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2010 National Storm Conference Agenda
9:00 a.m. - Welcome & Announcements
9:15 a.m. - Gary Woodall, National Weather Service
6th Annual Super Storm Spotter Training Session -
"Storm Environment and Behavior: Diagnostic Tools for Spotters"
Gary is the Meteorologist in Charge at the National Weather Service (NWS) Forecast Office in Phoenix, Arizona (previously WCM - Ft. Worth). He received his BS degree in meteorology from Florida State University in 1985, and his MS in 1988 from the University of Oklahoma (OU). At OU, he served on the university's severe storm intercept team performing Doppler radar analyses of severe storms. He has developed spotter training materials which are used nationwide by the NWS.
This year's Super Storm Spotter session will outline the environments favorable for organized thunderstorms. Gary will discuss various types of organized storms such as supercells and the wide variety of multicells, and will present some more common storm evolutions including cold pool generation and supercell-to-bow echo transitions. Some possible mechanisms for the production of storm rotation in supercells will be reviewed. Gary will present these topics in the context of how it will benefit the storm spotter. Environmental clues for recognizing these events will be discussed. The session will conclude with an overview of the importance of mesoanalysis and will illustrate these concepts in a case study of a recent severe weather event.
11:30 a.m. - Break
11:40 a.m. - Viewing of the Red Cross video "F5" Running Time: 20 Minutes
"F5" focuses on the devastating results of a mass tornado outbreak in the Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW) Metroplex, and how the community can help. In the movie, viewers will follow the story lines of several characters including Paul, a teen-aged boy who gets separated from his Grandma Rose during the storm. Enrique, a Hispanic man who speaks no English, suffers the worst pain imaginable. Mr. and Mrs. Van Dyke, self-made millionaires, find themselves sitting on cots in a Red Cross shelter. The video is was created through a partnership between the American Red Cross-Dallas Area Chapter and SCOMPA (Southwest Community of Motion Picture Artists) and is comprised of an all volunteer cast and crew.
12:00 p.m. - Lunch, catered by Colter's Barbeque - $7.00.
DFW SUPER TORNADO OUTBREAK - GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 2010
12:30 p.m. - Scott Rae, North Central Texas Council of Governments
"The 100 square mile tornado path: Greensburg comes to Dallas"
Scott is celebrating his 20th year with the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the regional planning agency for the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. Scott has been an active developer of geographic information system, database, and web applications for a variety of demographic, environmental, emergency management and city planning programs. His work has been seen on Discovery, National Geographic, and Weather Channels, as well as in the New York Times, Dallas Morning News, and numerous geographic information system publications. Scott received a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1990 and a BS from the University of Oklahoma in 1988.
Today, Scott will introduce the new DFW Super Tornado Scenario based on the May 4, 2007 Greensburg, Kansas area tornado tracks. The Greensburg tornado family impacted a staggering amount of surface area during its life. What would this same storm look like if it occurred in one of the largest and fastest growing urban areas in the United States? He'll examine those numbers in his presentation.
1:00 p.m. - Tim Marshall, Stormtrack
"Building Damage in the DFW Tornado Scenario"
Tim is a meteorologist and civil engineer who makes his living surveying and assessing damage in the wake of tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and hailstorms. He earned a BS degree in meteorology from Northern Illinois Univ. (1977) and a MS degree in Atmospheric Science from Texas Tech Univ. in 1980. He serves on a number of committees including those on Severe Local Storms with the American Meteorological Society, and the Enhanced Fujita scale.
Tim will discuss the degrees of building damage expected during the DFW Super Tornado Outbreak.
2:00 p.m. - Mark Fox, National Weather Service
"Providing Decision Support Service in the Information Age"
Mark is the Warning & Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) for the NWS in Ft. Worth. Mark graduated with a degree in meteorology from the University of Oklahoma. He later worked at the NBC affiliate in Wichita Falls, Texas as a meteorologist. He worked for NWS in Ft. Worth, Amarillo and then Lubbock. Mark returned to Fort Worth as the Regional Training Officer for the Southern Region Headquarters where he worked on Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Gustav, and Ike. In August of 2009, he began his current position as WCM.
