Autumn 2016 Atmospheric Circulation Newsletter of the Atmospheric Sciences Department

OLYMPEX: Testing a NASA Satellite on the Olympic Peninsula by Dr. Lynn McMurdie and Professor Robert A. Houze, Jr. It’s early October 2015, and NASA is project to test a new precipitation measuring satellite, and scientists from the Departments of Atmospheric Sciences and Civil and Environmental Engineering are leading this massive adventure. There is no need for earplugs to protect your ears from the roar of rockets or a countdown: the Olympic Mountains Experiment (OLYMPEX) is being launched by a mule train. mountains and nearby ocean. Highly specialized radars were set up at several locations on both sides of the mountains. For over three years, Houze and Center, McMurdie worked with NASA were planned and colleagues, wrote plans, explored directed. Often 2-3 air craft were in the air at instruments in remote areas, radars on the coast and inland, and locations for aircraft patterns. McMurdie directed a staging. Two aircraft stationed at McChord team of graduate student forecasters, who Mules carry OLYMPEX instruments through wilderness to the high terrain of the Olympic Mts. were crucial for deciding the exact times to the storms with cloud instruments to measure launch the aircraft, operate radars and launch OLYMPEX occurred last fall and winter and the sizes and types of rain and snow particles. soundings. The lead graduate student forecaster was led by Prof. Houze and Dr. McMurdie of To realize this plan, McMurdie and Houze was Jennifer DeHart of the Department of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences. The developed relationships with numerous mission is to test how well the Global Precipitation organizations and agencies. In addition to out over the four specialized radars and ground Measurement (GPM) satellite (depicted) with several NASA groups (Goddard Space Flight instruments, which measured not only the two radars and a passive microwave radiometer Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, the Jet amounts of precipitation but also the types aboard can measure rain and snow over both Propulsion Laboratory, and the Armstrong ocean and mountains. The Olympic Peninsula Flight Facility), they worked with the air and how these particles were falling to is an ideal location for this project the National Park Service, the the ground. The radars operated at a variety as it is home to a temperate rain Quinault Indian Nation, of frequencies, bracketing the frequencies of forest, with old growth trees Environment Canada, the the satellite radars. Three of these radars were covered in lichen and moss National Weather Service, set up on the wet southwestern side of the and lies in the track of the the Center for Severe Olympic Mountains and a 4th was installed Northern Hemisphere’s Weather Research, the National Center for OLYMPEX — Continued on page 8 winter storms. Wet weather Atmospheric Research, systems repeatedly traveling the U.S. Forest Service, and the Universities of the coastal region and into Utah, Illinois, Michigan, the Olympic Mountains are a Colorado State, Pennsylvania perfect natural laboratory for the State, Medellin (Colombia), experiment. The Peninsula receives Texas A&M, and Washington. annual precipitation ranging from over 100 Participants in OLYMPEX came from all these inches to about 180 inches in the mountainous organizations and from four countries. Over interior. The Olympic National Park covers much 100 individual participants played important of the higher terrain and is a designated national roles in OLYMPEX. wilderness area; thus, the need for mules to carry The Department of Atmospheric Sciences instruments and gear into the most remote sites. was the nerve center of the project. The 6th The NASA S-band NPOL (left) and Ka/Ku But much more than that is needed. band D3R (right) dual-polarization Doppler was partially taken over by the project. radars installed on Quinault Nation land near missions over and into the clouds enveloping the McMurdie and Houze directed this Operations Taholah, WA, in OLYMPEX.

