Collaboration Activities between Universities and WFO St. Louis

 

 

 

 

A number of staff members at WFO St. Louis are currently working with professors and graduate students from the Department of Meteorology at Saint Louis University, University of Wisconsin, Lyndon State College, and Purdue University.  We also collaborate with scientists from National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder Colorado and the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) in Norman Oklahoma.  

Student Volunteer Program - Summer 2013 (Local studies and Projects) 
 
Fred Glass is working with Marcus Hustedde from Saint Louis University on the topic of "Tropical Storm Remants."  This is investigating 40 cases which had direct impacts to WFO St. Louis. The time period for this study was from 1879 to 2012. One of their goals in this study is to focus on the orientation of the surface low track with respect to St. Louis.  

Jim Sieveking (Lead Forecaster) is working with Sarah Grana from Missouri University on webpage enhancements on the Archived Events page. 

As part of the Student Volunteer program both Sarah and Marcus have worked with the "Long" and "Short" term forecasters in the preparation of aviation and public forecasts.  They also have gained experienced in Damage Assessments. Both Sarah and Marcus have worked with Fred and Ron is the investigation of damaged caused by a tornado over parts of northwest Montgomery County Illinois associated with the 31 May 2013. They also worked with Fred on investigating damage from a a weak tornado which occurred over parts of east-central Franklin and northwest Jefferson counties in east-central Missouri.


Collaboration with the University of Wisconsin (Milwaukee WI)

Lead Forecaster JIm Sieveking is working with Dr. Paul Roebber on the influence of Lake Michigan on the Midwest Blizzard of January 1-3, 1999.  The goal is to publish a formal paper on this case. 


Lyndon State College Lyndonville Vermont and Purdue University, West Lafayette Indiana: - 

Ron Przybylinski from WFO St. Louis and Ray Wolf from WFO Davenport continues to work with Dr. Nolan Atkins from Lyndon State College on the study of nocturnal stable layers and mesovortex evolution along the cyclonic shear side of a bow echoes. Ron, Ray and Dr. Atkins continue to have good discussions on mesovortex evolution issues. Ron continue to view WSR-88D data sets to test the numerical simulation results shown by Atkins and St. Laurent (2009) and Trapp and Weisman.(2003).  We surveyed  reflectivity and particularly Doppler velocity data within 120 km of the radar site to identify the northern anticyclonic mesovortex that Trapp and Weisman has shown.  So far we have no cases supporting the growth of the northern anticycylonic mesovortex over this region of Missouri.

We are looking at the relationship of parcels located along the northern side of the mesoscale RIJ and how they populate a developing mesovortex located along or near the leading edge or within the far eastern side (near or north of the apex of the reflectivity bow (within the theta-e gradient region)  behind the surface gust front and within the leading precipitation field. .

Nolan, Ron, and Lead Forecaster Jason Schaumann from WFO Springfield Missouri continues to study on the 8 May 2009 Super Derecho case which caused extensive damage from southwest Missouri into southeast sections of the state.  A preprint on the 8 May 2009 case was presented at the 25th Conf. on Severe Local Storms in Denver. We plan to conduct additional applied research on this case and work on the completion of a formal paper.  

In 2010, Nolan has shared recent numerical simulation results on meso-vortex formation along the leading edge of convective lines.  Check Group 1 cases under the webpage - "Classification of Quasi-Linear Convective Systems (QLCSs) and the study of mesovortex characteristics across the WFO St. Louis (LSX) County Warning Area" for more information.
 
Ron, and Lead Forecaster Jim Sieveking continue to work with Dr. Atkins at Lyndon State College and Dr. Jeff Trapp and his students from Purdue University on the study of mesovortices associated with other Quasi-Linear Convective Systems (QLCSs) across the Midwest.  Particulary we are focusing our work with surface boundaries intersecting the larger convective line. We will be investiating past and recent cases.   


