June-July 2000 Newsletter

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National Weather Association
Newsletter
No. 00- 6, 7                                   June-July 2000

Table of Contents

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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Building on the Past and Present as the NWA Continues into the 21st Century

In late March, I was honored to be asked to give a presentation at the 4th Annual Severe Storms and Doppler Radar Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, sponsored by the Central Iowa NWA Chapter. This conference has to be one of the best-kept secrets in the operational meteorological community. It is an excellent example of building on the past and present as we improve our association and severe weather prediction going into the 21st Century. Over 300 participants attended this three-day weekend conference. The presentations were excellent, informative in content (e.g., applying research to the world of operations) and in their use of graphics and illustrations. In addition, I was thrilled to see NWS Forecast Offices involved in presenting papers where meteorological satellite derived products and satellite imagery were primary tools in the prediction of severe weather and particularly flash floods. Several presentations highlighted satellite data applications that utilized animated sequences of water vapor and infrared imagery to succinctly illustrate important features to operational analysis and forecasting.

Some topics covered were: 1) utility of GOES sounder data during a major flash flood event, 2) radar-rainfall analysis of major floods in Iowa and Nebraska, 3) alternative verification schemes for severe weather warnings, 4) a special session on the latest findings from the VORTEX experiment, 5) a severe weather prediction workshop [It was amazing how many of us in attendance missed the prediction of the 3 April 1974 record breaking tornadic outbreak over the Ohio Valley.] and 6) new and improved products from the NOAA/NWS/NCEP Storm Prediction Center, and the list of topics goes on.

The Central Iowa NWA local Chapter who sponsors this highly successful conference, deserves all of our congratulations. This chapter is unique in that they are a small group with BIG plans and THEY WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE in the community. For example, one of their plans is to purchase equipment to instrument a local TV tower to display hourly profiles of boundary layer winds. style="mso-spacerun: yes">  This information in turn will be provided to the NWS. The chapter also supports education by furnishing grants to Iowa schools. Five $750 grants were distributed to schools in March. The schools were selected based on the best proposals that demonstrated unique approaches for enhancing science education.

Congratulations and thanks to all Central Iowa NWA Chapter members for furthering the goals and objectives of the NWA in their local area and for accomplishing volunteer work "well above and beyond."

Shifting gears, Steve Harned and his 25th NWA Anniversary committee are well underway in planning a great Annual Meeting and Celebration for mid-October. All of the special speakers recommended by Steve’s committee have accepted invitations. Special workshops have been proposed and are in the process of being finalized and over 110 abstracts have been received by Gail Hartfield and her Annual Meeting program committee. An agenda will be forthcoming, once all of the submitted abstracts have been evaluated for session compatibility and mode of presentation (oral or poster).   Look for it on the NWA Web site (www.nwas.org) and in the next Newsletter. Hope to see many of you in October!

- Rod Scofield

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HOTEL CHANGE for the NWA 25TH ANNUAL MEETING

THE NWA 25TH ANNUAL MEETING LOCATION HAS CHANGED TO THE HILTON HOTEL IN GAITHERSBURG, MARYLAND (see page 7).

In June, the Holiday Inn Silver Spring sales representative called with disrupting news. Construction work is required in October and will affect the first four floors (including meeting rooms). The hotel staff quickly helped us find another hotel property. A new contract was negotiated and signed with the Hilton Gaithersburg in early July. All who reserved rooms for the NWA Annual Meeting 2000 at the Holiday Inn or Town Center in Silver Spring, will have their reservations released to the Hilton and be personally notified by the NWA Executive Director as soon as possible. If you registered at the Holiday Inn or Town Center and were not notified, please call the Executive Director at (334) 213-0388. Those individuals will of course have the opportunity to cancel, confirm or change their reservations. This situation caused delays in publishing exhibit and other program details. Thank you all for your support and patience.
- Exec. Dir.