1 Department of Atmospheric Sciences

Alumni News Brad Carl (‘11, B.S.) has been hired as the Rex Thompson (‘09, B.S.) was part of this Bob Berkovitz (‘69, B.S.) continues to new weekend evening meteorologist at FOX 23 fall’s inaugural class of the UW’s new M.S. in volunteer his time at the Arizona Science in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Data Science program. He has been working Center in Phoenix since his retirement in Steven Cavallo (‘09, Ph.D.) was awarded at DSG Solutions, a small environmental 2005 from a career as a meteorologist with the an ONR (Office of Naval Research) Young consulting firm in Shoreline, WA. Rex also National Weather Service. Bob is the Program investigator Program (YIP) award, one of only serves as the Chair of the Puget Sound Chapter Chair for the Tempe, AZ chapter of NARFE two in the atmospheric sciences for 2016. Steven of the Air & Waste Management Association. (National Active and Retired Federal Employee is an Assistant Professor at the University of Association). Oklahoma’s School of Meteorology. H.W. “Buzz” Bernard (‘63, B.S.) released David Dempsey (‘85, Ph.D.) is currently Alumni Event at the AMS his newest novel, Cascadia, in July. He is serving a three-year term as Chair of the currently president of the Southeastern Writers Department of Earth & Climate sciences at San Plans are in the works for a department alumni Association. He resides in Roswell, Georgia, Francisco State University. dinner during the 2017 Annual Meeting of the with his wife, Christina, his grandson, Nicholas, Iona Dima-West (‘05, Ph.D.) is currently American Meteorological Society, taking place in and a fuzzy Shih Tzu named Stormy. You in London working for “Willis Re,” as the January in Seattle. Stay tuned for more information can visit Buzz Bernard at his website: www. Divisional Director of their Catastrophe Model on the department’s home page NEWS sidebar buzzbernard.com. Research and Evaluation team. or http://www.atmos.washington.edu/outreach/ Kyle E. Fitch and Christopher D. Miller news.shtml. To ensure your email invitation is (both ‘06, B.S.), both Active Duty Weather sent to your current address, you can update your Officers, were selected to promote to the rank contact information by going to www.washington. of Major this year. Kyle is currently stationed edu/alumni/subscribe/address-change.html or at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio and contacting the department at [email protected]. Chris is at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado. Harry H. Hendon, III (‘85, Ph.D.) was elected as a fellow in the 2016 class of the Robert A. Houze, Jr. American Geophysical Union. Symposium at the AMS Charanjit Pabla (‘12, B.S.) received his M.S. in Atmospheric Science (with an emphasis At the 2017 Annual Meeting in January, the in Dual-Polarimetric Radar and Precipitation American Meteorological Society will be modeling) at the University of Alabama in hosting the Robert A. Houze, Jr. Symposium Huntsville. He is currently an Operational to celebrate and honor Professor Houze Meteorologist/Data Scientist at the Commodity for his 45-year career as a researcher and Weather Group, a private energy forecasting educator and his seminal contributions to the firm based near Washington, D.C. fields of mesoscale and tropical meteorology. Ben Schott (‘02, B.S.) was recently The symposium will take place on Tuesday, selected to be the next Meteorologist in January 24, 2017. For more information, Charge of the National Weather Service office visit https://ams.confex.com/ams/97Annual/ Steven Businger (‘86, Ph.D.) was appointed in Sullivan/Milwaukee, WI after two years webprogram/HOUZESYMP.html. Chair of the Department of Atmospheric as the Meteorologist in Charge of the NWS Sciences at the University of Hawaii in January Binghamton, NY office. Ben has served over 14 of 2016. years with the NWS.

good example is the Autumn Social, which they of Atmospheric Sciences, help us reach our Chair’s Column planned and managed together in South Campus goals with your generous end-of-year gifts. ’ve had the pleasure of writing this column Center, without ever having previously attended Our funding goals include increasing support Ifor the past 4 years, but this one will in fact one of our Autumn Social gatherings! We bid for graduate students, diversity, our faculty, be my last. My term as chair ends July 2017 farewell to former Chair’s Assistant Debbie and our facility. I note that another thing I will and, although I will miss aspects of this job Wolf in August, who served the department miss when I am no longer chair is writing those that are very rewarding, like advocating for and with dedication and distinction for over 25 thank-you notes for your donations, but I still realizing positive change for the department, I years. Thank you, Debbie, and best wishes in have seven months to go, so help me finish this look forward to flexing my teaching muscles retirement! job with a bang! Greg Hakim more fully and spending more time with my During the past year we also had what is graduate students. I thank my colleagues for perhaps our most difficult faculty search in their patience and cooperation during my time a generation or longer, and it ended without as chair, and my graduate students for rising to making a hire. I refused to call it a “failed” the challenge with the added independence that search, because it reminded me that we are a this term of service required. relatively small, collaborative department, and We have a lot to celebrate from the past cooperation is an essential part of what makes year, such as Professor Dennis Hartmann’s this department great. We work in a time of election to the National Academy of Sciences, limited resources at the University, with no sign and watching the field operations for the this will change any time soon, so this search OLYMPEX project take place right in the ATG really forced us to think about investing for the building. We also celebrate a new Department future and making sure we are aligned in our Administrator, Jennifer Weiss, and Chair’s priorities. Assistant, Wanjiku Gitahi, who are both Finally, this would not be a Chair’s column providing fantastic service to the department. A without the annual reminder that you, Friends Greg Hakim behind the Fleagle desk.