National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL):


WDSS-II Applications
 
 Douglas Tilly (Forecaster) and Ron Przybylinski (SOO) are working with Travis Smith from the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) on testing the latest set of display systems and algorithms associated with the Warning Decision Support System (WDSS-II). This past summer 2011, through the Student Volunteer Program, Ron worked with Sabrina Litle on the 10 March 2010 tornadic QLCS case. We hope to have Kris Sanders, graduate student from Saint Louis University assist us in the study of Azminuthal Shear product with low-level mesovortices.  Specifically, we plan to work on the capabiltities of the Azmiuthal Shear product from a single and multiple Doppler radar perspectives. Ron is also working with the folks at MIT Lincoln Labs on the CASA Radar Project (Cell-tower Doppler Radar systems).  

 

 

Student Education Employment Program (SCEP)

The Student Education Employment Program (SCEP). We have been in recent contact with Central Region Headquarters and they have stated to us that they have not received any new information about the SCEP program for 2012.  As soon as we receive any new information about the SCEP program it will be presented under the Student Opportunities Website.     

In mid August 2011, WFO St. Louis was awarded a SCEP student through summer 2012.  Kris Sanders (last year a Student Volunteer at WFO St. Louis) was awarded a SCEP position at WFO St. Louis.  He started in mid August 2012 and will continue through summer 2012.  Along with completing a number of required modules, Kris will be working on a few projects and assisting our Service Hydrologist Mark Fuchs and OPL (Karl Sieczyski) on hydro and COOP projects and will gradually learn about the duties of the Hydo-Met Tech position under the direction and guidance of Karl and other interns at WFO St. Louis.  

 

 

 

 

Student Volunteer Program at WFO St. Louis

 

The student volunteer program at WFO St. Louis is a program where undergraduate and graduate students will have the opportunity to work with a Forecaster, Service Hydrologist, or the Sceince and Operations Officer on a project at WFO St. Louis for two to three days a week. The program begins in early June 2013 continues through late July or early August 2013. This is strictly a volunteer program. During the first few days the student will be required to complete three NOAA modules on the U.S. Department of Commerence Learning Management System (LMS). These modules are: 1) NOAA IT Security, 2) NOAA Safety module and 3) Introduction to the National Weather Service.  They are short and should not take no more than one hour to complete each module.  A Reference Guide will be given to the student providing an overview of the National Weather Service in St. Louis.  Besides working on a project, the student will have the opportunity to job shadow the forecast and data collection positions in the operational forecast area. They may also have the chance to participate in a damage assessment, visit a river forecast point, or visit a nearby COOP Observer site. We will be looking at a number of summer projects for the students. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student Volunteer Program  Late Spring - Summer 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sarah Grana (Left) from Missouri University (Columbia MO) and Marcus Hustedde from Saint Louis University 

This past spring we had received interest from undergraduate and graduate students about our program for the late Spring and Summer 2013. The next student volunteer program at WFO St. Louis will occur in the late summer and fall of 2013.  Students who attend a credited program in the field of Meteorology can apply for this position.

We congratulate the following students participating in the 2013 late Spring - Summer 2013 program. 

Sarah Grana (Missouri University) 
Marcus Hustedde (Saint Louis University)  


Sarah is working with Lead Forecaster Jim Sieveking on the climatology of major Hoildays for St. Louis, Columbia and Quincy Illinois. The period will vary for each site due to the beginning of the climate data.  Web pages have been constructed showing this data on the Climate section of the WFO St. Louis webpage.  Sarah will also be updating the weather trivia page with recent significant events. 

Marcus is working with Lead Forecaster Fred Glass on the remnant lows associated with tropical cyclones.  They are investigating forty cases for the time period of 1879 to 2012.  They are tracking the paths of the remnant lows within the St. Louis Warning Forecast Area.  They are looking at different impacts including heavy rainfall, wind and tornadoes.    

