Dr. Robin Tanamachi 🌪️

@tornatrix.bsky.social

2368 Followers 440 Following

Assoc. prof at Purdue specializing in severe wx & radar. Storm chaser since 2001. All opinions expressed here are solely mine and not my employer's. She/her

Screenshot of an article reading, "The surveys were designed to gauge participants’ self-evaluated skills and background knowledge relevant to the field campaign, as well as their motivation and career perspectives. We drew inspiration for some of our questions from those used by Tanamachi et al. (2020), but the final items and scales were tailored to the KPOP-MS context and were not formally validated through psychometric testing. A comprehensive list of survey questions is available in the supplemental material." The line "We drew inspiration for some of our questions from those used by Tanamachi et al. (2020)" is highlighted in yellow.
A dim orange sun shines through smoky skies over two lighthouse piers. A large outbound freighter ship (CSL Laurentien) passes between them.
Smoky skies over two lighthouse piers
Smoky skies over two piers with lighthouses
Screenshot of a passage from the linked article by Dr. Joel Widder, which reads: "The administration has learned from its 2025 legal defeats, and the OMB grantmaking rule is the clearest evidence of that adaptation. Where 2025’s grant terminations were struck down in court for being carried out through informal memos lacking reasoned explanation, the May 2026 OMB rule pursues the identical underlying objective — political control over which science gets funded — through the formal notice-and-comment rulemaking process, which if finalized would carry the force of law and be far more durable against legal challenge. This shift from executive fiat to codified regulation may prove to be the most consequential and hardest-to-reverse development of the entire eighteen-month period, precisely because it is designed to survive the courts that blocked its predecessors."
A graph showing several colorful curves. The main peak is around 9:00 a.m.
Towering cumulus cloud with pileus cap
A graph showing NEXRAD availability projected to decrease below 96% by 2032.
Table: How Faculty Spend Their Time Table with 7 columns and 8 rows. (column headers with buttons are sortable) R1/R2 Doctoral/Professional and Masters Baccalaureate and Special Focus Tenured/Tenure Track Nontenure Track Tenured/Tenure Track Nontenure Track Tenured/Tenure Track Nontenure Track Courses Taught 4.7 5.7 6 6.9 6.4 6.3 Weekly Time Spent Teaching 40% 56% 46% 57% 49% 55% Advising 12% 12% 12% 13% 14% 11% Research 27% 14% 18% 13% 17% 15% Service 22% 18% 24% 17% 21% 18% Total (Hours) 45 39.2 44.6 37.8 46.2 40.9
Oklahoma Mesonet meteogram showing a 90 mph wind gust around 11 pm on 4 July 2026
A tornado under a dark cloud with a gravel road in the foreground.
A dark cloud base with a funnel cloud on the left, and green rain curtains behind.
A group of people standing under a stormy sky
Skew-T diagram showing a moist adiabatic thermal profile and a strongly looping low-level hodograph.
Wall cloud above a fence and a grassy field
A cone tornado under a green rain shaft
Substack note by Dr. Sam Illingworth which reads: “We taught students to write like machines for a century, then panicked when machines started writing like students. The five-paragraph essay. The formulaic introduction. The hedging conclusion. We standardised writing until it became indistinguishable from generated text. AI didn’t kill student voice. We had already buried it under rubrics.
Screenshot of a web site that reads: Online Course: The Radar Equations 1h 30 m - 2 h Start Overview: Description The weather radar equations quantitatively describe the process by which an electromagnetic pulse departs a radar antenna, interacts with scatterers in the atmosphere, and then returns back to the radar. In this lesson, we derive the radar equations step by step, demystifying each term. Learners will gain a complete understanding of both versions of the radar equation – one version for a single target, and another version for distributed targets – and be able to describe how changes to each variable impact the amount of power the radar receives. These equations inform both the design and use of weather radars and their data. Objectives Define the terms in the radar equation for a single target Define the terms in the radar equation for distributed targets Anticipate how adjusting terms in the radar equation affects the power received Explain, step by step, how the two radar equations are derived Convert radar variables and equations between linear and logarithmic units Provide typical values of backscattering cross section for common scatterers Distinguish between several different variables that are commonly called “reflectivity” Published: May 20, 2026
Glossy yellow mailer that reads: LIBERAL SPENCER DEERY IS TAKING INDIANA THE WRONG WAY X RAISE YOUR PROPERTY TAXES X SIDING WITH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS X SELLING US OUT TO CHINA