2 Atmospheric Circulation From the Andes to the Jungle by Xiaojuan Liu, Graduate Student

never expected to travel in the Southern I Hemisphere. But all of a sudden, there I was: in Peru and a member of a team of 19 scientists that included geologists, biologists, hydrologists and geochemists, as well as a science journalist and a science photographer. The objective of our interdisciplinary team was to examine data to test the hypothesis that the western Amazon is the most biodiverse region on the planet because the rise of the Andes fractured the landscape, generating insurmountable ecological niches that allowed for accelerated species diversification. The purpose of our trip was to find the geological and biological data that could test this hypothesis. Our first destination was the Descaso-Yauri basin, a Miocene-age deposit on the Altiplano. Although it is called a basin, it is actually at an elevation of about 3950 meters. It is therefore very dry. The annual rainfall is only 50 mm compared to 940 mm of Seattle. But 10 million years ago or so, it was much wetter, as evidenced by a huge fossilized tree trunk of at least 9 m wide lying in the backyard of a local cattle ranch, 4000 m up on Peru’s Altiplano. A tree of this type and size does not live on The Andes-Amazon Geogenomics group, taken at Abra Pirhuayani, a high mountain pass at an the Andean Altiplano today; nor is it found at elevation of 4725 m in the Andes of Peru. similar altitudes elsewhere on the planet today. Photo credit: Jason Houston This and other evidence suggests that 10 million years ago the Andean Altiplano was much lower Once we reached 1500 m, we boarded a bus for snakes, including the bushmaster, the most and wetter than it is today. and continued to descend for another half a day poisonous snake in the Manu National Park The biggest challenge traveling in the high to Atalaya, a small village comprised of several where Cocha Cashu resides. They don’t usually Andes is altitude sickness. Nausea, headache, rough wooden houses on the upper Madre de attack people, but they don’t mind doing so when and difficulty breathing are very common when Dios River. From there, we boarded two river being stepped on accidentally. So the top rule lowlanders go to high elevation. Local people canoes and headed down the Madre de Dios living in Cocha Cashu is always wearing rain use coca leaves to alleviate the symptoms of River for a day, and then up Manu River for boots when walking on the trail. Rule Number high altitude: you can make tea from the coca another day until we reached our final stop — 2 is always shaking your boots before putting leaves, or chew coca leaves directly. The best the Cocha Cashu Biological Station deep in the them on; you never know whether a snake or way to avoid the symptoms of high altitude intact lowland tropical rainforest. Getting its a bullet ant would crawl in for a nap. Although sickness, however, is to go to high elevation name from a Cashew-shape lake nearby, Cocha courageous enough to swim in the lake that has slowly. But this is a luxury we didn’t have. Cashu is the world’s only permanent tropical caimans, which is allowed during the day only, Just as I was getting adjusted to the thin air, ecological station that is minimally impacted by in fear of the snakes, I never dared to walk alone we left for our second destination: the Wayqecha humans. To keep the site pristine, the Peruvian at night. cloud forest. Spanning from 3010 m to 2000 government has put very strict regulations Despite all those fears, this was my favorite m, the Wayqecha cloud forest is one of the on who can visit the Station. To visit, you stop for our entire trip. The western Amazon world’s most important biodiversity hotspots. first need a special permit, which is given for where Cocha Cashu belongs is the world’s most The ecologist in our group told us there are scientific purposes only. You also need to have diverse region in terms of plants; it has over about 300 tree species in a single hectare here been vaccinated against yellow fever, tetanus 15,000 tree species. But trees are just part of compared to about 300 tree species in the and influenza, and pass a health check before the picture. It also has over 800 bird species, entire eastern . The staggering entering because indigenous people residing in representing 25% of all the birds known in South richness of the species became evident to us the area are susceptible to certain diseases. America and 10% of the world. It has 13 monkey as we descended from about 4000 m to about Living in Cocha Cashu was also a bit species in total, including the world’s smallest 1500 m following an old Incan trail. Within a challenging. The lake by which we set out tents monkey, pygmy marmoset. Nor is it short of vertical distance of only 2500 m, the vegetation is full of black caimans which showed up as big mammals, such as the peccaries, giant changed from grassland to trees draped in moss, numerous red dots with a flashlight at night. The otter, human-sized rodents, and even jaguars. and finally to a veritable jungle of lush ferns. dense giant trees in the forest may fall down on Speaking of jaguars, many tourist companies This astounding biodiversity is undoubtedly you at any time due to their shallow roots in claim to guide you to see the jaguars, but you linked to the steep slope of the Andes. The sharp the rich soil. There are also indigenous people really have to be very lucky to see them. On the gradient in altitude and hence temperature and close by who are known to be tall, strong and other hand, if you check the camera trap, they moisture creates an exceptional array of habitats unfriendly. But my biggest fear was the snakes. are almost everywhere, including the Cocha that suits a vast number of species. The damp and dark rainforest is a dreamland Cashu Station.