Along with their projects, both Sarah and Marcus assisted in damage assessment work with the 31 May 2013 tornadic QLCS. They also participated in job shadowing the "Long" and "Short" forecasters.  In a few cases they were able to edit the grids on the "Long term" desk.   We also gave both Sarah and Marcus a chance to issue mock severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings on the WES machine.  The WES machine allows forecasters to practice on issuing severe and tornado warnings for a particular case. 

 

 

 

 

Student Volunteer Program (Fall 2011)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steohen Morgan (Left) and Jeremy Scott (Right).

Starting in mid September 2011, we have two new student volunteers from Saint Louis University for the Fall 2011 term.  They are Stephen Morgan and Jeremy Scott (seniors).  They will be with us through the first week in December 2011.  Both Stephen and Jeremy will be working on two projects under the direction of Jim Kramper (WCM WFO LSX): a) updating the spotter database and 2) evaluating ploygon warning sizes. Updates on their work will be shown at a later time. Both Stephen and Jeremy job shallowed forecasters at the Long and Short term desk during the stay.     (Click on image for a larger image).



 

 

 

 

Student Volunteer Program ( Late Spring - Summer 2011)

 

Student Volunteers Mike Synder (left) and Matt Staley (right) from Saint Louis University. 


Three of the four student volunteers participated in damage assessment activities with WFO St. Louis personnel.  Matt assisted Fred Glass and Mark Britt (Lead Forecasters) on the April 22, 2011 St. Louis tornado event.  Matt and Mike assisted Ron Przybylinski (SOO) on the damage assessment of a severe microburst event which occurred on 09 June 2011 south of Hannibal Missouri. Sabrina assisted Ron on a damaging downburst wind which occurred with an HP supercell event on July 12, 2011. Matt, Mike and Sabrina became familiar on how to use the damage survey software

Both Matt and Kelly were able to assist Mark Fuchs (Service Hydrologist) wtih E-19 work along the Missouri river.  Matt also assisted Mark in visiting river gages at Washington, Hermann, Gasconade and Chamois Missouri. Kelly assisted Mark along the Meramec River at Steelville and Sullivan Missouri and performed leveling and basic E-19 work (equipement verification and photos). Sabrina assisted Mark Fuchs with leveling work on small stream gages
across parts of southwest Illinois. 

As part of the Student Volunteer Program all four students shadowed the forecasters on the Long and Short-term desk during their tenure.  

Matt's project keyed on using GIS to update the tornado tracks from 1950 - 2010 (all seasons).  
Kelly's project created tornado density maps for the time period of 1950 - 2010 and for every 10 year period. 
Mke's project focused on the performance of Hydro Prediction Center's Day 1 and Day 2 forecasts compared to actual snowfall maps over the Middle Mississippi Valley's region. 
Sabrina's project was a case study analysis of a transitional season tornadic QLCS over parts of Central Missouri.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student Volunteer Program (Late Spring - Summer (2010)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alexandria Karlin (Valparariso University - Valparariso Indiana).   
Kristopher Sanders (Saint Louis University - St. Louis Missouri).  
(Click on image for a larger image).

Alexnadria  and Kris worked on and expanded the WFO St. Louis database for the "Storm Spotter Network." Each late winter and early spring season just after spotter presentations, we collect names, addresses, etc to expand out database.  Along with this project, they participated in a Storm Damage Assessment over parts of Osage County Missouri and worked with the Service Hydrologists on a number of hydro-related projects. Alexandria and Kris were introduced to AWIPS and WSR-88D radar, the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR operated by the FAA) and much more. We had both Alexandria and Kris learn and participate in severe weather operations and learn more about severe storm meteorology over our region. We will have new projects for the students volunteers in the late spring - summer season 2011. 




  

 

 

 

SCEP and Student Volunteer Program in late Spring - Summer 2009.

