Wunderground Meteorologist Shaun Tanner

Last Updated: 5:55 PM GMT on November 19, 2009 — Last Comment: 6:42 AM GMT on November 22, 2009

	Not All Vegans Are Annoying

Posted by: shauntanner, 5:55 PM GMT on November 19, 2009

Okay, so this blog entry will not be entirely about meteorology. But it will actually have a environmental twist in regard to my life.

When searching for a college to go to for my freshman year, my father and I somehow stumbled upon a college in northern Wisconsin called Northland College. The college is located in a small town of only a few thousand people called Ashland. It is located directly on Lake Superior, and while I only spent one year there due to its high tuition cost, my stay had a profound impact on my life.

Northland College is pretty unique. This self-pronounced "environmental college" only had about 850 students enrolled during my freshman year and about half of those were very hard-core environmentalists. The other half are very well-informed environmentalists who would know how to survive if left stranded somewhere. To look at them, you would think they are the normal annoying hippy-type that you see in many large cities preaching how your lifestyle sucks and whatever they are doing is correct. The most amazing stat about this student body was about 75% was either vegetarian or vegan and most of the remaining percentage was the men's soccer team. I was a part of the latter group. In fact, during one of my first visits to the cafeteria I mistakenly thought the large bowl of tofu was chicken and promptly put it on my plate. What college eatery serves tofu! Upon eating it, I quickly spat it out and let out an audible groan.

My point in bringing all of this up is to let the world know that not all vegans are annoying. The students at this college were not the preachy-type who praise the benefits of a vegan diet one week only to abandon lettuce the following week in favor of a juicy T-bone steak. I remember one specific conversation I had with one of my female friends. I asked her simply one day while she was putting together some colorful salad, "Why are you a vegan?" Then I stepped back and waited for the obligatory explanation of how the cattle industry was destroying the land as well as poisoning our internal organs. But, much to my dismay, she said in response, "I just didn't like the taste of meat."

These young people walked the walk. I lived in a dorm room throughout the frigid winter with a heater that didn't work. Many other students, however, abandoned their cinder block prisons once snow began to fall in favor of customized snow caves built in the lightly wooded areas on the outskirts of campus.

When I was there, they just completed a new dorm that was only to be used by students for living. The unique thing about this dorm was that it was completely off the grid. Now remember, this was before sustainable living was cool or necessary. This dorm is surrounded by solar panels and a wind mill that supplies 100% of the power needed for the dorm. It also has compost toilets (not as bad as you think, they act just like "normal" toilets) and another compost heap that students use regularly. It is the perfect example of how to live sustainably.

I still keep in contact with a couple of the people I met up there. All are still glorious people, and most are doing something incredibly worthwhile. One is petitioning the government to stop the use of genetically-engineered food, another is working at an orphanage in Russia, another spent a summer cleaning up oxygen tanks that have littered the slopes of Mt. Everest, and yet another is investigating invasive species of insects on a military base in Minnesota.

It is enough to keep me inspired, enough to let me know that there are a few people worried about the planet and even fewer who are willing to do something about it. I am glad I got to meet and spend a year with them, and I am better off for it.

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	These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Posted by: shauntanner, 6:36 PM GMT on November 17, 2009

I was reflecting on what to write in today's blog while on the train this morning when my mind went very briefly to The Sound Of Music. We recently let my almost-3-year-old daughter watch the movie and I found it interesting she latched onto the song that has the lyrics "I am 16 going on 17" rather than the poppier songs like the title to this blog or "Doe, a dear". I hope that doesn't forebode her teenage years.Anyway, that brief respite gave me a good idea for t...

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Updated: 6:37 PM GMT on November 17, 2009

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	WunderCast Discussion

Posted by: shauntanner, 5:41 PM GMT on November 12, 2009

There are a couple of things I want to discuss that came up in the last blog regarding the WunderCast Competition.First, we decided to do the precipitation the way it is done for simplicity. Right now, participants put in a probability of precipitation from 0 to 100 for what they think will happen during that day. If it does rain, then the score is 100, if it doesn't then the score is a 0. The farther you were away from those numbers versus what you forecast, the...

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	WunderCast Suggestions

Posted by: shauntanner, 5:39 PM GMT on November 11, 2009

So I am thinking about restarting the WunderCast Competition again in December of January. If you have never heard of WunderCast, then let me explain. The WunderCast Competition is a battle royale forecasting contest where Weather Underground members forecast for various cities throughout the country. There are no prizes and members of any skill level can join and learn about weather and how to forecast. Scores are kept, but everybody who participates will learn...

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Updated: 6:17 PM GMT on November 11, 2009

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	Lesson: Mirage

Posted by: shauntanner, 6:14 PM GMT on November 10, 2009

We've all seen movies where some lost wandering is crawling on his hands and knees across a parched desert. With his last once of energy he raises his head to see something splendid. An oasis a mile ahead complete with a shimmering water, a lone palm tree, a reclining beach chair, and a margarita. Okay, so I made the chair and the drink up. Nonetheless, as the dehydrated wanderer runs to this oasis, he is mystified because he cannot seem to get any closer to it....