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Luce keeps his
weather eyes open
EVERYDAY PEOPLE
John Luce
has spent the past 18 years watching the skies,
not for UFOs or other celestial events, but for
incoming severe weather that may put the
residents of the Brainerd area in danger.
Luce, a recently retired engineer with Widseth
Smith Nolting, is one of 90 members of the
Brainerd Area Amateur Radio Club. Using ham
radios, GPS units and their eyes, club members
act as weather spotters - relaying information
to the National Weather Service as storms roll
through.
But it's been a slow year for the club, Luce
said, as the Brainerd area - which for the club
stretches from Bemidji to Little Falls and
Wadena to Aitkin - has seen little in the way of
severe weather.
"Bad weather has basically skirted us
this year," Luce said. This year is the first
year in many years, perhaps 30, that there
hasn't been a tornado or tornado warning by
August, he said. "We've just had no activity.
This is the first time in a long time we haven't
had a tornado in the area and been called out."
Luce, 66, who lives between Nisswa and Breezy
Point, said he's always been interested in
weather. His parents were teachers and would
often quiz him about types of clouds, he said.
He received his private pilot's license out of
college, and meteorology is a large part of
flying.
"When you are airborne and the weather is
airborne, it's a little bit different than when
you're on the ground," he said.
In fact, it's in the air that Luce said he's had
his most nervous moments involving the weather.
What might be forecast as light rain showers
could turn to hail, or ice up in the airplane.
"It's the scariest weather I've been in," Luce
said.
The worst weather he's ever seen in the Brainerd
area happened in 1991, when a tornado struck the
grounds at Brainerd International Raceway during
the Champion Auto Stores Show and Go event. The
tornado decimated a section of the 500-acre
facility, including some race cars.
John
Luce
Age: 66.
Hobbies outside of amateur radio:
General aviation, Brainerd Noon Rotary,
teaching in community education and
being a grandparent.
Family: Wife, Terri Monroe; two sons,
Andy, who is a pilot for Northwest
Airlines, and Fred, who is an air
traffic controller in the Air Force; and
five grandchildren.
Pets: He's raising a "granddog" - a
golden lab that used to belong to his
son but wasn't a city dog and was sent
to live with Luce. "Some people raise
their grandchildren, we raise our
granddog."
First thing he'd do if he won the
Powerball: "My wife is dying of cancer
and I really left behind any thoughts of
material possessions. I would donate it
to cancer research. I don't need a
penny."
Best advice given: From his father, who
told him as a teenager to, "be sincere,
be dependable."
Worst piece of advice given: "I have
intentionally forgot it, and that's the
truth."
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People feature, contact Kathi Nagorski
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or 855-5859. |
"It came across Gull Lake, from near the
Quarterdeck, and swept across BIR," Luce said.
"I didn't look that threatening, but we got
warnings out early. That was definitely the
worst one."
The most severe storm damage Luce has witnessed
in his life was in 1965, when a tornado ripped
through Fridley. At the time he worked for the
Minneapolis Police Reserve communications unit.
While on his way to Fridley, he got the call to
go back to Minneapolis and load up his van with
spare tires. The tornado had littered Fridley
streets with shattered glass, and emergency
personal were unable to go for more than a few
blocks without blowing a tire.
"Every store front window was shattered. Houses
were just blown apart," Luce said.
Weather spotters are important for the Brainerd
area because its location is such that Doppler
radar in Grand Forks and Fargo, N.D., Duluth and
Chanhassen doesn't properly cover the area
because of the curvature of the earth. It's the
Skywarn weather spotter's job to be outside
watching storms and relaying the information
back to the National Weather Service.
Using ham radios connected to GPS systems or at
base stations throughout the county, weather
spotters are in constant contact with the
National Weather Service. At any time during
severe weather, Luce said as many as 15 spotters
will be relaying information between themselves
and the National Weather Service.
"They really rely on people that can dedicate
time to that," Luce said. "It makes our service
in this area kind of key."
However, weather spotters are not storm chasers,
Luce said. Instead of trying to get into a
storm, spotters just want to view it.
"We want to be where we can see stuff and pass
that information on to everyone," he said.
MATT ERICKSON can be reached at
matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or
855-5857.
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