Everything last year went fine - except for the stupid monsoon itself. The 2009 monsoon was a very sporadic, and virtually non-existent when we were there. So the only thing we are hoping for is - monsoonal activity, as in thunderstorms! And remember - we chose this time (first two weeks of August) because statistically it's the most reliable time for experiencing the monsoon. Hmmm. The monsoon has been roaring for the last two weeks, so naturally it is now dying down - just as we are getting ready to depart. Dying down - but not dying!
Today was the first day of class, and we welcomed ten students in for day one - an all-day forecasting refresher and get-to-know-you session. Laptops handed out, sparkling new 4 Gb thumb drives ready for oodles of data. We have four current SJSU students, four new/incoming grad students, and two "guests", one from SFSU and one from U Illinois. We are very excited to welcome such a diversity of students on the trip! I am hoping they all join in the blog so that you can meet them. The class website is here if you want to follow along meteorologically.
Tomorrow will be an all-day instruments refresher. Maybe we can squeeze in a "learn matlab in 30 minutes" session after lunch :-)
And then on Thursday, after we toss all the instruments and luggage in the vans and/or trailer, it's blast off. San Jose-Barstow on day 1; Barstow-Flagstaff on day 2.
I'll post photos tomorrow!
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