chapter news

Greater Milwaukee recommended never taking a job that governs one's About 60 chapter members, students, and guests life. In mid-1982, Adrian said he felt a lure to go south gathered for the November chapter meeting. Chapter to Antarctica, so he applied for a job there. In May of President James Frederick welcomed those in atten- 1982, Condella called from WITI-TV in Milwaukee dance and announced the next two meetings. He then and told Adrian to send a tape and resume. Adrian re- introduced the evening's speaker, Bart Adrian, meteo- membered he really was not interested in television rologist from WITI-TV in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. and said that the tape and resume he sent were not very In his talk, "Reflections on a Career in Meteorol- good. But WITI wanted Adrian to work for them so ogy," Adrian talked about his experiences in the field he accepted the job. While working at WITI, he said of from childhood in to the he also lectured at the University of Wisconsin—Mil- present day in Milwaukee. Adrian recalled that as a waukee from 1983 to 1994 as well as doing College child, he was so fascinated by weather that he would for Kids courses beginning in 1986. often check out the weather books from the local li- Adrian noted he is the weekend and fill-in meteo- brary. He even built a personal weather station, and in rologist for WITI. He said that he enjoys the educa- eighth grade he got his first weather radio. tion and outreach opportunities (school, health care Adrian said his education consists of a bachelor's and church talks, station tours, answering phone calls, degree in applied math and physics from Northwest- letters, and e-mails), as well as the challenge of ern University and a master's degree from the Univer- and working with a team of pro- sity of Wisconsin—Madison. Choosing a place for fessionals at WITI. He likes his career as it is and school proved challenging, he recalled, as he was in- pointed out the priorities of his life: faith, family, terested in attending the University of Chicago, where friends, and career. In contemplating the negatives of he was introduced to Ted Fujita and his research lab. his job, Adrian said that there is not much he dislikes Adrian mentioned some of the people who have and that he feels truly blessed. played a significant role in his life. While at the Uni- The evening concluded with a question-and-answer versity of Wisconsin—Madison, Adrian worked with session and refreshments.—Jim Johnson. Professor Verner Suomi, and his major professor, Donald Johnson. He also met Vince Condella, who Greater St. Louis was working on his master's degree at the school. The November meeting was held on 14 November Adrian pointed out some of his key experiences 2000 at Wiliker's Restaurant in St. Charles County. while in graduate school, including hands-on research Mark Britt, in Ed Boselly's absence, began the meeting, projects, his course work, working as a teaching as- at which 32 members were in attendance. sistant, appearing on cable television, and his thesis Chapter Secretary Lou Hull read the minutes of the research. His thesis was entitled "The Mass and An- October meeting, which featured T. N. Krishnamurti gular Momentum Budgets of a Developing Cyclone and was held at St. Louis University. They were ac- over the East China Sea." While in graduate school, cepted as read. he devoted a lot of time to his teaching duties. He The treasurer's report was read by Mark Britt. There pointed out that he learned two important things: he was no old business. could do research, and he did not want to do research. Ron Przybylinski invited the members to attend the He said his passion was to teach and to settle in the Winter Weather Workshop. He said it is aimed at the Madison, Wisconsin, area. Upon hearing about media, and most of the regional on-air meteorologists WeatherCentral (a forecasting company in Madison) are committed to attend. from Condella, Adrian took a job there and got valu- Przybylinski then asked the membership if they able forecasting, broadcasting, and life experience. He should sponsor a cash prize for science fair winners,

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Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/23/21 02:16 PM UTC suggesting $50 as an amount. It was agreed a decision University of Nebraska-Lincoln would be made at a future meeting. The 6 October 2000 meeting was the first joint Przybylinski expressed pleasure with the high meeting of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln stu- school rainfall-measuring program, noting that 15 lo- dent chapter and the Omaha-Offutt AMS chapter. It cal students are participating. was also the kickoff to the Central Plains Severe Joe Golden was then introduced as the guest Weather Symposium—jointly sponsored by the chap- speaker. After earning his master's degree and Ph.D. ters—which was held the following day. Due to their from The Florida State University (FSU), Golden be- participation in the symposium, several noted guests gan his career at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) were at the meeting and were introduced to those in in 1973. He progressed from there to the National Se- attendance. These guests included Jeff Morrow, on- vere Storms Laboratory (NSSL) in 1975 and to camera meteorologist and live remote weather reporter Weather Service Headquarters by 1984, becoming with the Weather Channel; Tim Marshall, editor of head scientist in 1989. In 1999, he joined the Forecast Storm Track magazine and failure and damage con- Systems Lab in Boulder, Colorado. sultant, engineer, and meteorologist with Haag Engi- Golden's topic was waterspouts. He said