About the Site Owner/Developer
Ronnie grew up in Kansas and joined the United States Air Force in 1999. Being from Kansas, when no computer jobs were open for enlistment, he chose weather. He grew up watching thunderstorms roll across the western plains of Kansas and felt that fascination would provide for an interesting line of duty while serving his country. Ronnie has forecasted for locations across the United States, Japan, and Iraq. He also served in a stint as a tactical weather equipment maintainer.
In addition to forecasting weather and maintaining weather equipment, Ronnie served as the Detachment Chief at the Holloman Solar Observatory, Holloman Air Force Base, Nebraska. His duties included ensuring maintenance of the solar-optical telescope to assist in maintaining around-the-clock monitoring of the Sun for solar flares, eruptions, and other solar activity in support of NASA and the Department of Defense. This is where he fell in love with space weather.
Ronnie’s education includes Associate of Science degrees in Weather Technology and Human Resources, a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems with a focus on Web-based Networking, a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Information Security, and a Master of Science in Cybersecurity. He has used all of this knowledge to move forward with developing and maintaining the Amazing Aurora app.
About the Amazing Aurora App
The Amazing Aurora app is the result of months of collaboration amongst a group of aurora “chasing” enthusiasts. What started out as a discussion about collecting data to support helping members of a private group see what conditions were possible when photographing the aurora turned into a data collection project to see what values were actually occurring while watching aurora activity in the night skies near Anchorage, Alaska.
The first iteration of the app began as a block displayed on the Amazing Weather website run by Ronnie. One of the group members indicated that the information was very useful and encouraged Ronnie to consider developing an app to showcase the usefulness of this tool. In February 2021, the groundwork was laid to start development of the Amazing Aurora app. All extra free time was devoted into turning this concept into a reality. Days turned to weeks and, after just five long weeks, the Amazing Aurora hit the Google Play Store on March 20, 2021, and the Apple App Store on March 22, 2021. The future of aurora enthusiasm was forever changed!
About the Site
This blog is the result of the need for several things. First, it acts as the home and hub for all information related to the Amazing Aurora app. It also acts as a place for anyone who wishes to help build the community to post about their experiences in chasing and watching the aurora via the Chase Logs. And, lastly, it offers Ronnie a chance to combine his love of the aurora with his passion for forecasting to provide users in the Alaska area with his thoughts on the chances of seeing aurora activity in the state while taking weather and seeing conditions into account. Ronnie hopes you enjoy the app, will share in his awestruck appreciation of the beauty the aurora provides, and, if nothing else, join him on this journey into researching and blogging about the aurora, regardless of where in the world you reside.