3 Department of Atmospheric Sciences From the Andes to the Jungle...continued Public Lectures he 2016 Robert Fleagle Endowed For 10 days, we traveled from the Andes to TLecture in Atmospheric Sciences the Amazon, spanning a total distance of over Policy was delivered on October 13, 2016, by 1000 miles, and over 15,000 vertical feet. This Cathleen Kelly, a Senior Fellow at the Center for is not a leisure trip at all. For most of the days, American Progress. Kelly’s lecture was entitled we had to get up at 5 am or even earlier. We “Tackling Climate Change Security Threats: A also had to carry all the equipment, food and Mounting Imperative for the Next President.” cookware. And we slept in tents, rustic lodges For more information on our lectures, please or hostels without heat or even light in the visit our lecture website at http://www.atmos. freezing days. But because of the stark contrast washington.edu/alumni.update/lectures.shtml. of the climates between now and 10 million Prof. Shang-Ping Xie, Scripps Institution of years ago and the astounding biodiversity we Oceanography at the University of California saw and experienced, both caused by the rise San Diego, visited the department as the of the Andes, this turned out to be the best trip I Graduate Students’ Distinguished Visiting have ever taken. Lecturer. Prof. Xie gave a public lecture on April 7, 2016 entitled “El Niño, and the Rise of the Pacific as Global Climate Pacemaker.” Right: Xiaojuan in the lowland tropical Amazon rainforest near Cocha Biological Station. Labs Unlocked n November 17, the College of the OEnvironment’s Labs Unlocked series featured the research of Michelle Tigchelaar, a post-doc in Prof. David Battisti’s lab, alongside Karl Lapo, a graduate student in Jessica Professor Dennis Hartmann Elected to NAS Lundquist’s lab. Their talk, titled “From Local by Snowpack to Global Food Security: Answering Professor Gregory Hakim Questions about a Changing Climate,” was part of the night’s theme of “Pathways to Climate Resilience.” The event also featured special members, and includes scientists who study guest Jeff Renner, as well as College of the the fluid and solid Earth as well as space and Environment faculty members Amy Snover and planetary sciences. Nick Bond. Jeff Renner (B.S.) and Nick Bond The NAS produces a peer-reviewed journal, (Ph.D.) are both Atmospheric Sciences alumni. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which is edited by the members. The primary public function of the NAS is to UW WxChallenge Forecasting produce unbiased reports to advise the US Team Has Another Successful government on scientific issues, and numerous UW ATMS faculty have been heavily engaged Season in this work. Professor Mike Wallace led a by study on “Surface Temperature Reconstructions Joe Zagrodnik, Graduate Student for the Past 2000 years” 2006. Professor Chris Bretherton led a study “A National Strategy he 2015-16 UW WxChallenge fore­ for Advancing Climate Modeling” 2012. Tcasting team once again placed near rofessor Dennis L. Hartmann was Hartmann chaired “An Assessment of NASA’s the top of the national collegiate forecasting Pelected into the US National Academy of Earth Science Program” 2012. NAS reports are competition. The 25-member team consisted of Sciences (NAS) at their February 2016 Annual freely available as pdf files from the NAS web a mix of undergraduates, graduate students, and Meeting. The NAS is a private, non-profit site. faculty competing against atmospheric sciences society of distinguished scholars, established Dennis joined the Department in 1977 programs across the US. The team finished in by an Act of Congress, signed by President after earning his bachelor’s in mechanical 6th place nationally after forecasting the high Abraham Lincoln in 1863. The NAS is charged engineering from the University of Portland and low temperature, maximum sustained with providing independent, objective advice and his doctorate in geophysical fluid dynamics wind speed, and precipitation for 10 different to the nation on matters related to science and from Princeton University. His research looks cities over a 20-week period. We would like technology. Scientists are elected by their peers at the atmosphere’s role in climate variability to acknowledge 7 forecasters who advanced to to membership in the NAS for outstanding and change, and how the atmosphere interacts the “postseason” tournament: Lynn McMurdie, contributions to research. The 84 new members with the ocean in a changing climate. He has Elizabeth Maroon, Jon Weyn, Luke Madaus, Ken elected in 2016 bring the total of active members particular interests in the stratosphere, the role Ho, Patrick Foster, and Jen DeHart. Additionally, to 2,268, which also include UW Atmospheric of clouds in Earth’s climate, and the interaction Nick Weber was awarded a trophy for being the Sciences faculty Peter Rhines and J. Michael of storms with jet streams. In January he second best graduate student forecaster at El Wallace. Deceased faculty members James R. published the second edition of his textbook, Paso, Texas. The 2016-17 season is currently Holton and Richard J. Reed were also members. Global Physical Climatology. He served as underway. All UW faculty, students, staff, and The NAS includes the physical, biological and the Department Chair from 2002-2007, and as alumni are eligible to join the team in January social sciences. The geophysics section, which interim dean of the College of the Environment 2017. Contact Joe Zagrodnik ([email protected]) atmospheric scientists normally join, has 70 from 2008-2010. for more information.

