NIU MET Attends COD Severe Weather Symposium

Our good friends at the College of DuPage hosted a remarkable gathering of the brightest minds in severe convective storm meteorology the weekend of November 5-7th. About ten undergraduate students, five graduate students, NIU Staff Meteorologist Gilbert Sebenste, and Dr. Ashley attended the symposium at the DoubleTree Hotel in Downers Grove, IL.

The group of NIU students, staff, and faculty at the conference.

The "all star" lineup of speakers included: Dr. Chuck Doswell (CIMMS), Roger Edwards (SPC/NOAA), Dr. Adam Houston (UNL), Dr. Paul Markowski (PSU), Al Pietrycha (NWS), Dr. Erik Rasmussen (Rasmussen Systems Inc.), Dr. Yvette Richardson (PSU), Dr. Roger Wakimoto (NCAR/EOL), Dr. Morris Weisman (NCAR/MMM), and Dr. Josh Wurman (NCAR/CSWR). The symposium included a number of amazing talks and exhilarating panel discussions that focused on: understanding the latest techniques for severe weather forecasting, the use of mesoscale and storm-scale modeling physical processes leading to the development of supercells and tornadoes, the effective use of remote sensing in severe thunderstorm evolution and behavior, and the preliminary results of VORTEX II. The most remarkable experience of the weekend for the undergraduate students was the group's discussion with Dr. Chuck Doswell on Thursday evening. Dr. Doswell spoke with NIU students privately for roughly an hour, providing insight on what it takes to succeed in the profession.

The folks at NIU would like to thank Paul Sirvatka, Matt Powers, and all the other fine folks at COD who put together this amazing event. Thanks! We can't wait for the next symposium!

Tim Marshall – Damage Expert, Storm Chaser, and NIU Alumus – visits NIU

On Tuesday, November 3rd, the NIU Student Chapter of the AMS hosted a joint meeting with the Chicago AMS Chapter. The meeting featured guest speaker Tim Marshall – a 1978 graduate of the NIU Meteorology Program.

Undergrad Tim Marshall posing in front of Davis Hall (circa 1978).

Tim is a professional engineer for Haag Engineering and travels a great deal surveying storm damage across the U.S. He has conducted more than 100 damage surveys of hailstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Some of the famous tornadoes he has surveyed included the F5's at Jarrell, TX (1997; he told the audience at NIU he considers this the worst damage he has witnessed), Bridge Creek, OK (1999), Greensburg, KS (2007), and Parkersburg, IA (2008). Some of the famous hurricanes he has surveyed include Hugo in South Carolina (1989), Andrew in Florida (1992), Katrina in Mississippi (2005), and Ike in Texas (2008).

Tim is also a pioneering storm chaser. During the past 30 years, Tim has filmed more than 200 tornadoes and experienced 17 hurricanes. He is also a participant in the VORTEX2 project, an ambitious field project investigation tornadogenesis in the Great Plains during the 2009-10 severe weather seasons.

Tim spoke about “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” storm chasing experiences he had during the 2008 season. This funny talk provided insight into the meteorology of some of Tim’s biggest storm chasing catches, as well as “busts”, during this eventful season. Thanks Tim for a wonderful talk!

Portions of this post gleamed from Wikipedia.