OK folks, here are the photos I took on my trip from Pennsylvania to Kansas yesterday. I have highlighted a few below, but I took a lot more than that, so check out the "ALL" links too. I took about 40 photos, 26 of which were good enough to upload.

TRIP SUMMARY:

6:55 AM and Henry, Jim and I are on the runway, getting ready to take off. It was snowing at the airport when we left State College, and it's snowing now. It was crowded at the airport and on the plane. We're "exit row" on both planes, all the way to Kansas and I don't like the fact that my exit door has some scratches and dents at the top, as if it's already been used. The flight attendant says that if we don't think we're capable of manning the exits, to let her know. I wonder if maybe she should.

I tell myself, this isn't so bad. It's really the effects on the inner ear that I fear; I've always had problems with ear and sinus infections, and I've already handed my bag off to be loaded under the plane, so I don't have the earplugs I bought especially for this trip.

HENRYS ON A PLANE!!
ACTUALLY, HENRY ON THE SHUTTLE IN KANSAS CITY

My watch barometer confirms what I have always said -- despite cabin pressure being "equalized", it's really not, in fact far from it. As the pilot prepared for takeoff, we jumped from 987 mb to 1007. It's snowing outside, so they're deicing the plane... then finally, we take off. Henry has given up his window seat and I'm occasionally snapping pictures or video out the window. There's nothing more fascinating for a meteorologist than seeing the workings of the atmosphere from above. Jim had the good side of the plane, a clear view of the sunrise and even a rainbow.

(CELL PHONE PIC)

But I caught a corona on the next flight out of Cincinnati, which was equally uneventful but the cabin pressure plunges to 858 mb (I'll graph this out later, it's interesting).

ARRIVAL IN KANSAS CITY (CELL PHONE PIC THRU DIRTY PLANE WINDOW)

12:48 PM and I just had lunch in Kansas. A McDonalds somewhere on the Kansas Turnpike. Man, there is a lot of nothing out here. More trees than I would have thought, though they seem lower and fatter than the trees in the East. Henry and I are already trying to eyeball the "Get Under The Girders" bridge from the famous storm chasing videos. I can certainly see how storm chasing could take up a lot of your time out here, the hills, even rolling, are rare so visibility would be for miles.

The other side of McDonalds the landscape changed, trees and farms disappeared and turned into fields and cattle. With the snow cover, it almost looked like the desert. Now we're within a stones throw (OK, 25 miles) of Wichita.

(CELL PHONE PIC)

3:44 PM: We've checked into the hotel and are now in the conference room at WeatherData, our Wichita office. They have a great lookout deck to the western sky, from which they say a Bald Eagle this morning (!) I'll be uploading pictures taken with my digital camera later tonight (landscapes and such -- not the bird, though I'll try to get ahold of that).

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