some of neering Co. in Dallas, Texas; and Mary Ann Cooper, his early research at FSU involved aerial photography principal investigator in the lightning injury research near Key West, Florida, of waterspouts in various group at the University of at Chicago. states of development. He recalled one waterspout that A banquet was held to honor the career achieve- hit Miami in 1968 was classified as an F2, with 160- ments of Chuck Doswell of the NSSL in Norman, 180 mph winds. Oklahoma. Following the banquet, Doswell was the He showed many photographs from over 500 cases, featured speaker and gave a presentation on what was many involving the tracers used to document the am- learned from the 3 May 1999 outbreak of tornadoes bient wind flow around the waterspout. He classified in Oklahoma. A total of 120 people were in attendance the various stages: the initial "dark spot," "spiral pat- for his presentation. tern," "spray ring," "rising column," "eye feature," the After Omaha-Offut Chapter Vice President Ken rare "double walled funnel," and the "decay state." Dewey introduced him to the audience, Doswell Golden even documented the effects of rain and the showed video footage of the 3 May 1999 Oklahoma cool air outflow in killing the waterspouts. He noted City that approached from the rural area south- the rising columns were a favorite spot for soaring west of the city. He then gave a slide presentation of birds. But, at most, cloud tops only peaked out in the his experiences as a member of the Federal Emergency 15,000-22,000-ft range. Most of the shear was weak. Management Agency's Building Performance Assess- He said his favorite sport was the aerial penetration ment Team (BPAT). Doswell summarized his impres- of weak waterspouts. He obtained many measurements sions from the BPAT survey and commented that most of cloud drop motions from their side-mounted Dop- people in the path of the F-5 tornado responded as they pler lidar. He noted most of his measurements were should have done. He also indicated that the local tele- in the 60-kt range. vision media played a major role in announcing the Golden also spoke of his tornado-chasing days, urgency of seeking cover from the tornado, which which began in 1972 near Norman, Oklahoma. He was killed 38 people and destroyed or damaged over 8000 involved in many tornado surveys, notably the Union structures. He said the death toll was surprisingly low City tornado in 1973 and Xenia in 1974. considering the intensity of the storm. He noted that He then showed pictures of the original Totable many people who did not have basements and were Tornado Observatory device dropped in front of a tor- watching coverage of the event on television actually nado to measure its wind and pressure. It did not got into their cars and drove away from the area that fare well. was predicted to be hit by the tornado. Doswell also The end of Golden's talk was a video of water- remembered seeing people seeking cover under high- spouts and tornadoes with his commentary. He con- way overpasses well ahead of the storm, which he cluded that there is still much to learn on the subject. noted is a very unsafe location. He recommended in- After a question-and-answer session, Golden was stalling "safe rooms" in homes being built without awarded a St. Louis arch desk pen set. Pat Market basements and giving more attention to community won the half-price dinner for the next meeting.— shelters. After his presentation, a question-and-answer Louis Hull. session took place.—Ken Dewey.

7 09 Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/23/21 02:16 PM UTC Puget Sound Following dinner, Chapter Chairman John Lasley con- The first 2000-01 season meeting was held on 20 Sep- ducted a short business meeting. He announced that tember 2000. About 40 people attended this meeting. the next meeting would be 23 January 2001—a lunch The speaker was Vernon E. Kousky of NOAA's meeting at the Pentagon hosted by the Air Force Di- Climate Prediction Center. His topic was "The Impacts rector of Weather David L. Johnson, who would give of the ENSO Cycle on the Pacific Northwest and the a talk on space weather. It was also announced that the Outlook for the Upcoming Winter." Kousky's presen- 6 February 2001 meeting would be at the Naval Ob- tation addressed the current and recent history of the servatory, hosted by Richard D. West, oceanographer ENSO cycle. The outlook for the winter was for "neu- of the navy. Additionally, Lasley said the March tral" conditions in the tropical Pacific, producing speaker was tentatively scheduled to be Richard Por- "highly variable" weather conditions for the Pacific ter, also known as "Thermometer Man," due to his col- Northwest. Kousky anticipated a likelihood of one or lection of 3336 thermometers. Lasley said Porter is the more arctic outbreaks, a significant wind storm, and a curator of the world's only thermometer museum, lo- good probability of a "pineapple express" heavy rain- cated in Onset, Massachusetts, which is now known fall event. Kousky was in Seattle as the keynote as "the thermometer capital of the world." speaker for the annual Representative-at-Large Ken Carey spoke briefly (NWS) Media and Emergency Management Workshop. about the Minority Scholarship Program and the up- The second meeting of the season on 26 October coming local science fairs supported by the chapter. 