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LOCAL CHAPTER NEWS

The Arkansas Chapter of the NWA held their May 2000 meeting at the studios of Today’s THV (KTHV-TV), Channel 11 in downtown Little Rock. The meeting convened at 7:00 PM with 17 members present. Host for the evening was Ed Buckner, Chief Meteorologist for the station. Due to the absence of President George Wilken and Vice President Jerry Reynolds, Corresponding Secretary Newton Skiles did not hold a business meeting, but reminded everyone of the upcoming Chapter picnic in June. Mr. Buckner gave the group a comprehensive tour of the station's weather department and studio. He described the different computer systems that were used to design the weather graphics on each of his weathercasts. He also talked about the long work hours that the station’s meteorologists endure when significant severe weather outbreaks strike Arkansas. A special highlight of the evening was the tour of KTHV’s new “outdoor weather garden” that had just started to be used in the weather segments on the evening newscasts. After the tour, Mr. Buckner quizzed the group with weather questions, and the winners received door prizes provided by KTHV. The group thoroughly enjoyed the operationally-oriented meeting and many questions were asked throughout the tour. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM.
- Newton Skiles, Corresponding Secretary

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MEMBER NEWS

Max Mayfield, a charter member of the NWA, was selected as the Director of the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in May. He had been acting director since December when Jerry Jarell retired. Max began his operational meteorology career in the Air Force and joined the National Weather Service in 1972 in Miami as a satellite meteorologist. After earning a master's degree from Florida State University in 1987, he became a hurricane specialist. At the May press conference in Washington DC announcing the 2000 Atlantic hurricane season outlook, Dr. D. James Baker, administrator of NOAA, introduced Max as "a leader with confidence among his peers, emergency managers, and the media." In 1996, Max was awarded the AMS Francis W. Reichelderfer Award for exemplary performance as the NHC coordinator of Hurricane preparedness briefings to emergency managers and the public. Max's goals are to help improve the warning lead times and increase the NHC's understanding of the tracks and intensity of hurricanes.

Dennis H. McCarthy, a charter member of the NWA, was selected as Director of the Central Region of the National Weather Service in July. Dennis began his operational meteorology career in the Air Force in 1969 and joined the National Weather Service in 1974. He has served in NWS forecast offices in Portland, Maine; Indianapolis, IN; his hometown of Saint Louis, MO; and Norman, OK where he served as Meteorologist in Charge. He received the NWA Member of the Year Award in 1981. He also led his Norman NWS Forecast Office to be selected for the NWA Special Award in 1992 for actively participating in many risk reduction projects early in the NWS Modernization and Restructuring program. At the official announcement of his new position Dennis remarked, “I look forward to getting to know the people in Central Region as well as I know the people on staff at Norman. I’ve known some of these folks for many years, so it is sort of like a homecoming. I look forward to working with the staffs of 38 weather forecast offices and two river forecast centers to help make weather forecasts and warnings in the Central Region better than ever.”

Brigadier General Fred P. Lewis retired as US Air Force Director of Weather in June after serving in that position since 8 July 1996. He was commissioned through the AF Reserve Officer Training Program in January 1972 after obtaining a BS degree in Physics from the University of Arizona. He attended the University of Utah for basic meteorology training earning a master's degree in 1973 and later returned for a Ph.D. in 1979. During his more than 28 years in the Air Force he served in a variety of duties beginning as a computer system analyst at the AF Global Weather Central and later became Chief of the central's Numerical Forecast Section. He was the Officer-in-Charge of the USAF weather unit at Suwon Air Base in the Republic of Korea, Vice Commander of the USAF Environmental Technical Applications Center at Scott AFB, IL (now the AF Combat Climatology Center in Asheville, NC) and the Commander of the 26th Weather Squadron at Barksdale AFB, LA. In 1990, he took command of the 1500th Computer Systems Group at Scott AFB providing computer and communications support for base commands. In 1992, he returned to weather support as Chief of the Weather Division at the US Transportation Command. Before moving up to the Pentagon, he was the Director of the Joint Transportation Corporate Information Management Center at the US Transportation Command. In 1985, he was selected to be the first USAF Weather Officer for space shuttle duty, but never flew due to the delays after the Challenger disaster. During his tenure as USAF Director of Weather, he saw continued reductions in military manpower, but led the worldwide AF weather units to utilize the significant advances in technologies and in the science of meteorology to continue to improve aerospace environmental support from "the mud to the sun" to the Army, Air Force and many joint commands. He also formed hubs for centralized area support and for training new forecasters, and organized Combat Weather Teams for "front-line" support. General Lewis is moving to Aurora, CO to be Vice President at IPS MeteoStar, Inc.

The new Air Force Director of Weather is Brigadier General David L. Johnson moving to the Pentagon from Hurlburt Field, Florida where he was Vice Commander of the AF Special Operations Command.