4 Atmospheric Circulation

Twedt, Judy Renee, The Impact of Tropical Congratulations to Teleconnections on Antartic Sea Ice and Undergraduate and Climate (Battisti/Frierson/Bitz) Graduates Wall, Casey J., On the Influence of Poleward Faculty Research Doctor of Philosophy Jet Shift on Shortwave Cloud Feedback in The following undergraduate students and faculty Global Climate Models (Hartmann) members worked together during the past year: Adames, Ángel F., An observational and theoretical study of the structure and Bachelor of Science propagation of the Madden-Julian Violeta Lio King / Nick Bond: Quality Control Oscillation (Kim /Wallace) Kevin Brockman of Daily Precipitation Data Barnes, Hannah C., The Microphysical Jason Easter Kallista Angeloff, Jonathan Chriest, Thomas Structure of Mesoscale Convective Systems Dennis Ferrer Lamb / Dargan Frierson: The effect of SST (Houze) Patrick Foster gradients on midlatitude storm intensity Harrop, Bryce E., On the nature of the Anthony Goodwin Daniel Barnes, Rabea Baroudi, Zane Brant, atmospheric cloud radiative effect and its Ken Ho Kurt Blancaflor, Ben Celsi, Austin Chu, impact on tropical convection (Hartmann) Weiming Ma Louis Dinh, Chelsea Guo, Ben Peterson, Hillman, Benjamin R., Reducing errors in Jeremy MacDonough Sally Wei, Daniel Zhu / Dargan Frierson: simulated satellite views of clouds from Michael McKeirnan EarthGames: Explaining environmental large-scale models (Ackerman) Chelsea Mealey science concepts with interactive digital Madaus, Luke E., Constraining storm-scale Daniel Nesser media forecasts of deep convective initiation with Emily Ramnarine Eliza Dawson, Sam Potter / Dargan Frierson: surface weather observations (Hakim/ Matthew Rogers Southern African orography impacts on low Mass) Virginia Lee-Klemm Rux clouds and the Atlantic ITCZ in a coupled Maroon, Elizabeth A., Large-scale Climate David Taylor model Asymmetries in General Circulation Cory Tung Teddy O’Brien, Jacob Price, Thomas Schuldt Models: The Influence of Land on Tropical Tessa Vollrath / Dargan Frierson: General circulation Precipitation and the Role of the Rocky Celeste Nicole Smoczyk Wrye responses to perturbations in a hierarchy of Mountains on the Oceanic Meridional GCMs Overturning Circulation (Frierson/Battisti) Matson Porthier / Joel Thornton: interpreting McCoy, Daniel, Microphysics and Southern aircraft measurements of forest emissions Ocean Cloud Feedback (Hartmann) that contribute to aerosol formation Powell, Scott W., Dynamics of Large-Scale Scholarships and Convective Onset in the Madden-Julian Oscillation (Houze) Awards Singh, Hansi Alice, Moisture Transport, American Meteorology Society: Energetics, and Teleconnections in the Global Climate System (Bitz) Lydia Tierney Welcome to New Steiger, Nathan J., Global climate ARCS Fellowship: reconstruction across time and space using Graduate Students data assimilation (Battisti/Roe/Hakim) Lucas Vargas Zeppetello for 2016–2017 College of the Environment Scholarship: Master of Science Rachel Atlas, University of Chicago Jamin Rader Geiss, Andrew Vincent, Multi-year Trends in (Bretherton) MODIS and MISR Observed Cloud Fraction Graduate Opportunity Program Award: Katie Brennan, Lewis and Clark College, OR over the Extratropical Oceans (Marchand) Lucas Vargas Zeppetello (Hakim) Huang, Jiayue, Improving constraints on the Robin Clancy, University of Bristol (Bitz) sources and distribution of sea salt aerosols GSFEI Top Scholar Award: Yue Dong, Tokyo Institute of Technology in polar regions (Jaegle) Rachel Atlas (Battisti) Kohyama, Tsubasa, Antarctic sea ice response Katie Brennan Megan McKeown, Texas A&M University to weather and climate modes of variability (Thornton) Holton Departmental Award Scholarship: (Hartmann) Hamid Alizadeh Pahlavan, University of Lague, Marysa M., Progressive Mid-latitude Robin Clancy Tehran (Fu) Afforestation: Local and Remote Climate Qiaoyun Peng, Fudan University, Shanghai Impacts in the Framework of Two Coupled NDSEG Graduate Fellowship: (Thornton) Earth System Models (Swann) Jonathan Weyn Lydia Tierney, Wesleyan University, CT Ordonez, Ana Cristina, Ice-atmosphere inter- National Science Foundation: actions and sea ice predictability at multiple (Durran) resolutions in the Community Earth System Rachel Atlas Lucas Vargas Zeppetello, Columbia Model (Bitz) Isabel McCoy University, NY (Battisti) Perkins, Walter A., Reconstructing Past Lucas Vargas Zeppetello Climate by Using Proxy Data and a Linear Program on Climate Change Fellowship: Also, welcome back to Fiona Lo, who rejoins Climate Model (Hakim) the department after earning her M.S. degree Picard, Lee M., The Sensitivity of Orographic Lydia Tierney here in 1996. (Battisti) Precipitation to Flow Direction: An Idealized Modeling Approach (Mass) Ray, Brandon M., Understanding the limits of the seasonal prediction of sea ice in the Arctic (Bitz)

