Time in Stanley

I absolutely loved my time in Stanley. My Stanley family is wonderful, and everybody is so unique. We have been very busy in Stanley, so busy that all the counties in District II have been extremely wet so rainfall enhancement has not been needed. Although, we have definitely stayed on our toes with all of the hail suppression missions. I have learned so much within these past few weeks, but the main thing is persistence and dedication. We have had several missions that stretched on into the night, one in particular was from sunset to sunrise and lasted 7 and 1/2 hours! When dealing with several rounds of storms, for such a long period of time, it can drain you mentally and physically. It is important to be focused and prepared. I also got to go on a mission. I got to see the beautiful structure of the thunderstorm, and watched it evolve as the planes seeded it. I have lots of pics that I will post soon. I am even working on a video of the mission. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever done. Hopefully I will have more opportunities to ride along on the missions. One of the most rewarding experiences thus far was when I ran a mission...by myself. I was preforming the duties of radar watch, when a cell quickly exploded over the MT/ND border. I ended up launching 4 planes in the air and operations ran smoothly. After an hour in, I had assistance...yet I was allowed to finish the mission that I began. I had lots of positive feedback, and the simple joy of overcoming the pressure of a stressful situation was a reward within itself. Overall this has been such an exciting and different job. I never knew that I would enjoy this aspect of meteorology so much. I wish there was a way I could do this job closer to home and on an annual bases. Since this is a 24hr operation it can wear you thin, yet isn't weather always ever changing? Most meteorology jobs have some type of "always on call" dedication.

If I was was working with a different group of people, I'm sure things would not be the same. On our downtime (which is very little), we have inter-tubed on the lake, grilled out, gone shopping, shot guns, watched movies, played games, built character, and simply had our own personal adventures. I am already halfway through the project and I have developed friendships and memories that will last a lifetime.

I am now currently in Bowman, ND and so far the weather hasn't been quite as busy as District II. So far I have gone ghost town touring, explored the enchanted highway, played putt-putt golf, and gone fishing. Tomorrow we are going to dig for dinosaurs! I am also with a completely different group of people, whom I am eager to get to know. My next stop is Bismarck, then back to my Stanley family. I miss my family at home and have vacation time set up for July 22-26. Ticket prices to fly home are outrageous, so I may have to wait till the end of project to travel home. Which is doable, because being busy and meeting new friends has kept my head clear. This is the time of my life, and I want to live it up while I can!

In Nodak...

After 3 days and over 1,800 miles I made my it to Bismarck, ND and completed ground school. I was taught the processes of cloud seeding, the history, and the economic benefits. There are 23 of us total working on the North Dakota Cloud Modification Project. I am one out of only two girls. There are six meteorologists and the rest are pilots and pilot interns. We start the project June 1, and will continue through August. We may begin the project with suspension on rainfall enhancement, but we will continue to seed for hail suppression. The reason behind possible suspension is that for the past couple of weeks several storms have moved through our seeding districts dumping rain and leaving the areas fairly wet.

I'm so excited to get started on this project. I really feel as though I'm part of something big. I will personally be responsible for keeping a detailed log of the entire operation. I will also assist the radar meteorologist in making valuable decisions on which storms to seed, which planes to launch, and where to place the planes within the storm. I will communicate via walkie-talkies to each plane. This will be the interesting part because I'm the only one from the South and nobody can understand what I'm saying. I'm most excited about getting to fly in the planes through the storms and viewing the storm's structure and effects of seeding. Once I rotate back to Bismarck I will be one of the lead forecasters and conduct a daily weather briefing for the entire team.

It is extremely different this far North compared to the South. Most people instantly discover that I'm not a local. Most northerners have never heard of eating crawfish, turnip greens and the existence of dry counties and buggies. Also, I have discovered that my sense of humor is not the same as theirs. Nobody gets my jokes. Ha, but eventually I'm sure I will fit in or they will learn to embrace my differences.

The temperatures here have been mild and comfortable. Yesterday it even reached 90 and it felt like home. I even received a slight sunburn. So far, there has only been one day that I had to dress warm because the temp remained in the 50s, and there was sustained winds at 40mph with gusts even greater! Since the geography is so flat, it allows the wind to ramp up once it gets going. It also amazes me that it does not get dark until 10:00!

Tomorrow I move to Stanley, ND, and I'm ready to get out of a hotel and more settled in. I'm also in need for a more functional kitchen so I can make some sweet tea! Stanley is much smaller than Bismarck with a population of only around 1,200. Also, the rumor is that the house I'm staying at has no Internet or cable. Hopefully we will be busy with the project, but downtime looks like games, movies, and outdoor activities are what's in store. I am currently reading Emily Giffin's series and it is awesome. Hopefully I can keep you up to date with pictures and adventures. My latest adventure was: at the beginning of Day 2 of ground school I managed to lose my keys to my car. I had to get my 2nd pair FedEx from Bama which I received 3 days later. It could have been worse, I guess.

Also here is the link to my newest resume tape: http://www.trailheadproductions.com/tvreels/ldailey.htm

X-Ray

Here's what's going on!

Here's what's going on in the life of Leah Dailey. I've been job searching within the past 6 months or so. It mainly has been pretty slow go. Although, I recently accepted a summer internship position to preform research on cloud seeding in North Dakota. I leave May 21 and attend ground school the 24-26. I'm very excited and nervous at the same time. If you're not familiar with cloud seeding, it is the process of dispensing silver iodide into the clouds to modify the weather.This is done mainly to enhance precipitation, yet you can also change the type of precipitation. This method is very important to avid farming areas that can be prone to drought. You can dispense the silver iodide through airplanes, small rockets, or ground dispensers. We will mainly be using airplanes. I only know the main processes of cloud seeding so I'm excited to learn more about this technology.

Even though cloud seeding has been around since the 40s, it is fairly new in the fact that much is yet to be learned. I will be working and living with a team of researchers for 3 months while working on this project. I have never been to North Dakota, so this will be a whole new experience for me. I will rotate between Stanley, Bowman, and Bismarck. Maybe this can open a whole new set of doors for me in meteorology.

I still plan to pursue my dream of becoming a Broadcast Meteorologist. I have recently been recording shows and am getting a new resume tape professionally made. This is one of my latest shows at ABC 33/40 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxE5DRcE-co . Towards the end of the summer, and during my last few weeks in North Dakota I will start the job search again. Hopefully in a whole new way. Keep an eye out here for interesting updates and happenings in North Dakota.

Updated Version of Resume Tape

I added a more recent show to my resume tape to keep it fresh. Still on the job hunt...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQy0wWG4HpQ

New Resume Tape

Check out my new resume tape.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLVlr0NXgDI

Storm of the Century:Band Battle 2009

Check out this commercial I produced for Storm of the Century: Band Battle 2009.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cicGvGCp_1s


Come on out and support Mississippi State National Weather Association and the Humane Society for Oktibbeha County and Lowndes County.

Easter Weekend