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PRODUCT CHANGE INITIATIVES

• CONVECTIVE OUTLOOKS IN PROBABILITIES

  The NOAA/NWS/NCEP Storm Prediction Center has experimental efforts underway in using probabilities in convective outlooks. A tutorial on this initiative and experimental forecasts are available on the Internet at Web site: www.spc.noaa.gov/products/exper/

  Viewers of the experimental products are asked to give feedback comments to the Storm Prediction Center. A form is provided on their Web site for immediate e-mail submissions.

  Probabilities are being considered in other weather products and services.  Hopefully the probability is high that all operational meteorologists will be able to understand what the probability statements mean and be able to easily explain them to customers and the general public. How the probability forecasts are verified should also be fully understood. (Ed. We would be interested in receiving member suggestions on what are the best references to use in understanding probabilities for the professional and especially the layman.)

• EXTENDING THE RANGE OF FORECASTS AND OUTLOOKS

  The NOAA/National Weather Service will be expanding the range of the familiar five-day forecast to a seven-day forecast beginning in October. Many readers may have seen charter member, Louis Uccellini, Director of the NOAA/NWS National Centers of Environmental Prediction, announcing this change on television at the end of June. If you missed it, check the Internet for the NBC Nightly News story by correspondent Robert Hager (including a video report) at Web site:

  www.msnbc.com/news/427827.asp

  Louis Uccellini also briefed on the goals for increased accuracy in all forecast and outlook products with the advent of more supercomputing power.

• ASOS ICE-FREE WIND SENSOR CONTRACT AWARD

  The Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) Evaluation of Ice-Free Wind Sensors has been completed. The down-select to a single firm went to Vaisala, Incorporated, Handar Business Unit in Sunnyvale, California. The contract was awarded July 5, 2000. It begins an approximately nine-month development and ASOS integration effort which will culminate in the delivery of tested, qualified sensors. The contract provides for a sensor which will meet the basic requirement of accurately measuring wind speed and direction up to 125 knots. The contract also provides for an effort to extend that range up to 175 knots. Diagnostic capabilities will be implemented in the sensor as part of the development and integration effort. Limited production is scheduled to start in May 2001, in support of an Operational Test & Evaluation at 20 sites the following winter. Full-scale production is scheduled to begin in April 2002. Deployment will begin in July 2002. Deployment at the 314 NWS sites will be completed by June 2003, and deployment at the 569 FAA sites will be completed by December 2004. (This schedule is based upon the President's FY 2001 Budget profile.)

• TAILORED PRODUCTS & SERVICES

  NWA corporate members are continually increasing their tailored products and services and improving their routine weather support. Their Internet Web sites can be linked from the NWA Web site (www.nwas.org). They are listed in the National Weather Digest and many will exhibit at NWA's 25th Annual Meeting. Check them out!

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USDA AND DOC JOIN FORCES TO BOOST EARLY WARNING SYSTEM IN RURAL AREAS

Washington, May 12, 2000 -- Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Commerce are creating a partnership to extend emergency radio service to rural areas of the nation. Through the agreement, USDA's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) will encourage the installation of emergency radio transmitters by identifying rural utility towers not currently receiving the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) transmissions. NOAA will work with the utility to install the transmitters to provide the warning signal to that area.

"The cost of installing radio transmitters is small when you consider the life-saving service it will provide to millions of rural people nationwide," Glickman said. "West of the Mississippi River, more than two-thirds of the land area is still not covered by this vital radio service, and large areas of the eastern third of the country also lack coverage."  Inadequate warnings of approaching hazards, such as floods, tornadoes and hurricanes are particularly acute in the nation's rural areas.  Once the transmitters are installed in areas, households will be able to receive warnings through NOAA radios, the Internet, pagers and telephones.