5 Department of Atmospheric Sciences

Donor Recognition The Department of Atmospheric Sciences gratefully acknowledges the donors who have generously supported us during the past fiscal year July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016.

Individual Donors Yolanda & Robert Houze David Smith Nicolas Irving Hui Su & Zhai Chengxing Andrew Ackerman Michael Johnson Mary Surface Thomas & Linda Ackerman Richard & LaVonne Johnson Jordan Sutton Sheal & Phyllis Anderson Susan & Kai Kaltenbach Jesse Tobiason Anonymous Gifts-Friends Liz & Ronald Keeshan Steve Upton ANONYMOUS-MATCHING-FRIEND Thomas & Laura Kleespies Al Vaskas Gifford Asher Stephen Klein George & Sarah Vassiliou Henry & Linda Baddley Jr. Kevin & Sheri Kodama Kimberly Viebrock & Michael Nesteroff Nancy Baker Eileen Koven & John Leen Carol & William Viertel David Battisti & Lynn McMurdie Terence Kubar Susan & John Wallace Lawrence Baum Walter Kuciej Stephen & Phoebe Warren Lois Bauman Robert & Bonnie Landen Jean & Richard Weick Mark Beaufait & Andrea Slayton Margaret Le Mone & Peter Gilman Jonathan Weil Christopher Beck John Leathers Albert Werner Robert Berkovitz Jonell & Christopher Lee Harlen Whitling Harold Bernard Jr. & Christina Hilland-Bernard William Levering III & Susan Hert Richard Wieland Thomas & Carol Borda William Lipscomb William & Carole Wieland Mark & Diana Borges Mario Lopez Susan Willard & Carl Magee Cornelius & Catherine Borman Janet Lowry Michael Winton & Gretel LaVieri John Bosche Mark Lutz Frank Wirtz & Jessica Thompson Shirley & Janet Boselly III Karen & Robert Martin Debra Wolf Carolyn Bowman Caroline & Clifford Mass Marvin Wolf Richard & Suzanne Brintzenhofe Michael McClintock Susan Woolf & Steven Price Charles & Mary Brock Elizabeth Muench Ming-Jen Yang Frank Bryan & Katharine Noll Wendy & Peter Mullen Lixin Zeng Sally & Thomas Cahill Steven Mullen & Rita Jackson-Mullen Xiaoli Zhu & Juan Liang William Carlson & Constance Harrington Jim & Michele Murphy Xun Zhu & Wei Liu Edward & Terry Carr Louisa Nance John Carrier Roxane Neal & Daniel Ahlstrom William Clugston Thomas Newbauer Eric da Rosa Michael O’Connell Corporate, Foundation, Organization Donors Todd & Tamara Dankers Charles Orwig Dale Durran & Janice Tervonen Clayton Paulson American Meteorological Society Charles & Mary Elderkin Leonhard Pfister Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Charles Erwin Allison & Kevin Placido The Boeing Company William & Barbara Evans Alexander Polsky ConocoPhillips Company Thomas & June Frey V. Raman Heising-Simons Foundation Qiang Fu & Muyin Wang Vernon & Laurel Redecker Intel Corporation Mark Gaponoff Robert & Britt Reeves KING Broadcasting Company William & Mary Gardner John Rehr & Susan Thompson Microsoft Corporation Juliet Geyer Lee & Katherine Reinleitner Motorola, Inc. Marcus Gillette A. J. Ritter Pianosa Farm LLC Pierre Grand Steven Robinson Research Now Judith Gray Dale Rogers Salesforce.Org Christopher & Amy Gulick Adam Schnitzer Weather Services International Gregory Hakim Sally Schoenberg & William Poteet Lorraine & Dennis Hartmann Eric & Anna Schoening Robert Henry John Schwabacher Edward Hindman David Sellers Peter Hobbs (D) Judith Shoshana Sylvia Hobbs Amanda & Parikhit Sinha James & Alma Holcomb Ann Slutsky & James Comfort Margaret Holton Catherine Smith

