Faculty Sponsor

Bart Wolf

College

Arts and Sciences

Discipline(s)

Geography and Meteorology

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Symposium Date

5-3-2014

Abstract

This project examines the 28 May 2013 mesoscale case over north-central Kansas and focuses on the step-by-step process from a student perspective. The project describes the tools, models, parameters, and observations used to determine the focus for the day, including a classic loaded-gun sounding measured and observed by the field team. The decisions made by the team on this day placed them in position to observe an EF-3 tornado near Bennington, Kansas. The main goal of the project is to educate students about how to forecast and safely observe severe weather events through a how-to-guide compiled from experiences in the Valparaiso University Meteorology Department program, Severe Convective Storms Field Study. The project will demonstrate how to apply the knowledge from the course to a real-time, in the field, forecast. Although forecasting is not an exact science just yet, the guide will help educate future students and others on how to utilize various tools and techniques in order to accurately forecast for convective weather.

Biographical Information about Author(s)

For the past 20 years, undergraduate students in the Valparaiso University Meteorology Department program, Severe Convective Storms Field Study, have ventured into the field and applied their classroom knowledge in a hands-on environment. The students collect data, forecast, and discern target areas for severe weather. When conditions allow, the students prepare and launch radiosondes in the pre-storm environment.

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