I would like to tell a story about Julian. When I started my Forest Service career in Unity, Oregon Julian happened to be the Fire Lookout on Tablerock Lookout. I want to tell you what he did up there during his summers in the early 90's. Thunderstorm like to develop over the high desert around Burns, Oregon. He would watch these from his perch at 7700' in elevation at the lookout. Because of his high mountain top view he could see the shadow that the developing thunderstorm was casting down onto the earth. He would watch this shadow pass over a known point on the ground. He would track that shadow until it passed over another known point on the ground. When this happened he was able to figure out how fast the storm was moving and what direction it was headed. He would call the Dispatch center and tell them that a cell was developing and moving at a certain speed and on this bearing. He would then tell dispatch that at that current speed and bearing he expected it to reach the boundary of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest and then he would give an exact time... such-as 1542 or 3:42pm. He would then add if he thought it would be active at that point (putting down lightning). As a fire fighter listening to this you knew exactly where to go to put you in the location of the thunderstorm as soon as it got onto the Forest. As you we were driving to that location you would be eagerly awaiting updates from Julian over the radio. He would say things like... Ive got static on the am!... Ive got high trailing whispering virga! The cell just went active!... As you can imagine we were highly successful with Julian as a lookout. I dont know if he shared stories about life in the lookout tower with his family and friends but I thought I would here today. He was an absolute celebrity to us firefighters. Someone we held in extremely high regard. When he spoke we all wanted to hear what he had to say. He was such a kind hearted warm person but without any effort commanded the highest respect. The memories I have of him I keep close to my heart. The visits I had with him were a very special treat. I am a better person today because of Julian. I miss you to Lola.
Dan Story.
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