2000 involved a media panel. The panel members in- Carey announced a deadline of 23 February 2001 for cluded Rich Marriott, on-air meteorologist with submitting Minority Scholarship applications. He also KING-TV in Seattle, Gregg Hersholt, news anchor at stated that the chapter will support at least 11 local KIRO radio in Seattle, and Erin Hennessey, news di- science fairs this year, and he asked for members to rector for KPLU radio in Seattle/Tacoma. Each panel volunteer as judges. member addressed how they use weather information Carey then introduced a special guest for the on the air today and how they anticipate using weather evening, on-air meteorologist Bruce Thomas of information 10 years from now. The television and ra- KCTV5 in Kansas City, Missouri. Thomas currently dio media use weather information in different ways: serves as president of the Kansas chapter of the AMS. visual versus words. All agreed that the Internet will The guest speaker for the evening was Ron play a large role in how weather information is dis- McPherson, executive director of the AMS. The topic seminated and used in the future. Close to 40 people of his talk was "What's New at the AMS." He spoke attended this meeting, including some science students briefly on the AMS 10-Year Vision, new formats for from a Seattle high school. AMS publications and the Annual Meeting, education The season's third meeting was held on 9 January initiatives, the Public Information Program, the Atmo- 2001. Cliff Mass of the University of Washington's spheric Policy Program, and support for corporate Atmospheric Sciences Department gave a presentation members. He also noted that the new Glossary of Me- on forecasting snow in the lowlands of western Wash- teorology is about to be published.—Lauraleen ington. He first gave a historical summary of snow O'Connor. events in the region. He then listed the meteorologi- cal conditions needed to produce snow in the area, a Chicago rather rare event given the moderating effects of the Approximately 30 members attended the 9 January Pacific Ocean and Puget Sound. An announcement 2001 meeting, held in the Harold E. White Aviation Cen- was also made about this year's Washington State Sci- ter at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois. ence Fair and its AMS Certificate of Achievement for After a short period of announcements and old and students in grades 9-12. Two chapter members vol- new business, Jennifer Adelman from the Fermi Na- unteered to be the meteorology judges for this year's tional Laboratory was introduced as the evening's fair, to be held in Bremerton on 6-7 April 2001. Approxi- speaker. Adelman's topic was "Mapping the Night mately 25 people attended this meeting.—Ted Buehner. Sky: An Introduction to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)." Adelman is an astronomer of the Fermilab District of Columbia staff involved in research on this project. Other par- The 20 November 2000 chapter meeting was held ticipating organizations and institutions include the at the Fort Myers Officers Club in Arlington, Virginia. University of Chicago, the Japan Participation Group,

726 Vol. 82,, No. 4, April 2001

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/23/21 02:16 PM UTC The Johns Hopkins University, the Max Planck Insti- development and evolution were highlighted for each tute for Astronomy, New Mexico State University, case as different types of barrier islands were compared Princeton University, the U.S. Naval Observatory, the and contrasted by Pilkey. He noted barrier islands form University of Washington, and the Astrophysical Re- as the sea level rises and straightens out the shape of search Consortium. the coastline while increasing its stability. In an effort to prove the universe is homogeneous A short question-and-answer session followed and isotropic, this project is sampling one-quarter of Pilkey's talk, and then the meeting was adjourned. the Northern Hemisphere sky, Adelman said. The ob- The January 2001 meeting, also held at the North serving site, located in Sunspot, New Mexico, has both Carolina Supercomputing Center, was called to order a 2.5-m and a 24-inch telescope. Suitability of a given by Chapter Vice Chairman Joel Cline. There were night for photometry is determined by utilizing tem- approximately 32 members and guests in attendance, perature, wind speed and direction, humidity, and dust- and Cline noted that he was pleased to see several stu- level data from an on-site weather station. Adelman dents at the meeting. Several chapter members, includ- said the weather station also includes a camera that takes ing Chapter Chairman John White, were absent due to pictures of the whole sky at 10 jum every 20 minutes. the AMS Annual Meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She revealed that in one night, the imaging camera Two ideas were brought to the chapter. White, will write to tape 140 gigabytes of data at a rate of 4.8 speaking from Albuquerque, suggested presenting megabytes s"1. Thus, only a tiny fraction of the data each speaker with an AMS mug as a gift. The mugs can be looked at. She said the SDSS has discovered could be ordered from the AMS Headquarters in Bos- eight of the ten most distant quasars, including the ton by the chapter, possibly at a reduced price. Sec- most distant one. She noted light left that quasar when ond, Cline proposed the idea of inviting back each of the universe was less than a billion years old. The the year's speakers for the year-end banquet in May. SDSS is a specially designed astronomical experiment Both ideas met with no objections. Al Riordan dis- to digitize the brightest 100 million objects and deter- cussed the need forjudges for the annual science fairs. mine the distance to the million brightest galaxies. Walt Saucier agreed to give a presentation for the open Adelman then gave the address for the SDSS Web site: February meeting. Chapter Secretary Mike Brennan http://www.sdss.org.