We closed the books on #SPOTTR 2026 this week. The students continue to be my strength and inspiration! @meteodan.bsky.social @eaps-spottr.bsky.social
Purdue EAPS SPOTTR
@eaps-spottr.bsky.social
Students of Purdue Observing Tornadic Thunderstorms for Research (SPOTTR): Severe Storms Field Work course. This account disseminates announcements related to the course and its activities, in near real-time from the field.
Our SPOTTR class returned to Purdue on 6 June after witnessing three tornadic storms and driving more than 3,000 miles. We collected RaXPol radar data on nearly every day of the trip. Thanks to NSF for supporting the participation of 14 students! #NSFFunded
I’m so grateful for taking SPOTTR. Not only did I learn new ways to forecast and how different forecasting can be between regions of the U.S., I got to see what I learned on campus in real life and how research can be done in the field. I will never forget this Summer!
Purdue EAPS SPOTTR@eaps-spottr.bsky.social · 2mo agoOur last day of SPOTTR featured a picture perfect RaXPol deployment on a slow-moving supercell with prolific lightning and a funnel cloud near Pickrell, NE! The week has flown by! 🌪️ 📷: @hail-cham.bsky.social
Our last day of SPOTTR featured a picture perfect RaXPol deployment on a slow-moving supercell with prolific lightning and a funnel cloud near Pickrell, NE! The week has flown by! 🌪️ 📷: @hail-cham.bsky.social
This outflow-dominant bookend supercell near Miller, SD was our storm du jour. While it didn’t produce any tornadoes, it did have a persistent wall cloud for the hour of our approach, and we collected some differential attenuation data for use in teaching!
What a day! We scanned a rotating wall cloud S of Presho, SD with RaXPol, but had to abandon it just before tornadogenesis because it was coming our way. Two PIPS were deployed in the storm’s path. We also saw the last few seconds of the Ideal, SD tornado as it spun down out of the rain. What a day!
Today’s western SD storms were a mistimed, disorganized mess, but we got a nice sunset mammatus show as a consolation prize!
Day 2: We targeted a supercell near Akron, CO and hooked a hook with RaXPol. Gustnadoes galore!
We saw a fake-nado today (dishrag updraft) near Olathe, KS and scanned it with RaXPol!
Day 1 provisional target: Nevada, MO. Watching for this OFB to lift back north and initiation in E KS. SPC mesoscale discussion 918 mirrors our thinking: www.spc.noaa.gov/products/md/...
#SPOTTR helped educate nearly 500 people about weather, tornado safety, and radar today! Thanks to Imagination Station in Lafayette, IN, Purdue College of Science, EAPS, OU ARRC, and, of course, NSF for their support!
Today’s the day, Indiana! Come meet RaXPol in person at Imagination Station in Lafayette from 10-3. Bring the kids! Weather balloon launches are planned at 11 am and 1 pm. Admission is FREE!
Purdue EAPS SPOTTR@eaps-spottr.bsky.social · 2mo agoAlso a Purdue-themed flyer!
The amazing @ameyanaik123.bsky.social has been teaching our SPOTTR students about RaXPol research and deployment drills for the last two days!
Here’s a WLFI-18 video news segment about our outreach event on Saturday, featuring RaXPol! www.wlfi.com/community/im...
Imagination Station teaching families about disaster and emergency preparedness up close
LAFAYETTE, Ind.(WLFI) - Imagination Station is helping kids and their families explore the world of disaster and emergency preparedness.
wlfi.com
Our #SPOTTR students got to meet RaXPol up close for the first time today! #NSFfunded @ameyanaik123.bsky.social
#SPOTTR veterans remember their Play-Doh supercells! We cut through them with a plastic knife to teach how radar virtually slices through a storm with a microwave beam, revealing its interior structure.
We would like to extend a special thank you to Skip Talbot for giving our #SPOTTR students a primer on safe storm observation today, and for sticking around for lunch with the group afterwards!
Time for the reveal! #SPOTTR 2026 course will feature OU’s RaXPol radar! This is the first time since 2019 that we’ve had a mobile radar come out. Thanks to NSF for sponsoring this educational deployment to Purdue! arrc.ou.edu/radar_raxpol...
Purdue EAPS SPOTTR@eaps-spottr.bsky.social · 5mo agoSPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Thanks to the National Science Foundation, #SPOTTR 2026 will feature a special MYSTERY GUEST. Can you guess who it is??? This year's application deadline is 10 days away!
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Thanks to the National Science Foundation, #SPOTTR 2026 will feature a special MYSTERY GUEST. Can you guess who it is??? This year's application deadline is 10 days away!
Purdue EAPS SPOTTR@eaps-spottr.bsky.social · 6mo agoApplications for #SPOTTR 2026 are officially open! Deadline: 3/13/26. Questions? Email or DM the instructors, @tornatrix.bsky.social and @meteodan.bsky.social. A PDF version of the flyer below can be found here: drive.google.com/file/d/19iLu...
![Summer 2026 www.eaps.purdue.edu
EAPS 43500: Severe Storms Field Work
Real Storms. Real Forecasting. Real Field Work.
[Storm photo]
Description
This 4-week summer course will focus on prediction, field observations, and case study analysis of severe storms. Students will receive instruction in severe storms forecasting, real-time radar interpretation, safe observation of severe storms, and careers in research meteorology.
Students will assist with research data collection using radiosondes, disdrometers, and portable weather stations.
Field work can be physically and mentally challenging. Students should expect to help deploy instruments and operate equipment in difficult conditions.
Students with valid U. S. or Canadian drivers’ licenses are expected to help drive university vehicles.
Details:
Meeting times: MTWRF 9:00-11:00 a.m. 18 May - 12 June 2026
Field trip dates: 30 May - 6 June 2026 (Students may be continually off campus.)
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: Junior or higher standing, plus instructor permission by application only.
Enrollment limited to 12 students.
Additional $250 fee required (refunded if field trip does not occur).
Transportation and lodging are provided for the trip. Students cover food and incidental expenses.
The instructors are committed to inclusive course design. Students requiring accommodations are encouraged to contact instructors as early as possible.
How to apply:
instructors your responses to the following questions:
Why do you want to participate in this course?
What will you contribute to this course?
What do you expect to learn?
How will this course benefit you in your future career?
Admissions decisions will be released by 21 March 2026.
If applications exceed available spots, priority will be given to students who have not previously taken this course.
Questions? Contact the instructors:
Robin Tanamachi,
rtanamachi@purdue.edu
Dan Dawson,
dandawson@purdue.edu
Watch videos from the 2025 class! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nmlxaatao6ckd3bjcnscz5a6/bafkreiec7kd53c7wxefri44nbpxq2upjp2uxzwxhvq56ygkrtuy6hrm3ay)
Congratulations to these two outstanding former #SPOTTR students!
Dr. Robin Tanamachi 🌪️@tornatrix.bsky.social · 6mo agoTwo of my students won awards at #AMS2026! Mia Smith (@maliyah-wx.bsky.social, current URA) won an Outstanding Student Poster award in the Student Conference. Lindsey Peterson (former URA) won 1st prize in the Societal Applications Symposium student poster competition. I'm super-proud of them both!
Applications for #SPOTTR 2026 are officially open! Deadline: 3/13/26. Questions? Email or DM the instructors, @tornatrix.bsky.social and @meteodan.bsky.social. A PDF version of the flyer below can be found here: drive.google.com/file/d/19iLu...
We know many of you are waiting for the application cycle to open for #SPOTTR 2026. We’re working out some last-minute adjustments to the budget and instrument suite (all good!). When applications open, you’ll read it here first! Watch this space!
My Education Conference talk (11.2), "First-generation students gain more from atmospheric science field work experience," coauthored by L. Parker, @meteodan.bsky.social, and M. Couillard, will be in Room 350D at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday. #AMS2026 @eaps-spottr.bsky.social ams.confex.com/ams/106ANNUA...
First-generation students gain more from atmospheric science field work experience
Abstract: We report updated participant survey findings from the Students of Pu...
ams.confex.com