Saturday, May 26, 2007
PICTURES OF AMS VISIT AT KPHO & INFO.
WHAT IS THE AMS?
I have been active in the American Meteorological Society (AMS)
since the 1980's and have always enjoyed associating with those researchers who truly represent the title of meteorologist (from here on noted as a "met" for short). Typically, "on-air" broadcasting mets are not doing "hard core" research. What I mean by this is that most all broadcasting mets are not publishing research articles about meteorology. Certainly publishing is the work done primarily by the scholarly side of meteorology but there are many mets that do some hard core research and present this information. That's why it is fun to go to local and national meteorology conferences and meet the people, read the research journals & papers and see the ppt presentations given by "real mets" in the industry. Additionally, and on a local level, the mets in the trenches of daily meteorology work are the ones that work for the local branch of the National Weather Service (NWS) which is under the umbrella organization of the NOAA. See this link for more:
Over the years, I have met a lot NWS mets while working as a broadcast met in 8 different states from both the east coast to the west coast. They are the backbone of all the main forecasts that get put on air and are the real unsung heros of meteorology. Many are part of the AMS and it is always fun when a local chapter of the AMS gets together to discuss weather. Typically there are many from other related organizations - education, flood control districts, water districts, etc. - who come to these meetings and they can be quite an eclectic group of weather geeks (I am including myself in this group).
Thanks for Coming to Visit!!
Steve
Posted at 6:23 PM by steve
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Storm Grazing
This morning the idea I have is that we live in an area (the Phoenix valley) that is highly subjected to "Storm Grazing".
What do I mean by "grazing"?
I am a big fan of dictionary.com. Here is the link to the definition that I mean for grazing.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/grazing
grazed, graz·ing,
1. to touch or rub lightly in passing.
How do I apply this to local meteorology?
We regularly have storms that skirt by the edges of the valley with little influence on most everyone in the Phoenix area. Yesterday was a good example of this. I come into work at 3:30 AM in the morning and find a number of reports of hail, lightning, rain, and wind gusts, most all which happened out side of the valley. I am comforted by the information that no major damages are reported and think about the fact that we are running a huge rain deficit (3" below normal) for the water calendar year (I'll explain water calendar in a future post) and we did not see a drop of rain in the valley yesterday.
To me, good forecasting is like hitting a target. That is why I really like our very localized Futurecast "on-air" forecast map. It really helps pinpoint the storms and when and where they will hit. Lately, it has been very accurate, but a lot of that is dependent on the model data. For those of you interested in looking at model data and how it works here is a good link:
http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/ensembletraining/
Grazed by the fury of severe weather, we calmly go about out daily lives with little concern about the power of nature. As we approach and enter the Monsoon, "storm grazing" will increase and eventually more nasty storms will roll through the valley bringing greater respect and empathy for those who experience severe weather. So the next time you get "grazed" you may want to think about those who got hit and wonder what it would be like if the storm had come into your neighborhood.
Until next post....happy grazing:)
- Steve
What do I mean by "grazing"?
I am a big fan of dictionary.com. Here is the link to the definition that I mean for grazing.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/grazing
grazed, graz·ing,
1. to touch or rub lightly in passing.
How do I apply this to local meteorology?
We regularly have storms that skirt by the edges of the valley with little influence on most everyone in the Phoenix area. Yesterday was a good example of this. I come into work at 3:30 AM in the morning and find a number of reports of hail, lightning, rain, and wind gusts, most all which happened out side of the valley. I am comforted by the information that no major damages are reported and think about the fact that we are running a huge rain deficit (3" below normal) for the water calendar year (I'll explain water calendar in a future post) and we did not see a drop of rain in the valley yesterday.
To me, good forecasting is like hitting a target. That is why I really like our very localized Futurecast "on-air" forecast map. It really helps pinpoint the storms and when and where they will hit. Lately, it has been very accurate, but a lot of that is dependent on the model data. For those of you interested in looking at model data and how it works here is a good link:
http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/ensembletraining/
Grazed by the fury of severe weather, we calmly go about out daily lives with little concern about the power of nature. As we approach and enter the Monsoon, "storm grazing" will increase and eventually more nasty storms will roll through the valley bringing greater respect and empathy for those who experience severe weather. So the next time you get "grazed" you may want to think about those who got hit and wonder what it would be like if the storm had come into your neighborhood.
Until next post....happy grazing:)
- Steve
Posted at 7:14 AM by steve
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Why "blog"?
To "blog" or not to "blog" that is the question.
What would Shakespeare do if he were alive today? I believe he would "blog". Why? Because it is a creative process that allows expression of ideas... or at least that's how I define it. To be more concrete, exact and specific.... I have posted the following link to define what a "blog" is suppose to be according to the online "authority" Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog
A blog (short for web log) is a website where entries are made and displayed in a reverse chronological order.
For my blog, I chose to make it fun (always a subjective term), interesting (or at least what I find interesting), and NOT full of whining (what I see as a pervasive problem in today's society). Finally, I do not pretend to be an expert in the use of the English language and do make mistakes in grammar, spelling, syntax and at times incorrect word usage. Although I will try my best to avoid making mistakes, I can promise you that I will. Therefore, as a mortal being, I am far from perfection, and ask for your patience and kindness when viewing my blog. Thanks for your interest and I look forward to future posts.
Steve
What would Shakespeare do if he were alive today? I believe he would "blog". Why? Because it is a creative process that allows expression of ideas... or at least that's how I define it. To be more concrete, exact and specific.... I have posted the following link to define what a "blog" is suppose to be according to the online "authority" Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog
A blog (short for web log) is a website where entries are made and displayed in a reverse chronological order.
For my blog, I chose to make it fun (always a subjective term), interesting (or at least what I find interesting), and NOT full of whining (what I see as a pervasive problem in today's society). Finally, I do not pretend to be an expert in the use of the English language and do make mistakes in grammar, spelling, syntax and at times incorrect word usage. Although I will try my best to avoid making mistakes, I can promise you that I will. Therefore, as a mortal being, I am far from perfection, and ask for your patience and kindness when viewing my blog. Thanks for your interest and I look forward to future posts.
Steve
Posted at 8:30 AM by steve