—Paul Dailey. read the minutes of the December meeting, and they were approved without objection. Central North Carolina Cline then introduced the evening's speaker, Jay Chapter Chairman John White called the Decem- Barnes, director of the North Carolina Aquarium at ber 2000 meeting to order with 23 members and guests Pine Knoll Shores, and author of North Carolina's in attendance at the North Carolina Supercomputing Hurricane History and Florida's Hurricane History. Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Although not a meteorologist, Barnes built upon an Chapter Secretary Michael Brennan read the minutes early interest in hurricanes, first fostered by hearing from the November meeting, which were approved historical accounts of local hurricanes, such as Hazel, without objection. Brennan also read the treasurer's while growing up in Southport, North Carolina. He report, collected dues, and handed out receipts. Other began to collect historical information on hurricanes business consisted of chapter member Roscoe Braham in North Carolina, mainly from the human and histori- offering to present a chapter poster at the AMS An- cal perspectives. This information was garnered from nual Meeting if one was available. a wide range of sources, including newspaper and lo- Brennan introduced the evening's speaker, Orrin cal archives, libraries, and personal collections. In ad- Pilkey, coastal geologist and James B. Duke Profes- dition, he gathered meteorological information on sor of Earth Sciences at Duke University. Pilkey pre- North Carolina hurricanes from the NWS and the Na- sented a global tour of barrier islands, beginning in tional Climatic Data Center. When he found there was North Carolina with the unique case of a barrier island not a single historical reference on North Carolina within a sound, Cedar Island. Pilkey continued with hurricanes, he decided to write one. slides showing photographs and batiks of barrier is- The first edition of North Carolina's Hurricane lands from 13 other nations on five continents. A full History was released in 1995 after two and a half years 80% of the world's barrier islands are located in the of research and writing. It covered the period from the Northern Hemisphere, with 25% located in and around first European explorations of eastern North America the Arctic. The mechanisms that affect barrier island up through Hurricane Emily in 1993. A second edi-

7 09 Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/23/21 02:16 PM UTC tion was released in 1998 containing information on grew in popularity among the workers, as the old wool Hurricanes Bertha and Fran from 1996. A third edi- pants were very uncomfortable when they got wet tion will be released in July 2001, covering the period from crossing water or in the rain. The classic cow- through the devastation of Hurricane Floyd in 1999. boy hat was essential. She described how the hot sun The University of North Carolina Press suggested that would bear down relentlessly, and the flat lands al- Barnes expand his research efforts beyond North Caro- lowed winds to pick up quickly. When this happened, lina, and as a result Florida's Hurricane History was she said, cowboys needed to keep their hats on, and also researched and published. bandannas helped keep out dust and sand. Barnes's talk focused mostly on personal stories, Gillespie said most of what is known about the unusual events, and rescues from storms that have weather during cattle drives comes from cowboy nar- impacted North Carolina. These ranged from the 1846 ratives. She noted the men had no access to the fore- storm that cut both Oregon and Hatteras inlet within casts that we do today. Using their intuition and shared a 24-h time span to the more recent storms of Hazel, knowledge they have left a large mark on Fran, and Floyd. He presented numerous slides show- history, one that continues to be celebrated today ing photographs of storm damage and personal through rodeos like the Houston Livestock Show and struggles with the devastation left behind. Barnes also Rodeo.—Dorri Breher. shared stories from some of the more infamous Florida hurricanes, including the 1926 Miami hurricane and Jackson the 1935 Labor Day storm. His presentation was well- The first meeting of the 2000-01 chapter year was received by one of the larger meeting groups in recent held at WAPT-TV in Jackson on 9 October 2000. The chapter history. After Barnes answered several ques- meeting was opened by Chapter Vice President Barbie tions from the audience, the meeting was adjourned.— Bassett with 15 people in attendance. A brief business Michael J. Brennan. session took place and a request was made by Chap- ter Treasurer Dave Biggar for annual dues. Following Houston the business session, David Hartman discussed the ca- To begin the meeting of pabilities of his station's new Doppler radar. 18 January 2001, Chapter Those in attendance were divided into two groups President Lew Fincher and led on a tour of the WAPT weather station. Ken thanked Cecilia Sinclair and Johnson led the tour of the weather center room where KRIV-Fox 26 for allowing the radar image display console was located. Johnson the use of a room at their studios to hold the meeting. discussed the algorithmic capabilities of the radar Thanks also went out to the hosts last month, Wilkens imagery software and demonstrated actual algorithm Weather. Upcoming meetings were discussed and output through archived radar data. Hartman brought there was a reminder about paying dues. Door prizes the tour groups to the actual radar site and presented were given to several members. Appreciation was the radar hardware and specifications. given to Fox26 for the coffee mugs and Fincher for Hartman then concluded the tour by demonstrating providing two tickets to the Houston Rodeo. his methods of weather analysis and forecasting and The speaker this month was Susan Gillespie from by showing the capabilities of WAPT's weather com- the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Gillespie puter work stations. He also answered any questions talked about how weather affected cattle drives. She concerning the new radar and WAPT's weather cen- noted the United States depended on cattle drives from ter. The meeting was then adjourned by Bassett. 