In late spring 2009 we have selected one SCEP student and one student volunteer.  Our SCEP student Ben Schwedler came from Iowa State University. He has helped us on a number of in-house projects as well as complete training on the HMT desk. Ben has worked with Karl Sieczynski on the local COOP program manager on assisting in replacing broken instruments at local COOP sites. Ben was introduced to the long and short term forecast desk. He will be heading to Purdue University to complete his Master's degree in meteorology further pursuing his interest in mesoscale modeling. He will continue with the SCEP program at WFO Indianapolis.

Our student volunteer, Ben Herzog is from the University of Missouri. Ben has been working the with the Service Hydrologist (Mark Fuchs) and the SOO (Ron Przybylinski) on a number of local and field projects. Ben Herzog spent two days a week here at WFO St. Louis. 
  

 

 

(Left - Ben Herzog)  - student volunteer from the University of Missouri and (Right - Ben Schewdler) SCEP student - from Iowa State University. Ben Herzog will be completing his BS degree in Meteorology at the University of Missouri in spring 2010. Ben Schewdler will be working on his Master's degree in Meteorology at Purdue University.  



Associate Professor Dr. Chuck Graves from Saint Louis University visits WFO St. Louis during the summer of 2009.  

 

 

 

 

 

In early August 2009, Lead Forecaster Scott Truett shows Dr. Graves how to edit and modify the LSX grids in GFE. 

In 2009, we were  honored to have Associated Professor Dr. Charles Graves from Saint Louis University as a "Visiting Professor" to WFO St. Louis.  Dr. Graves has been learning many facets of WFO St. Louis. One of his major goals is the learn more about how NWS forecasters prepare short and long term forecasts. He visits our office between two and three days a week.  We plan to place him on a WES severe case and issue mock warnings on the WES machine. He has been a great addition to our staff this summer where he and the forecaster has exchanged a lot of good information. He will be with us through the first week in August and again in the fall season. During the summer 2008 student volunteer program Nicole McKinney from Saint Louis University and Mike Draper from Missouri University participated in the program. Each student spent two days a week at the National Weather Service office.  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student Volunteer Program 2008

 

 

 

During the summer 2008 student volunteer program Nicole McKinney from Saint Louis University and Mike Draper from Missouri University participated in the program. Each student spent two days a week at the National Weather Service office.  


Their summer projects include the following: 
1) evaluation of the Azmiuthal Shear algorithm on National Severe Storms Laboratory's Warning Decision Support System (WDSSii) from a number of convective storm cases (including HP supercells and bowing convective line events). 
2) Hydro-related work includes:
a) Field work at creek gages to identify impact levels of flood stage, moderate and major flooding. 
b) Similar work in updating E-19 files (particularly at those sites affected by significant flooding during the past two months. 
c) Arcview work in verifying / correcting labeled basins downloaded from the National Severe Storms Laboratory for the OB8.3 release of FFMP.
d) Updating IHFS database with verified USGS 2007 flood crest, along with preliminary crests from 2008 crests.

 

 

 

The NOAA Hollings Grant Student Scholarship Program.

 Another form of paid employment and scholarship money is offered through the NOAA Hollings Scholarship program.  A major part of this program allows an undergraduate student to work at a NOAA facality, including the local National Weather Service Office during the summer months. Scholarship students will be eligible for up to $8000.00 for academic assistance per year for full time during their junior and senior years, a full time internship position during the summer at a NOAA facility ($650.00 per week) a housing sudsidy for scholars who do not reside at home during the summer internship and travel expenses to attend and participate.  The Hollings scholarship is NOAA wide was born from Senator Ernest F. Hollings (Senator) from South Carolina who was a strong advocate in students learning the operations of a NOAA offices including National Weather Service Offices. WFO St. Louis has participated in this program in 2006 and 2007.  To secure more information please check the following website:  https://www.oesd.noaa.gov/Hollings.info.html_.

We encourage undergraduate students to sign up for this program.