NIU "Met" attends the Severe Storms and Doppler Radar Conference

Nine undergraduate students, three graduate students, and Dr. Ashley attended the 12th Annual Severe Storms and Doppler Radar Conference in West Des Moines, IA on March 27th-29th. This year's conference was held at the West Des Moines Sheraton Hotel and Convention Center and provided three days of exciting talks on all aspects of severe weather.

NIU's contingent at the conference!

NIU students and faculty highlighted their own research by presenting four separate posters, including:

• "Hail Climatology and Predictability by ENSO Phase in the North Central U.S." by Simona Olson (NIU) and Barbara Mayes (NWS Omaha, NE); this work highlighted Simona's collaborative research with the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities.
• "Regional Variability of CAPE and Deep Shear from the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis" by Victor Gensini (NIU) and Dr. Harold Brooks (National Severe Storms Laboratory); this work highlighted Victor's research from summer 2007's National Weather Center Research Experiences for Undergraduates, where he had the distinct honor to collaborate with Dr. Brooks at NSSL
  
• "Vulnerability due to Nocturnal Tornadoes" by Walker S. Ashley, Andrew J. Krmenec, Rick Schwantes (NIU); research by Drs. Ashley and Krmenec and Mr. Schwantes illustrates the extreme vulnerability produced by nighttime tornado events.
  
• "A Reassessment of Lightning Fatalities in the United States" by Walker S. Ashley and Christopher Gilson (NIU); This collaborative work between Dr. Ashley and Geography graduate student Chris Gilson is uncovering unique lightning risk and vulnerability patterns in the U.S.