1867 to 1887 to move the cattle from Texas to the rail- The second meeting of the chapter year was held at roads in the central United States. the NWS in Jackson on 30 January 2001. The meet- Gillespie said a good trail boss would know when ing was opened by Chapter President Alan Gerard. A to start the drive based on his knowledge of the cli- brief business session followed, and Biggar made a mate. Stampedes were most often caused by lightning. request for annual dues. On the Plains, it was easy to monitor storms. She said Gerard and Paul Croft of Jackson State University all the spring storms would fill the creeks, rivers, and then presented "The Record Meso-Snowfall Event of gullies, which was also of concern to a good trail boss. 1997 in Jackson, Mississippi," which they coauthored. On a daily basis, weather affected much of the cow- Their presentation dealt with the unforecasted heavy boys' lives. Gillespie said the new fabric called denim snow—up to eight inches—that fell over much of cen-

728 Vol. 82,, No. 4, April 2001

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Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/23/21 02:16 PM UTC tral Mississippi on 14 December 1997. They noted (MFATC). Peronto welcomed everyone, and brief short-range models were deficient in picking up the introductions were made for the new faces in the surprise snowfall, but subtle features were shown to crowd. be precursors to a significant mesoscale event. Both After the December meeting minutes were passed, Croft and Gerard have presented this informative pre- Jancic gave the treasurer report and announced there sentation at numerous workshops and conferences, was $777.33 in the fund. It was announced that there with emphasis being placed on the importance of up- would be a Weather Career Day and a tour of the An- per air analysis, satellite imagery interpretation, and chorage NWS office on 2 March 2001. This was to mesoscale modeling. More information from this pre- take the place of the cancelled Career Fair that was to sentation can be found at the NWS Jackson Web site: be held at the MFATC. Two busloads of students were http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jan. to participate. A question-and-answer session was A brief question-and-answer session followed the planned after each tour. All members were encour- presentation. Plans concerning the next meeting were aged to attend and participate in an excellent op- briefly discussed before the meeting was adjourned by portunity to show students the various types of Gerard.—Eric E. Carpenter weather careers. It was revealed that there was 21.3 inches of snow Anchorage at the airport in Anchorage, which was well below nor- The chapter had two recent meetings. The first was mal for the season. This meant those in the forecast held at Orso's Restaurant on 12 December 2000. contest who cast their guesses on the conservative side Chapter President Jim Peronto welcomed the attend- had the best chance of winning. Since there was no ees and each gave a short introduction. quorum at the meeting, the chapter constitutional re- Chapter Treasurer Arlene Jancic gave the treasurer visions were to be decided by secret ballot over e-mail. report and said there was $642.58 in the fund. She an- The updated constitution was to be posted on the chap- nounced there would be another call to members to see ter Web site. if there was still an interest in T-shirts, which would It was decided that the next meeting would be held have to be preordered and cost roughly $15 each. First on 16 February 2001 at the MFATC. The guest speaker prize in the forecasting contest for "first snowfall" was was to be Jim Simpson, who was to discuss a cold air awarded to Jancic. snow model. It was noted a new case study by Michael It was announced that the chapter constitution had Richmond of the NWS Weather Forecast Office in been updated, and members would be e-mailed to cast Juneau, Alaska, had been posted on the Anchorage their vote for ratification of the updates. Members were Chapter Web site under the title "Case Study: also encouraged to participate in two tours of the NWS Snowfall Event of Jan 23-24, 1999, in Southeast office given jointly by the chapter and the Career Cen- Alaska." ter in late February or early March. Each tour would The chapter received the following donations from include a question-and-answer session for those stu- local and national businesses: two Weatherwise maga- dents interested in a career in meteorology. Finally, let- zine subscriptions, one NOAA radio, and one gift cer- ters of information were to be sent to local high schools tificate from Sullivan's Steakhouse. The first two informing them of the AMS Minority Scholarship. donations are to be given to local schools or used as These letters encouraged minorities to enter the field Science Fair prizes, and the gift certificate will be pre- of meteorology. It was noted the AMS also has schol- sented to the Anchorage Chapter Member of the Year. arships available for nonminorities. Questions about It was agreed that the chapter would participate in the the scholarships can be directed to Chapter Vice Presi- University of Alaska at