- Image & Article by Karen Gleason, Del Rio News Herald - 
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Community leaders should be ready to take advantage of opportunities for growth and improvement and the chance to turn “outsiders” into insiders, one transplanted Del Rioan told chamber of commerce members Wednesday.

Meteorologist Dan Schreiber told members of the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce he and his wife have found the perfect atmosphere in Del Rio.

Schreiber, a former U.S. Air Force meteorologist at Laughlin Air Force Base and owner and operator of Smalltown Weather, a local and regional weather service, spoke to chamber members during their monthly membership meeting at the Ramada Inn.

Schreiber, who currently is a firefighter for the city of Del Rio, first spoke to the group about meteorology and the three variables that create weather – pressure, temperature and air density.

But Schreiber spent the majority of his presentation talking about why Del Rio is so important to him and his wife.

He recounted how he and his wife had arrived in Del Rio shortly after they were married in 2015.

“My first interaction with somebody in Del Rio occurred when I walked into a real estate place called Texas Heritage (Real Estate) and was greeted by someone very friendlyby the name of Delia. She set the initial tone for our entire move to Del Rio,” Schreiber said.
Schreiber said Texas Heritage owner Cathy Wacaser also went above and beyond in her efforts to make him feel welcome here, providing advice about schools and doctors and neighborhoods.

“She made me feel excited about moving to Del Rio and made me feel already welcome in the community,” Schreiber said.

He said many other Del Rioans made him feel equally welcome and at home, adding he and his wife found “many passionate and professional” individuals as they settled into their new life here.

“Shauna and I began to invest more and more of our time, hearts and minds into the Del Rio community, and we began to notice that the arms of the community began to wrap around us, and we met a lot of wonderful people,” Schreiber said.

He said he and his daughter now have their favorite cashier at Mr Gatti’s and their favorite wait staff at River City Donuts, where they stop on Sunday mornings.

Schreiber said one of the reasons he left the military was because he and his wife realized “the community of Del Rio was a place we didn’t want to leave.”

“I came to realize the only difference between an outsider and an insider is about where Del Rio sits in our hearts and the investments we make in the community, physically, financially, with our time, how we call this place home,” Schreiber said.

“We’re in a strategic position to take advantage of huge opportunities sitting on our doorstep: Pilot production at Laughlin has increased substantially in the past year, bringing more and more families to the area. Given our current president’s position on border security, you can be assured in some way there’s going to be employment and occupations along the border. Oil fields and pipelines have increased local sales tax revenue lately. We definitely have a place on the map for a lot of different reasons right now,” Schreiber said.

He said this was not a time for community leaders “to kick back and relax and enjoy short-term success.”

“As a community, we must continue to take consistent and aggressive action to increase our attractiveness and our opportunities for insiders and outsiders alike. We must hold our municipal leaders and community servants to high standards, hold our schools to a bar no less than excellent, hold our employees accountable and responsible, but also with the utmost respect and remember that our personal image and character reflects enormously on our community. We must not be afraid of new ideas, expansion, taking the initiative to start something beneficial that this community has never seen before,” he said.

Schreiber also urged community leaders “to go the extra mile in support of good things for our community.”

“We must honor our customers and valuable citizens, reach across barriers of competition and politics to identify the immense opportunities for partnerships, mutual support, growth and success awaiting our town,” Schreiber said.

He said he is more excited than ever to be a part of the Del Rio community.

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A polar cold front moving through the region on Thursday resulted in increased moisture and cooler air across Central Texas early Friday morning. Numerous reports of sleet (also known as ice pellets) and graupel (tiny frozen-over snow pellets) were reported through Hill Country and the San Antonio/Austin metro area. Sleet was also observed in Del Rio and at Laughlin AFB.

Small hail (about pea-sized) was also reported in Del Rio briefly around 8 AM.

Small hail, graupel, and sleet, while similar in appearance, differ in the processes by which they are made. Hail is formed due to convective processes that cause a rain drop to be lifted back to a point where it freezes before falling again - often several times. While often found in thunderstorms, hail can occur without thunder and lightning.  Hail is often quite durable.  Graupel is formed  by supercooled water droplets which form over a snowflake and is often very brittle to touch, routinely taking the appearance of Styrofoam particles (opaque white). Sleet (ice pellets) is (are) formed when a falling water droplet re-freezes in a cold layer before falling to the ground. Sleet is often very small and clear. 

All of these types of precipitation may fall a surface temperatures above freezing. Often, however, sleet and graupel will fall when the freezing level (altitude where the air reaches 32°F/0°C) is relatively low to the ground. Hail may fall with high freezing levels as it is often convectively forced. 

For more information, contact Smalltown Weather at SmalltownWeather@gmail.com or (830) 313-6899

Meteorologist Dan Schreiber is scheduled to speak at the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce February meeting at the Ramada Sunblossom Room in Del Rio on Wednesday, February 13th, 2019 at 12 PM. 

Mr. Schreiber has worked in various fields of operational meteorology since 2012 and has been trusted by high-level local, state, and federal officials for his meteorological expertise. Dan has been recognized by the National Weather Service as an ambassador for community severe weather preparedness and is a member of the American Meteorological Society. He is also an outspoken advocate for the economic development and sustainability of the city of Del Rio, Texas.

To see more about Dan and Smalltown Weather, click here.