If you've played sports, you know how a fiery speach from a coach
can motivate you to play at a higher level. In broadcast meteorology,
attending a weather conference can do that. I returned late last night from
the National Weather Association's ((NWA) meeting, and I am fired up.
This year's meeting was in Lewisville, KY and the topics covered ran the
gamut from tropical meteorology to case studies of events where the forecast went
horribly wrong. My wife calls them "nerd fests", and in a way, I guess they
are, but you can learn a lot about how to become a better meteorologist.
Think of it this way; would you rather have a doctor that graduated
20 years ago and had no education on new proceedures or tools needed
to heal you, or one that has continuing education in his field? I'd select
the one who was up on the latest science.
As a meteorologist, our science changes rapidly. There are many new
tools, and techniques available which make us better at understanding
and forecating weather changes.
From a detailed review of a intense quasi-linear convective systems that
raced across Louisville and caused 16 tornadoes to an update on the town of
Greensburg, KS the meeting had a bit of everything.
There were over 100 presentations that ranged from; The Two Sides of Global
Warming, The 2007 Heat Wave in St. Louis, and Nearcasting Convective Destabilization Using Information from the GOES Sounder. Some more interesting than others.
I get to see old friends, like my pal in Wichita, Dave Freeman, to a guy I've
known for years, Nick Walker, now at The weather Channel. For those of
you who are weather geeks let me do some name dropping of those there: Jim Cantore TWC, Dave Swartz TWC, Tom Skilling WGN, and Sam Chamion from GMA. Sam
did his Good Morning America weathers from the conference Tuesday.
It's good to see what others are doing around the country and get feedback on
what we do in Tulsa. Most are impressed when I tell them the tools we have to work
with here. I explain that managemet spends a lot of money so we have the latest gear and training to keep folks safe when the storms roll in.
KJRH has won the Most Accurate Forecast now for 3 years, and I hope to make
it 4 in a row. Every time I leave one of these conferences I feel better prepared,
more confident, and a bit smarter. Come on winter....I'm ready for you!
