By Elaine Rassel
Thursday (Sept. 1, 2023) the Marcus Public Library had KTIV’s Chief Meteorologist, Ron Demers come and speak on his profession—weather! He had a power point presentation that explained somewhat we see when he is on television.
He opened his presentation with “Tornado Alley”. Iowa is included in this as well as surrounding states. He explained Doppler Radar and how important this was in detecting what is going to happen next as well as where it is located.
We were told about what to do when a tornado is detected. If you are in a trailer court that doesn’t have a shelter, go quickly and find one. At home, get inside and to the lowest level or under a sturdy object. Get away from windows. (I think of my grandpa that had a cave to go to. But, there was a tree for shade that if it blew down, it would be on top of the cave and those in it would be trapped. It never happened, but no one worried about this at the time!) Never try to outrun a tornado—you will lose. Material things can be replaced but your life cannot.
Lightening was another topic. We just had this at the Friday’s football game where the game was called for 30 minutes twice because of this. Get inside, stay away from trees and metal, stay away from windows. Don’t go outside to check out the weather. (Years ago, the Birch boy was in the field on a tractor when lightening struck and killed him.) He did mention that lightening could keep a light bulb going for (I didn’t get how many) years with its flash.
Yes, children as well as animals are affected by thunder and lightening. Animals are said to detect lightening and thunder before it reaches our ears and eyes. At this time, they and children need attention to take away this nervous reaction.
Did you know that flooding causes more deaths than any other weather phenomena? Stay in your car—to get out, you don’t know how deep or the rush of water coming at you. There was a picture of a car that had water up to the side window of a car that had come all of a sudden. Yes, your car could be literally swept off the road and end up in a field somewhere that has rushing water.
He talked on high winds and how it could lead to a worse weather storm. Ice storms were talked about as well as snowstorms. You just don’t want to be outside when the weather is this. If your car stalls, stay in it as you should always be prepared by having water and plenty of blankets just in case you would need them. Getting out of a car and trying to walk for help is dangerous and frost bite takes place within a matter of minutes. It could mean your death to get this cold.
There were maps on the presentation that showed different colors and what they meant as well as information that went along with each color. (Example: All green probably was shown where the next weather problem would be and would not cover anything but just the predicted area.)
He spoke on his work day. If a storm is predicted, he would stay on until the person coming in on the 3 o’clock shift arrives. He does like his job and it shows as he has been on it for many years!
There were many children that came up front for this program. And, they had some good questions that he answered. Even some adults had questions that were answered. All, in all, Ron Demers had a very interesting presentation.