reading company. That is, of course, if you didn’t know that she was born with no hands.

I’ll try to remember Annie the next time I bitch about something being tough.

I do wonder if she is for hire. My handwriting is awful.

In 5th grade, I was enrolled in my school’s version of an advanced/gifted program.¹ As part of this program, we would attend an off-campus class one or two days a week to study fun and difficult topics.

The morning of April 19, 1995 was like any other trip to class. That Wednesday, we arrived a few minutes prior to 9:00 a.m., eager to learn about clipper ships. We entered the classroom to find the television tuned to some morning show. The thought of watching television at school is rather appealing to children. Alas, our excitement was tempered by the realization that our teacher had prepared an educational video and simply hadn’t inserted the VHS tape yet.²

As we bemoaned the thought of another boring video, the distant sound of a boom reverberated within the classroom. As if by reflex, I distinctly remember looking up at the clock - logging the moment in my mind - 9:02 a.m. Students buzzed at the noise. What was it? The teacher had forgotten our video by this time, and it wasn’t soon after that the local news broke in on the television and answered our question.

As the news showed the smoking remains of some building, we stood with mouths agape - teacher and students alike. The uncertainty of what happened was elucidated in the following hours. We learned that a bomb had detonated and many people were hurt. It was hard for eleven-year-olds to fully comprehend. I am thankful to this day that the teacher decided to watch the coverage and talk with us as it happened. That no doubt helped us cope with the destruction we weren’t supposed to have seen.

As we returned to our school that day, the principal intercepted us before we were allowed back into class. He told us that we shouldn’t tell the others what we had seen. He explained that several of our classmates’ parents were hurt, killed, or missing and that they hadn’t been notified yet. That was a long day. I was so happy to return home to my mother’s embrace.

That was 17 years ago and that building was the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The bomb was placed by Timothy McVeigh, having conspired with Terry Nichols and others. The damage exceeded $600 million, 680 were injured, and 168 were killed. Of those 168, 19 were under the age of six. Among the 19, one in particular resonated with me that day - one-year-old Baylee Almon.

No picture better captured the sadness of that day and encapsulated what was lost. Every year I think of Baylee and wonder what she might have accomplished if it were not for this act of terrorism. Seventeen years later, I envision Baylee excitedly prepping for prom and planning what classes she would take during her first year of college in the fall. I am reminded of all of the great things I have been fortunate enough to experience since April 19, 1995 and how those 168 were robbed of something similar. Therein lies the true tragedy.

It is hard to imagine that seventeen years have passed. However, there is no need to remind Oklahomans to “never forget.” I assure you that no amount of time will remove the indelible mark left by that bomb. It is my hope instead that the shared empathy and sense of community that people exhibited that day are never forgotten - never lost.

For my day job, I am a Ph.D. candidate in meteorology at the University of Oklahoma where I work as a graduate research assistant. Needless to say, I am a weather junkie. As spring blooms in the central plains, an important part of staying on top of severe weather is convenient, mobile access to radar data. My go-to app for some time has been Storm Spotter. It is developed by Ross Kimes - a senior meteorology major at the University of Oklahoma.

Having first used Storm Spotter in its early days, I have witnessed the continual dedication of Ross to improve his users’ experience. The result has been an increasingly polished mobile radar app, exemplified in the newly released major update. I have had the pleasure of beta-testing Storm Spotter 3.0 for several weeks. This past weekend offered a great opportunity to stress the app, with more than 140 tornado reports across Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Now that it is officially available in the App Store, I wanted to share the new features and offer my impressions of Storm Spotter 3.0.

###Visual Changes###

The new update features a simplified user interface, with all buttons now collected on the bottom of the screen. The immediate result is a more intuitive layout with an added emphasis on the map itself. This is extremely important on the iPhone, where screen real estate is limited.

The data button now turns red to indicate active warnings. The warnings list is no longer only sorted by state. Instead, users can view warnings by time, distance from radar, or distance from user. I am glad this was changed because when I am tracking live storms - such as this past weekend - I want to see the latest warnings and those closest to my radar of interest. Selecting a warning will zoom to the nearest radar.

Warning polygons are now more visually prominent and stable. In previous versions, the polygons would disappear when panning and zooming the map. Now they remain persistent on any view of the radar. One of my favorite new features is the custom annotation that pops up on warning polygons (as seen in the image above). Selecting the annotation button will display the accompanying warning text directly on the map. This makes the entire process more efficient than in past releases where text was in a separate list.

In Storm Spotter 2.3.1, the radar data selection was chosen via a long, clunky list. Choosing between reflectivity and velocity could be rather cumbersome. Now in version 3.0, the radar list is presented in a friendly grid. This makes jumping between products much faster, often requiring only two simple taps. To make things even simpler, the app settings were pared down to remove many unused options.

My favorite way to view radar in Storm Spotter 3.0 is in full-screen mode. To enter this mode, the user simply taps on the screen for a quick second. In order to exit full screen, repeat the same procedure. I love this mode because the chrome and fluff goes away so that users can focus on what matter most - the gorgeous radar display. Below is an example of full-screen reflectivity on the iPad.

###Under-The-Hood Changes###

The first thing users will notice in Storm Spotter 3.0 is how much faster data loads. Previous versions would often load radar images slowly or stop updating in certain circumstances. Those bugs are gone in my testing, resulting in a more fluid experience when switching between radars.

The improved load speed is due in part to the incorporation of higher resolution Level 3 data in Storm Spotter 3.0. The app now contains 256 levels of data instead of the previous 21. In fact, it is the only app to combine Level 3 data with Google Maps.

Also of note is that Storm Spotter 3.0 now provides reflectivity and velocity data on four tilts instead of just the lowest tilt used in previous versions. The app now uses servers from AllisonHouse to provide faster and more reliable warning text and polygons. I have yet to have any issues receiving up-to-date warnings in version 3.0.

###Price### Storm Spotter is available in the App Store for $6.99. That’s a bargain considering that it is a universal app, with care given to optimizing layouts for the iPhone/iPod touch and the iPad.

###Impressions### The best way to relate my impressions with Storm Spotter 3.0 is to discuss a real-world experience. As I stated, a massive severe weather outbreak hit the central plains of the United States this past weekend. I live in one of the states affected by many of the tornadoes - Oklahoma. I was unable to storm chase and phone in reports myself, so I wanted the ability to remotely track the storms in order to keep my friends and family informed.

A large portion of last Saturday was spent using Storm Spotter 3.0. Warnings stayed up-to-date, images loaded fast, and radar data updated without issue. In short, the app got out of the way so that I could focus on the data itself. When you are dealing with a severe weather situation, that is invaluable. The experience was always good on Storm Spotter, but I find that version 3.0 is leaps and bounds ahead.

###Recommendation### If you love having access to fast, reliable, and mobile radar data, Storm Spotter 3.0 delivers. The app’s development is driven by a single person who will soon graduate with a degree in meteorology. That means he knows what scientists and enthusiasts find most relevant. More importantly, he listens to customer feedback and works to deliver an app that even novices will appreciate.

Based on my experience as a Storm Spotter customer for nearly two years, I feel confident that the app will continue grow and mature. Ross is already planning full AllisonHouse integration as well as incorporating dual-polarization radar data. A little birdie also told me that dBZ filtering may be on the near horizon.

For some time, RadarScope has been considered the de facto radar app for iOS devices. Given the breadth of features, increased stability, and lower entry price of $6.99, I think Storm Spotter 3.0 can serve as a reliable alternative. I recommend you give it a try this storm season - and beyond.

If you found this review helpful or have any comments, feel free to follow me on twitter or send an email.