Anchorage statewide Science dent Larry Van Bussum. Fair in March 2001. Volunteers would judge projects There was no new business. relating to the atmospheric and hydrological sciences The featured speaker was Russ Page, an ice fore- by students in grades 1-12. Anyone interested in par- caster for the NWS in Anchorage. His talk was entitled ticipating was encouraged to contact Peronto. "Global Climate Forecasts Using Sea Ice and Sea Wa- The featured speaker for the meeting was Terry ter Temperature in the Arctic." Following his presen- Onslow from Girdwood, Alaska. Onslow is an ava- tation, the meeting was adjourned. lanche technician in the Alaska Department of Trans- The next meeting was held on 23 January 2001 at portation (DOT) Maintenance and Operations Office. the Merrill Field Aviation Technology Center He discussed the Road Weather Information Systems

730 Vol. 82,, No. 4, April 2001

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/23/21 02:16 PM UTC (RWIS) project that is currently underway in the Cook Today, and another name suggested was Trevor Inlet Basin. RWIS consists of roadside sensors that Bevens. Arnott also said the chapter Web site had measure pressure, temperature, wind speed and direc- been updated. tion, visibility, present weather, pavement tempera- Chan said he would reimburse Freedman for sup- ture, road condition, chemical content on roads, ice plies bought for the fund-raiser. He also would pro- depth on roads, and the temperature of the ground 24 vide an updated budget for everyone and would check inches below the pavement. Onslow said there will that the donation was accounted for. He said the win- also be cameras installed at each location to see the ning pictures from the photo contest would be used for road condition. All the real-time information will be the cover of the Storm Conference booklet, and once sent back to the DOT offices, and he revealed there the cover is designed, the pictures would be sent to the are plans to have laptops installed in all of the DOT local newspaper, The Lyndon Independent, where they vehicles so the operators can also get the real-time in- would be published. Freedman requested an updated formation. He said the DOT personnel will analyze the budget to see if the donation was listed. information to determine areas of avalanche danger Chapter Public Relations Officer Edward Argenta along the highways and to decide the amount of chemi- informed the officers that the pictures from the photo cals to apply to the pavement to help clear the roads contest would be scanned and put up on the Web site. of ice and snow. As more money is added to the Freedman said that she would meet with a graphics de- project, he noted, more sensors will be installed across sign major to design the cover of the Storm Confer- Alaska. Onslow said these sensors will also benefit the ence booklet. Argenta suggested scanning the pictures NWS and Air Force Weather personnel by providing and putting them on the bulletin board. Freedman more weather data in data-sparse areas throughout noted the chapter still needed supplies for the dance south-central Alaska. fund-raiser, and Argenta told the officers that posters Onslow answered everyone's questions about the would be put up at the Winterball. Freedman then told new RWIS program and then was given a 2001 Alaska Argenta that a slide projector, a microphone, and a weather calendar and honorary membership by screen projector had to be reserved for the Storm Peronto. The meeting was then adjourned.—Larry Van Conference. Argenta estimated 200-300 people Bussum and Gail Weaver. would attend. Freedman said she would get gift certificates for the conference. The meeting was Lyndon State College then adjourned. The chapter's executive The chapter's general business meeting took place board meeting took place on STUDENT CHAPTER OF THE YEAR 18 January 2001. 15 January 2001. Freedman reminded all members to get their Storm Chapter President Dina Conference forms in as soon as possible. She noted Freedman updated the stu- they only had to give a $10 deposit to ensure their spot. dent officers about the Storm Conference, saying that She also reminded everyone to show good conduct in everything was going well. Freedman said she would the conference, as the chapter's behavior represented e-mail Harvey Leonard to find out if Dick Albert can the college. She said anyone could get registration make it to the Northeast Storm Conference. She in- forms on the chapter Web site at http:// formed Chapter Treasurer Cegeon Chan that the ban- apollo.lsc.vsc.edu/ams. quet speaker would need to be reimbursed for travel Arnott informed the members about the panel dis- expenses (approximately $400 dollars). Also, Freed- cussion. He said he contacted potential speakers in man said she would write up a thank you letter for the many different disciplines of meteorology. He hoped donation the chapter received. to get responses soon. Chapter Vice President Justin Arnott reported on It was announced that the next forecast contest the panel discussion. He said he would ask the lead- would involve forecasting categories of wind and that ing Mount Washington researcher, Ken Rancourt, and the winning pictures from the photo contest could be Professor Lance Bosart of The University at Al- seen on the chapter Web site. bany, State University of New York, to attend the Chan asked everyone to help set up for the upcom- Storm Conference. In addition, he was trying to find ing Winterball. He also noted the chapter had received someone who works with computers to attend. a major donation from a fellow AMS member, which Arnott said he might ask Chris Viccaro from USA would help fund the Storm Conference.

