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2007 National Storm Conference
Saturday, March 10, 2007, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
The Colleyville Center
Colleyville, Texas
Agenda
9:00 a.m. - Welcome & Announcements
PREPARING THE TROOPS
9:15 a.m. - Gary Woodall, National Weather Service - Ft. Worth, Texas
3rd Annual Super Storm Spotter Training Session - "Severe Storms and Their Environment: Diagnostic Tools for Storm Spotters."
Gary Woodall is the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Ft. Worth. He received his BS degree in meteorology from Florida State University in 1985, and his MS in 1988 from the University of Oklahoma (OU). At OU, he served on the university's severe storm intercept team performing Doppler radar analyses of severe storms. He has developed spotter training materials which are used nationwide by the NWS.
Gary's presentation will describe the fundamentals of severe storms, interaction with their environment, and mechanisms for severe weather production including basic interpretation of sounding diagrams, surface and upper-air maps, and radar imagery. The program will conclude with a mesoscale and storm-scale review of the May 9, 2006 tornado in Collin and Grayson counties in north Texas.
11:30 a.m. - Lunch, catered by Colter's Barbeque - $7.00.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
12:15 p.m. - David Finfrock, NBC5 Weather Team
"The Making of a Legend: Harold Taft and Early TV Weathercasting"
David is the chief meteorologist at NBC5 (KXAS-TV). He was honored by the Dallas Press Club with a Katie Award for Best Weathercast in Texas and received an Emmy for the weather special, "Tracking Texas Weather." David joined NBC5 in 1975 as a meteorologist after spending time as a field researcher for the Juneau Icefield Research Program in Alaska. He graduated from Texas A&M University with a BS degree in meteorology.
David will discuss the early years of TV weather and the impact that WBAP/KXAS meteorologist and TV weather pioneer Harold Taft had on its development. Harold is credited with "inventing" TV weather as we know it today. David will highlight Taft's "Weather Telefacts" program, and review the changes and advances in TV weather over the years.
1:05 p.m. - Alan Moller, National Weather Service - Ft. Worth, Texas.
"Dallas, Dateline April 2, 1957"
Alan Moller grew up in Ft. Worth and crossed the Red River to study meteorology at OU, where he received BS and MS degrees. Alan participated in the first official chase program in 1972, the "Tornado Intercept Project". He has chased storms ever since, and has contributed to numerous spotter and forecaster projects. Projects and studies include: the 1985 FSL forecast experiment, the 1986 national microburst symposium, the 1991 Tornado Symposium, and the 1995 VORTEX project.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the deadly 1957 Dallas tornado. Alan will discuss the event in detail including the parameters that came together on that historically significant day.
2:05 p.m. - Break
EXPLORING THE SCIENCE
2:15 p.m. - Larry Carey, Texas A&M University Department of Atmospheric Sciences
"Lightning in Supercells - Observations and Implications for Tornado Nowcasting"
Larry is an assistant professor at Texas A&M's Department of Atmospheric Sciences. His research goal is to understand the integrated kinematic, microphysical and electrical nature of clouds and precipitation systems and the influence of the mesoscale environment on these properties.
Larry will review studies on the cloud-to-ground lightning behavior in tornadic and non-tornadic supercells and will discuss the current utility of the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) in tornado nowcasting. More recently, the three-dimensional lightning structure within supercells have been observed with VHF-based lightning mapping systems. Larry will discuss the latest technologies capable of mapping lightning three-dimensionally within supercells, and how total lightning observations may fit into the tornado nowcasting process.
3:10 p.m. - Erik Rasmussen, Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies (CIMMS)
"Supercell Tornado Formation: Recent Discoveries"
Erik began chasing storms on a bicycle in Kansas, circa 1970. He improved his odds significantly in 1973 with the acquisition of Volkswagen Super Beetle. He completed his BS degree at the University of Oklahoma in 1980 and MS degree at Texas Tech University in 1982. He conducted photogrammetry on film of the May 28, 1980 Tulia, Texas area tornadoes, completed his PhD at Colorado State University in 1992, directed VORTEX at at the National Severe Storms laboratory in 1994 and 1995, and was presented with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers at the White House in 1997. Erik works for CIMMS from his passive solar home in Colorado.
His presentation will tie together the relationships between supercell structure, mesocyclones, tornado cyclones, and the descending reflectivity core (aka "the blob") as we understand them today.
4:00 - Break
4:10 p.m. - Rich Thompson, Storm Prediction Center
"Tornado Forecasting is Easy"
A native of Houston, Rich completed his BS and MS degrees in meteorology at the University of Oklahoma. In 1994, he accepted a forecast position with the National Severe Storms Forecast Center in Kansas City. Rich is currently in his seventh year as a lead forecaster at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
Rich will discuss several aspects of tornado forecasting in an operational environment and will lead an interactive tornado forecast exercise with the audience.
5:15 p.m. - Farewell and AUD Site Announcement
6:00 p.m. - Annual Unofficial Dinner (AUD). In case you didn't get your storm fix at the conference, you're welcome to join us for dinner afterwards. We'll all pile into a local restaurant and talk weather. Site to be announced.
A 5-minute break will follow each afternoon presentation, unless otherwise noted. Audience Q&A as time allows.
TESSA T-shirts, decals and videos can be purchased at the TESSA Store in the vendor area. Be sure to visit conference vendors to purchase their goods and services. Super Storm Spotter items will be available for purchase after the training session has ended.
TESSA Mission Statement
The Texas Severe Storms Association (TESSA) is a 501(c)(3) national non-profit organization founded to bring together both amateur and professional severe weather scientists in an attempt to better understand dangerous storms through the collection and diffusion of knowledge.
Texas Severe Storms Association PO Box 122222 Arlington, Texas 76012 www.tessa.org
Directions and Lodging Options
Sponsorship Opportunities
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