6 Atmospheric Circulation Department News Student Awards—Lexie Goldberger, graduate Ángel Adames, and Research Scientist Peter student, won the student poster competition at Blossey. elcome to Research Assistant Professor the American Association for Aerosol Research EarthGamesUW, our educational game team, WEdward Blanchard Wrigglesworth. (AAAR) conference in October. Her poster was on participated in the 2015 national Climate Game His research interests include atmosphere-sea ice- the role of biomass burning on atmospheric oxidant Jam, sponsored by NOAA (National Oceanic and ocean interactions, Arctic Sea ice predictability, and sources. Atmospheric Administration), the Smithsonian, and snow on sea-ice in the Arctic. Marysa Laguë, graduate student, received a the White House. Their game, ClimateQuest, won Faculty Awards and Honors—Professor 3-year fellowship from the National Science and first place in the competition and was showcased at Qiang Fu was elected as a fellow of the American Engineering Research Council of Canada. the Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Association for the Advancement of Science, for Max Menchaca, graduate student, won first this year. his outstanding contributions to measuring and place for best student oral presentation at the 17th Staff news—Welcome to Francis Timlin, who understanding how radiative heat is transferred AMS (American Meteorological Society) Mountain started as our new Fiscal Specialist in November, through the Earth’s atmosphere, and how this relates Meteorology Conference in June. Jen DeHart, 2015. Jennifer Weiss started as our Administrator to climate and climate change. graduate student, won first place for her poster. in February, 2016. Gerald Cournoyer began as our Professor Abby Swann received an Early Postdoctoral Awards—Sigi Schobesberger, Advancement Liaison with the College of the the Faculty Development (CAREER) Program Award Research Assistant, won a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Environment in July. Wanjiku Gitahi began as our from the National Science Foundation. Fellowship from the EU for his proposed work new Assistant to the Chair in September, following Professor Steve Warren was elected as a fellow as part of a collaboration between UW and the the retirement of Debbie Wolf, after 25 years of in the 2016 class of the American Geophysical University of Helsinki to study trace gas fluxes and service to the department. Erica M. Coleman Union. This is a tremendous honor, extended to only chemistry over forested ecosystems. joined us as our new Academic Advisor and Student one in a thousand AGU members every year. The Outreach—The Outreach Video Group Services Coordinator in October. Andrew Sattler 2016 class of Fellows will be recognized during completed its latest UW Atmos Outreach video, was promoted to Grants Manager in June, 2016. the Honors Tribute on Wednesday, 14 December, El Niño and the Case of the Missing Sardines Baby News—Professor Abby Swann and Nick held during the 2016 AGU Fall Meeting in San - Episode 4, a mystery film noir. To watch this Branigan were pleased to welcome Felix William Francisco. and other fun and informative videos, visit their Swann-Branigan into their family on January 27, Research—Polar scientists from UW, including channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/ 2016. Professor Cecilia Bitz, Research Associate UCbEmigxpSICZIscdtX46KMw. Xiaojuan Liu and Guozheng Shao were pleased Yongfei Zhang, and Research Assistant Professor About one hundred third graders from Valhalla to welcome Eleanor Shao into their family on March Edward Blanchard Wrigglesworth, visited Elementary visited the department on December 18, 2016. Alaska’s North Slope in June for the 2016 Barrow 1, 2015. The students were led in an interactive Tsubasa and Rikako Koyhama, were pleased to Sea Ice Camp to collect data and discuss issues discussion of weather and atmospheric processes by welcome Taku Koyhama into their family on April related to measuring and modeling sea ice. graduate students Andre Perkins, Max Menchaca, 5, 2016. Giving to the Department of Atmospheric Sciences Please consider supporting the activities of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences. Your gift strengthens the core of the UW through recruitment and retention of world-class students and faculty. Your support of undergraduate and graduate students helps to create the next generation of scientific leaders. Help us to ensure that the department continues to be a leader in weather, climate andquality. Yes, I want to support the Department of Atmospheric Sciences! I have enclosed $______to support Friends of Atmospheric Sciences Fund Atmospheric Sciences Graduate Education Fund Richard and Joan Reed Atmospheric Sciences Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship Fund James Holton Endowed Graduate Support Fund Visa Mastercard American Express Card Number ______Expiration Date (mm/yyyy) ______Signature______Name (First, Last) ______Address______City, State, Zip ______Home Phone No.______Work Phone No. ______This is a matching gift (Enclose matching form) This is a joint gift