A woman with long brown hair standing in front of a scientific poster.
Screenshot of a Substack post by Dr Sam Illingworth: Training GPT-4 consumed roughly 150 million litres of water. Microsoft's carbon emissions have risen 23% since 2020, driven almost entirely by AI infrastructure. We are using the most energy-intensive technology ever created to summarise emails and write LinkedIn posts. Every prompt has an environmental cost. Who is asking whether the output was worth it?
Photo of a “Libman tornado mop” for sale at a store.
A group of people standing in front of a radar
Animation showing a narrow echo spike sticking northwest, while real storms move northeast.
Skew-T and hodograph diagram
Radar animation of a typhoon spinning over an island, with a sector missing due to beam blockage.
Waning gibbous moon against a black sky. From NASA’s Dial-A-Moon web site.
Screenshot of a Substack post from Dr. Sam Illingworth that reads, “A child who grows up with AI answering every question will never learn the patience of not knowing. The discomfort of sitting with a question used to be developmental. You asked something. Nobody answered immediately. You sat with it. Sometimes the answer came. Sometimes it did not. Both were useful. Instant answers do not teach patience. They teach that all questions have solutions. Most of the important ones do not.”
Theatergoers looking toward a screen that reads, in part, “Science on Screen: Watching the Weather”
A woman pointing at a funnel cloud in a large vortex chamber.
A projected video showing a radar image in the top half and a grimacing woman in a blue raincoat in the bottom half.
RadarScope screenshot showing a yellow severe thunderstorm warning polygon around the poster’s location
NASA TV screenshot
Diagram of a front labeled “receding” and corresponding isodop pattern.
Black and white photo of shredded trees and wood debris scattered across a patch of land. A house with roof damage is visible in the background.
Black and white photo of a tornado behind a building.
A sign that reads, “A BUILDING”
Three people in a meeting hall
A thin tornado funnel under a green tinged sky
A cloud lit up orange by sunset over an office building
Satellite image showing clouds over much of central Illinois.
A woman standing in next to a poster titled, "Influence of QLCS Merger Types on the Frequency and Timing of Tornado Production"
Dear Colleagues, I hope this email finds you well. I’m writing to share an update regarding the NSF NCAR Undergraduate Leadership Workshop (ULW). The Undergraduate Leadership Workshop (ULW) will not run in 2026. This pause will allow us to thoughtfully update the program structure, curriculum, and develop new external partners so that ULW continues to provide a high-quality, impactful experience that meets the evolving needs of students and the university community. Why this change and what it means for you and your students Pausing ULW for 2026 allows us to: Dedicate focused time to integrate evaluation feedback and make meaningful curriculum updates that better support the university community Maintain high standards for student experience, engagement, and mentorship Strengthen program alignment and operational sustainability across our educational offerings As a result, faculty should not plan to nominate any students for ULW participation in summer 2026. Once we are ready to begin accepting applications again, we will post updated information on the ULW website and share announcements through UCAR Communications to ensure the community is fully informed. We will continue supporting student development through our many student programs and partnerships. Our focus remains on fostering undergraduate and graduate engagement across the broader EdEC portfolio, including NESSI, GVP, and our expanding set of professional development initiatives. Thank you for your continued partnership in supporting undergraduate leadership and development in the Earth system sciences. We appreciate your understanding as we take steps to strengthen ULW for the long term and look forward to working with you to make the 2027 program even more impactful. If you have questions, or would like to provide input into the design effort, please reach out to ulw@ucar.edu. We value your input and want to ensure this transition supports both students and partner faculty. Warm regards, …
Two clusters of yellow dots, one large and one small, surrounded by gray dots.
A nickel sitting amongst frozen graupel particles
Airport jet bridge entrance with two signs reading Group 3 and Group 4
A ballroom full of people standing.
A room full of people standing and clapping
Several people standing in front of an AMS styled wall and logo
Time lapse of rain and lightning over a city scape
A tabby cat in a laundry basket of blankets
A three panel cartoon of a cat swatting the number “2025” off a tabletop.