17th Annual Severe Weather Symposium

It is that time of year again... Time for the 17th Annual Severe Weather Symposium put on by The Ohio State University Meteorology Club.  The event is going on this coming Friday, March 22nd in Mount Hall at Ohio State.  This year the Club raised the bar with some GREAT speakers.  Here is the rundown(I will break down each shortly):

Welcome - 9:00 - 9:15

Dr. Jay Hobgood - 9:15 - 9:45

(Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at The Ohio State University):
Hurricane Sandy: Challenges posed by a transitioning storm

Seth Binau - 9:50 - 10:35

(Meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Wilmington, Ohio):
June 2012 Derecho

Morning Break - 10:35 - 10:50

Andy Hatzos - 10:55 - 11:40

(Meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Wilmington, Ohio):
March 2nd tornado analysis from the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport radar (TCVG)

Dr. Joshua Wurman - 11:45 - 12:15

(Meteorologist for the Center for Severe Weather Research and creator of the Doppler on Wheels):
Recent Research in Tornadoes and Hurricanes with the Doppler on Wheels

Lunch Break - 12:20 - 1:50

Scott Sabol - 2:00 - 2:30

(Meteorologist at WJW-TV-Fox 8 in Cleveland, Ohio):
Drought of 2012

Flood of 1913 100th anniversary presentation 2:35 - 4:30

               Steve Ferryman and Chris Thoms

(State Hazard Mitigation Officer, Ohio EMA)
(Floodplain Management Program Manager, ODNR)

               Sarah Jamison

(Service Hydrologists at the National Weather Service office in Cleveland, Ohio)

               Jim Noel

(Service Coordination Hydrologist, NWS, OHRFC, Wilmington, OH)

               Julie Dian-Reed

(Service Hydrologist, NWS Wilmington, OH)

Closing - 4:30 - 4:40

As I mentioned... GREAT speakers this year and here is why.  First there is Professor Hobgood.  He was one of my professors when I went to Ohio State and he IS Mr. Hurricane man.  I have even called to consult him after Hurricane Sandy with a question or two and I look forward to his breakdown of the event we experienced last year.  Next up we have Seth Binau from the Wilmington, Ohio NWS office.  We all remember the derecho that rocked Ohio last June that left many, including myself, without power for days.  After a quick break then we really heat up the severe weather topics.  Andy Hatzos, also from ILN NWS, will breakdown the tornadoes from March 2nd, 2012 that rocked Southern Indiana and Ohio.  I remember covering the storms on-air in Dayton and look forward to what we were able to learn from the event.  Josh Wurman will finish the morning half of the symposium.  If you ever watched the Discovery Channel's TV series Storm Chasers then you WILL know Josh.  He is in charge of DOW... Doppler on Wheels.  So when the National Weather Service is issuing tornadoes in the Plains then Josh is in charge of mobilizing the radars to better understand and predict tornadoes.  I look forward to his breakdown of the research from Vortex.

Then we all run to get a bite to eat.

The afternoon gets kicked off with someone that I see as a social media role model.  Scott Sabol is a social media hound and if you follow is Facebook, Twitter, blog, or any other social media he will develop, you will learn that he is GREAT at engaging viewers and always does his research.  Over the last year he would breakdown the drought and how it compared to past years.  Look forward to that.  Then the remainder of the symposium will be a great history lesson for, I would assume, everyone at the symposium... the Flood of 1913.  As many of you know, I started the moped club in Dayton called the DAM Riders, Dayton Area Moped Riders, and we thought it was appropriate because of all the dams around town.  WELL... the dams were built after the flood of 1913.  I will be interested in seeing how today's standards would hold up if the same scenario would happen again.

So a JAM PACKED day on Friday and the best part is that it is completely free to attend.  If you would like to RSVP, them click on the link, HERE.  I do believe that the Club will be selling t-shirts to help raise some money for the symposium and club.  I know I will be there, so be sure to come up and say hello.  On a sidenote... the Club moved the date from April to March a couple years ago for one reason... There always was severe weather the same day as the symposium.  To my recollection, even when moved to March there has been severe weather.  BUT this week it looks like Friday will be pretty quiet and mild.

Speaking of the forecast... Rain is pushing in from the south.  Parts of far Southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky have received about 1-2" of snow, but the temperatures are warming and we will see the rain move into Columbus a little after midnight tonight.  The heaviest rain will be before noon Monday and Southeastern Ohio will see the heaviest rain and best chances for a few rumbles of thunder.  Most of the rain will pull off to the east by the evening commute.  I would not be surprised if the Northern Ohio does not see much, if any rain, since most of this is staying to the south.  At least once the rain lifts north on Monday we will briefly see mild temperatures.  A few lingering flurries Tuesday and Wednesday as our temperatures fall to near 40 for the highs for much of the rest of the week.  There is a chance for a weak system moving through later next weekend, but the jet stream will be diverting much of the moisture to the south after Monday.  Well, time for the news.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

By the way... here is the flyer for this year's symposium: