Chasing a thunderstorm

In April last year, American Scott Olson touched down in Bangladesh and became the first known storm chaser in the country. On the other side of the world, back in Oklahoma in the US, Tim Vasquez and a team of meteorologists worked tirelessly to put together accurate forecasts to help Olson get into the thick of the country's notoriously elusive thunderstorms. Hailing from the Central Coast of California, Scott is an Internet entrepreneur with a background in physics and mathematics. He is a veteran of Great Plains storm chasing, back in the US. In April 2014, he became the first known storm chaser to tackle the storms of Bangladesh, a fertile delta region between India and Burma (Myanmar). Vasquez, a former Air Force meteorologist turned weather forecaster, was joined by Jon Finch, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Dodge City, Kansas, in providing back room support for Scott Olsen's mission.
Finch has developed a comprehensive climatology of Bangladesh storms, drawing upon scattered expertise from scientists in Bangladesh. "But there are still many gaps in our knowledge of the storms there," says Vasquez. "Both Jon and myself became the armchair forecast team for the Bangladesh expedition." Vasquez chronicles the team's journey in this year's first issue of Weatherwise magazine, delving deeper into this meteorological phenomenon that tends to wreak havoc on everything that crosses its path. He explains why Bangladesh, along with eastern India, gets these unusually violent thunder storms so often -- and why getting inside these storms are important to understand them. "The government mandate to warn the population is not quite in place because of practical and financial concerns," Vasquez explains.
"More chase activity and publicity surrounding the storms of Bangladesh, and a better ability to get people out of harm's way with lots of lead-time may be what is needed to channel awareness and international funds into the Bangladesh tornado problem and begin saving lives there."
Olsen and his team faced multiple hurdles during their expedition, including the country's blinding haze and poor road networks, as well as a lack of accurate data to predict the weather patterns. Vasquez is confident that Olson will not be the only person to journey to Bangladesh to learn more about their storms. "I have no doubt others will follow in his footsteps as Bangladesh tornadoes become seen as the ultimate challenge," Vasquez said.
Vasquez hopes the growing notoriety of these storms will lead to better warnings and heightened safety and security measures that will aid in preparation for the powerful storms. Indeed, the 2014 chase season in Bangladesh was a tremendous experience, says Vasquez. "For Jon and me, it laid important groundwork for Bangladesh forecast and chasing techniques. For Scott, the spontaneous travel itineraries in random places around the country provided the ultimate immersion in a foreign land, one that no Lonely Planet book can provide," according to bdnews24.com.