Your gift is tax-deductible as specified in IRS regulations. Pursuant to RCW 19.09, the University of Washington is registered as a charitable organization with the Secretary of State, state of Washington. To make your gift by phone, please call 1-877-UW-GIFTS (1-877-894-4387). Please send your check, payable to the “University of Washington” to: Wanjiku Gitahi, Assistant to the Chair, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Box 351640, Seattle, WA 98195-1640 To make your gift online, log onto www.atmos.washington.edu/about/support.shtml or www.washington.edu/giving/make-a-gift. Appeal Code: ASN16

7 Department of Atmospheric Sciences

Contact Us Department of Atmospheric Sciences University of Washington Box 351640 Seattle, Washington 98195-1640 Phone (206) 543-4250 Fax (206) 543-0308 http://www.atmos.washington.edu

Gregory J. Hakim, Chair Wanjiku Gitahi, Editor

Atmospheric Circulation is published annually for alumni, friends, and members of the University of Washington Department of Atmospheric Sciences. This is the sixteenth issue.

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OLYMPEX...continued on Vancouver Island to document the leeside ranges. The only break in the wet weather was media, and social media groups. They led tours precipitation. Ground instruments included during Thanksgiving when an upper-level ridge of the radars while the project was underway, specialized and calibrated precipitation gauges parked itself over the west coast for 5 days. and Shannon used the jumbotron at Safeco Field for rain and snow located at various elevations This break allowed a calibration flight under to tell several thousand kids about OLYMPEX on both the windward and leeward sides of the clear conditions, and a rest for weary crews. this past spring. Olympic Mountains. Snow poles and cameras in During one especially wet 10-day period at Now Houze and McMurdie’s team will trees documented the accumulating snow pack. the beginning of December, over 40 inches of join many other investigators in NASA and (Sometimes the cameras documented lounging rain was recorded at one of the project sites other institutions to analyze the massive and elk and curious bear cubs.) Rawinsondes were at an elevation of ~3000 feet on the south historic dataset collected by the aircraft, radars, launched on the Pacific coast and on Vancouver facing slopes of the Olympic Mountains. Lake and ground instruments in OLYMPEX. These Island, often in wet, blustery weather. OLYMPEX was fortunately during an Quinault experienced three rises of 15 feet to data will tell us how well the satellite orbiting excellent year to study storms crossing the near flood condition in these wet systems. overhead detects the rain and snow over Olympic Mountains. A veritable stampede of OLYMPEX was an opportunity for public mountains and will greatly improve how well storm systems paraded across the Peninsula outreach to foster understanding of the Earth’s we understand how the atmosphere produces throughout the 6-week period of intensive weather and climate and NASA’s role in the rain and snow over mountains that are operations, ranging from weak occluded observing these conditions from space. Angela crucial to life and well being in the Northwest frontal systems, to postfrontal convection, and Rowe and Shannon O’Donnell of the UW and elsewhere. to “atmospheric river” storms, notorious for team gave dozens of presentations for schools, their flooding potential in west coast mountain community groups, NPS visitors, the news

Left: The OLYMPEX forecasting team. From left: S. Bang and L. Campbell (U. of Utah), N. Weber, L. McMurdie, J. DeHart, L. Madaus and J. Zagrodnik (U. of Washington)

Right: L. McMurdie (left), R. Houze (middle) and W. Petersen (right) of NASA making daily decisions about OLYMPEX operations.

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