Technological changes in the past ten years or so have made it much easier for storm spotters and the public to get real time reports of ongoing severe weather. This is wonderful progress when the goal is to find out what is going on at a moment's notice. However, from the NWS standpoint of public safety, this poses a few problems. In the case of the DFW Super Tornado Outbreak, the challenge becomes crafting a single, easy to understand message that is consistent from the NWS, to local media, and to the general public. The consistent message will focus on getting people to understand the threat that still exists in their community, even though dramatic pictures and accounts of previous tornadoes will likely garner a lot of attention in the Metroplex.
3:00 p.m. - Martin Lisius, TESSA
"Chase Day: April 2, 2010 - The DFW Super Tornado Intercept"
In addition to his role as TESSA chairman, Martin founded StormStock, a weather footage library, which provides elements to TV and film producers worldwide. Dramatic footage captured by Martin and the talented team of StormStock photographers can be seen in programs such as "Raging Planet, "Greensburg" and the academy award-winning "An Inconvenient Truth." He is also founder of Tempest Tours, Inc., a storm chasing expedition company, and a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington.
Martin will summarize his intercept of the nearly two-mile wide EF5 "super tornado" that passed through Arlington, Texas and surrounding areas on April 2, 2010. He will discuss the meteorological setup for the event and what he witnessed firsthand though out the day. He will conclude with a brief discussion regarding mitigation.
4:00 p.m. - Dr. Kevin A. Kloesel, University of Oklahoma
"Tempestas Benedictio. (Or, May Inflow Always Be at Your Back)"
Kevin Kloesel is Associate Dean for Public Service and Outreach in the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences at the University of Oklahoma. He is directly responsible for outreach programs and tours for over 30,000 people that visit the National Weather Center facility in Norman annually. In addition, he is an Associate Professor in the OU School of Meteorology with teaching and research interests ranging from synoptic meteorology to societal impacts and decision making in weather-impacted situations. He led the team that won the Innovations in American Government Award from Harvard University and the Ford Foundation for their work with the emergency management community in Oklahoma. While a tenured faculty member at Florida State University, he served as a research fellow with the Cooperative Institute for Tropical Meteorology, and co-directed an outreach project, EXPLORES!, which provided NOAA satellite data ingest capabilities to over 200 schools throughout Florida.
In today's closing session, Kevin will provide a light hearted look at the difficulty of data interpretation, how conflicting information results in poor decision making, and how forecast uncertainty shapes the public perception of meteorologists and storm spotters. This session will serve as a reminder of the information that is truly necessary to achieve an effective and efficient warning program, and the role as spotters in that process. Emphasis on "do's" and "don't do's" round out the presentation.
5:00 p.m. - Door Prize giveaway and Dinner Location Announcement
6:00 p.m. - Dinner. Join us for a casual gathering at a TBD dinner location.
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TESSA T-shirts, decals and videos can be purchased at the TESSA Store in the vendor area. Super Storm Spotter items are available. Please support the conference by purchasing items from the TESSA Store. Take time to thank the supporters listed below for helping to keep this event free and open to the public.
Door prizes are $1.00 each and can be purchased at the TESSA Store. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the conference. Funds from the sale of tickets and TESSA Store merchandise will be used to help pay for today's event.
We would like to thank the following for their generous support.
The American Meteorological Society and National Weather Association
chapters of North Texas and the National Weather Service.
Primary Sponsors: NBC5 Weather Team, Tempest Tours, Inc.
Vendors: Anything Weather, Stormtrack, Medical Reserve Corps., New Mountain Innovations.
Special thanks to Prairie Pictures, Inc. for providing staff and materials and to the American Red Cross-Dallas Area Chapter.
Conference Team: Martin Lisius, Penny Greenbauer, Shelby Greenbauer, Nick Howard.
Please advise us before the conference ends if we failed to thank anyone who provided support.
TESSA Mission Statement
The Texas Severe Storms Association (TESSA) is a 501(c)(3) national non-profit organization founded to bring together both amateur and professional severe weather scientists in an attempt to better understand dangerous storms through the collection and diffusion of knowledge.
Monetary contributions should be made payable to "TESSA."
Texas Severe Storms Association PO Box 122222 Arlington, Texas 76012 www.tessa.org
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