     "This agreement is a real life saver for rural Americans," said Jack Kelly, assistant administrator for the National Weather Service. "The Rural Utilities Service's long-standing relationship with electric and telephone cooperatives will make it easier to identity weather radio transmission sites, as well as partnering with them to install transmitters."  Utilities willing to mount a transmitter will be asked to donate power to run it, including an emergency back-up power source. The savings from using existing towers and power supplies can more than double the deployment of weather radio transmitters.
- USDA Press Release

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× IN MEMORIAM Ø

ARMAND R. IACCHEO (1923-2000). It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Armand Iaccheo on 25 May 2000.  Armand was born on 24 April 1923, in New York City. In his early teens, he and his family moved to San Francisco and he began his college education at U.C. Berkeley. Before he had completed his studies for a degree, Armand enlisted in the Army Air Corps the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  He was trained by the Air Corps as a weather forecaster and achieved the rank of Lieutenant. He was stationed in North Africa and Italy. While in Rome, Armand met Armanda and they were married in St. Peters Cathedral in Vatican City. Photos of their wedding appeared on the cover of "Stars and Stripes".  When discharged from service after the war, he returned to the States with his new bride and a passion for predicting the weather.

He returned to college and graduated from Washington University in Saint Louis and then began his career at privately-owned Weather Corporation of America. A short time later, he was transferred to New York to open a branch office of the company.  Once it was established, Armand returned to the Saint Louis office. While working for Weather Corporation in the 1950's, he performed on a local radio station as the morning show's "weatherman". His excellent forecasting ability along with his pleasant personality and outgoing demeanor led to him becoming Saint Louis' first professional meteorologist to do a daily television weather segment. It was titled "Armand With the Weather".

His accomplishments were many in the scientific field of meteorology. Armand was a pioneer in cloud seeding, courageously flying into dangerous atmospheric conditions to bring rain to agricultural areas experiencing droughts. Some newspapers named him the "Rain Maker".  He was quick to make them aware cloud seeding was no magic but a scientific method of inducing precipitation.  He was also very instrumental in developing custom weather forecasts for the gas & electric utility industry.

For a brief period of time, from August 1968 to January of 1970, Armand and his family moved to Connecticut. He began a new position at Travelers Research Company, a subsidiary of Travelers Insurance. A year and a half later, Armand's replacement at Weather Corporation tragically died in an airplane accident. Although he loved his work in research, he agreed to a request to return to Weather Corporation out of loyalty to the company and its employees, most of whom Armand had hired and acted as mentor and friend.   They were thrilled to have him return.

He became President of Weather Corporation based on his professional abilities and talents as a leader. Armand was able to adapt and succeed in all aspects of business and meteorology.   His magnetic personality made him very successful in marketing the services of the private weather company as well as running the business. He insisted on providing accurate and timely forecasts for their clients across the country.  His reputation and the reputation of Weather Corporation were synonymous with excellence. In 1974 Armand was awarded with his Certified Consulting Meteorologist (CCM) certificate from the American Meteorological Society.  

Armand also joined the National Weather Association early and Weather Corporation of America was a Charter Corporate Member.

He began his well deserved semi-retirement when Weather Corporation was sold to Surface Systems, Inc. in March of 1995.  Armand very much enjoyed working at the new company, but encouragement from his family to spend more time with them brought him to his decision to retire. At age 74, he retired, but he agreed to continue as a consultant and remained in that capacity until his death.

Armand was, without question, successful in every capacity of his career. He was highly regarded by his peers in the field of meteorology, his former clients, and his co-workers. His former employees had great respect and affection for him as he had for them.  His success was not limited to his professional life.   He was a devoted husband for 54 years, a loving father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He will be greatly missed by the meteorological community and by all who knew him.
- Noel Wiedner

BRIAN BOSART, 26, a graduate student in atmospheric sciences at UCLA died on 29 May 2000, from injuries sustained in a tragic car accident while driving home from a vacation in Mexico with his friends. Professor Lance F. Bosart, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the State University of New York - Albany, and NWA charter member, sent the following message to Editor Eli Jacks and others.

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Helen and I have been overwhelmed by your outpouring of support and affection after our tragic loss of Brian. Scholarship (memorial) funds in honor of Brian have been established at Cornell and UCLA. In response to a number of requests, the school addresses are provided below for those who might be interested in making a contribution in Brian's memory.  For those of you who decide to make a contribution, please be sure to write Brian's name on your check and cover note.

In deep appreciation....

Lance and Helen Bosart

Cornell University
c/o Ms. Jacqueline Wright
Brian Bosart Scholarship Fund
55 Brown Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
                     

Dept of Atmospheric Sciences
c/o Ms. Mary Okino
Brian Bosart Memorial Fund
7127 Math Sciences
Box 951565
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1565

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MEETINGS OF INTEREST