7 09 Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/23/21 02:16 PM UTC Argenta said that tickets for the Winterball had been Twin Cities selling and asked members to help sell more. He said The chapter began its there were many gift certificates, ski tickets, gift bas- 52nd year with a meeting at t/V'^M-'ri K 1U)V)K Rj kets, and other gifts to be raffled every 30 minutes at the NWS in Chanhassen, the Winterball. He said there would be food, a DJ, and Minnesota. The featured a photographer at the dance, and he asked for help in speaker for the evening was setting up. Bill Sites of the National Operational Hydrologic Re- Chapter Secretary Tracy McCormick was not mote Sensing Center (NOHRSC). Sites focused his present at either meeting, as she was attending the discussion on one of the programs used by the AMS Annual Meeting. Freedman said that NOHRSC to provide hydrometeorological data and McCormick would organize the Science Fair meeting products to NWS hydrologists. He described the Air- soon. Freedman also noted that the cover of the Storm borne Snow Survey Program, which employs two Conference booklet would be made very soon.— Turbo Commander aircraft that fly 1800 flight lines Cegeon J. Chan. through 27 U.S. states and Canada to provide datasets on soil moisture and snow-water equivalent (SWE). Arkansas These aircraft contain gamma radiation detection sys- The first meeting of 2001 tems that measure the terrestrial radiation emitted from was held at the NWS Warn- trace elements such as uranium, potassium, and tho- ing and Forecast Office rium in the upper 20 centimeters of the soil. Soil mois- (WFO) in North Little ture and SWE can then be derived by using the Rock, Arkansas. The meet- difference in measurements over bare ground and ing was convened by Chapter President George ground that is snow covered, said Sites. Soil moisture Wilken with 17 members and guests present. and SWE products are then generated and issued to Wilken discussed topics from his recent trip to the NWS hydrologists for use in river flood forecasts and AMS Annual Meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico. flooding outlooks, he said. At the meeting, he attended the local chapter break- The next meeting took place at the Science Museum fast and met members from several other AMS chap- of Minnesota in St. Paul. Chapter members toured the ters. Joey Langston, a member of the election museum for free and enjoyed numerous exhibits re- committee, gave the results of the 2001 chapter elec- lated to weather and meteorology. Chapter Vice Chair- tion. Wilken told the group that newly elected Chap- man Ron Trenda opened the meeting with a brief ter Vice President Ashley Kells had recently accepted discussion of the national AMS Minority Scholarship. a position at NWS Headquarters in Silver Spring, He then introduced the first of two guest speakers. Maryland, leaving the vice president position open. J. Newlin, the director of physical sciences and tech- Wilken mentioned that he had talked with Jerry nology at the Science Museum, introduced some of the Reynolds about possibly taking over as vice president weather-related exhibits at the museum. The newly for 2001. Reynolds was nominated for the position and designed experiment gallery featured several hands- then voted in by the group. on interactive exhibits involving warm/cold fronts, The program for the evening was presented by pressure systems, winds, seasons, and dewpoint. Wil- member Eric Walker, who talked about the Emergency liam Jasperson informed members that the National Manager's Weather Information Network (EMWIN). Science Foundation previously funded some of the Walker showed slides on EMWIN's beginnings and exhibits. He then briefly presented some of the con- on how the system works. The WFO has an EMWIN siderations that are taken into account before an ex- system that assists forecasters in making sure that hibit is presented. He said the Science Museum aims weather products are being properly transmitted to to design exhibits that are interactive in an attempt to users. The presentation was followed by numerous stimulate and motivate participants to learn more about questions. the natural and physical sciences.—Mary Beth Wilken then announced the next meeting would be Howard. on 15 February and would include a program on by member Scott Blair. Asheville After drawings were held for door prizes, the meet- The chapter held its third meeting for 2000-01 in ing was adjourned.—Newton Skiles. the Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall, University of North

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Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/23/21 02:16 PM UTC Carolina at Asheville (UNCA), on 30 November 2000. manity and the SKYWARN Conference. The presi- This meeting was also a holiday social event, and 34 dent talked about the new TAMSCAMS Web page, people were in attendance. and an amendment was proposed for the local storm Following dinner, Chapter President John W. Louer chasing organization. After a vote was conducted and presided at the business meeting. The October meet- the amendment passed, a leader for the organization ing minutes and the treasurer's report were read and was named. approved. Louer announced that the chapter was also David Gold, a graduate student at Texas A&M and celebrating the first anniversary of its reactivation by owner of Silver Lining Tours, gave a presentation the AMS. The Society had notified the chapter of its on severe weather. He demonstrated successful and reactivation on 3 December 1999. Louer also an- unsuccessful tornado chases and showed a video of nounced that Dimitri Chappas was the winner the 2000 the best storm that he had ever seen.—Mandy hurricane forecast contest. Chappas's forecast of the Kellner. distance from Asheville to the nearest hurricane dur- ing 2000 came closest to the actual distance. Chappas Palmetto was presented with a weather radio. On 11 November 2000, about 15 members and After the business discussion, the UNCA student guests met in Atlanta for a tour of The Weather Chan- chapter of AMS joined the meeting for a scientific pre- nel facilities. The Weather Channel recently moved sentation by David Easterling of the National Climatic into a new eight-story building located in northwest Data Center. His topic was "U.S. National Assessment: Atlanta. The studios are in the basement of the build- Climate Change Impacts on the United States." ing and on the chapter's visit they were minimally Easterling is one of the key authors of this report, which staffed with two on-camera meteorologists and 4-5 was completed in 2000. The full report can be down- people producing graphics. The Weather Channel loaded at http://sedac.ciesin.org/NationalAssessment/. In started in 1982 with a national audience of only 2.5 his presentation, Easterling briefly discussed the needs million homes. It now reaches more than 72 million and approaches for the national assessment. He listed U.S. households. Chapter members were surprised to and illustrated region-by-region several key findings discover that more than 900 people are employed at of climate change impacts on the United States, and The Weather Channel. he also pointed out that some assessments were based Two chapter members presented papers at the AMS on the climate model predictions. The key findings in Annual Meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Matt this report included increased warming, differing re- Parker, meteorologist for Westinghouse at the Savan- gional impacts, vulnerable ecosystems, widespread nah River Site (SRS), chaired the 11th Symposium on water concerns, secure food supply, increased dam- Meteorological Observations and Instrumentation. He age in coastal and permafrost areas, and other also gave a presentation titled "Ground-Truth Surface stresses magnified by climate change. Easterling Water and Paved Surface Temperature Measurements noted surprises are to be expected, and uncertain- for DOE's MTI Satellite." Bob Buckley, meteorolo- ties remain. gist/engineer for the SRS, presented a paper titled At the conclusion of the meeting, member's names "Soil Moisture Measurements and Their Applica- were drawn for door prizes. Finally, Louer thanked tions at SRS." Susan Tarbell and Ken Walters for their assistance in The chapter announced the tentative date for the preparation of the dinner, and he adjourned the meet- annual mini-technical conference is 16 March 2001. ing with the announcement that the next meeting will Any topics relating to meteorology or climatology are be held on 8 February 2001.— Alex Huang. welcomed. Expected participants include the SRS, The Climate Office, Shaw Air Force Base, the University Texas A&M University of South Carolina, the College of Charleston, and tele- The January meeting be- vision meteorologists. gan with the readings of the The chapter asked for volunteers to help judge the treasurer's report and South Carolina Science Fair, which will be held 23 secretary's minutes. The March 2001. Generally, there are 4-6 judges there, and vice-president and secretary meals will be provided. Those interested should con- talked about the T-shirts on sale. The treasurer de- tact Bob Buckley by telephone: 803-725-1926; or scribed upcoming events, including Habitat for Hu- e-mail: [email protected].—Andy Million

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