January | Issue 12 - 01

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Connecting Operational Meteorologists in Pursuit of Excellence in Weather Forecasting, Communication and Service.

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Thanks for being an NWA member! 

President's Message

49th Annual Meeting Irving, TX | Hybrid September 14-18, 2024 Refining, Refreshing, and Refocusing

2024 WORKSHOP & SESSION PROPOSALS

***The Due Date for this form is February 7, 2024***

In 2023, Workshops were added to the NWA Annual Meeting agenda received positive feedback. Workshops will return as a part of the 2024 NWA Hybrid Annual Meeting agenda. The NWA is soliciting Workshop and Session submissions similar to the traditional oral and showcase solicitations from the past.

Workshop and Session submissions should reflect the theme of the 2024 meeting. This year’s theme is “Refining, Refreshing, and Refocusing.”

  • Refine: How the NWA community can come together and grow in diversity, knowledge, and technology.
  • Refresh: How the NWA community can recruit more members and be more involved in innovating activities in the weather enterprise. 
  • Refocus: How the NWA community can refocus on current weather-related challenges and look forward to additional challenges in the future.

Workshop and Session proposals will be reviewed and approved by the NWA Annual Meeting Steering Committee. The person submitting the proposal will be notified of the final decision.

If you are submitting a Session proposal, please list all participants and expected abstract titles. The individuals will be required to submit their abstracts through the abstract submission form, which will open in late February or early March. Monitor the 2024 Annual Meeting page for information on the Call for Abstracts.

In Memoriam: Bob Glahn

Once weather gets in your blood, it is there to stay.1

Dr. Harry R. "Bob" Glahn passed away on December 28 at the age of 95. He improved statistical methods in meteorology and served as the director of the NOAA/National Weather Service Meteorological Development Laboratory.

In 2012, Bob established the NWA Bob Glahn Scholarship in Statistical Meteorology, later transferred to the NWA Foundation. This scholarship, awarded annually, supports undergraduate students enrolled in a program of meteorology or atmospheric science who demonstrate interest in statistical meteorology.

If you're interested in learning more about Bob, you can visit the buttons below. They link to his obituary, an article on weather.gov highlighting his accomplishments, and information about the Bob Glahn Scholarship in Statistical Meteorology.

1Quote obtained from: "From farmer and country school teacher to NWS Scientist Emeritus." Weather.gov. May 30, 2012. 

In Memoriam: Dennis McCarthy

Dennis Howard McCarthy passed away on October 9, 2023 at the age of 77. 

Dennis was the Director of the NWS Central Region, and a charter member and former Councilor of the NWA. In 1981, Dennis received the NWA Member of the Year Award. He served as an NWA Councilor for the following years: 1984, 1985, 1995, and 1996.

A few months before Dennis’s death, he had contacted the NWA Office to encourage us to share the paper he co-authored with Amiee Devaris titled “The Designated Weather Watcher– The Key to Public Preparedness.” The goal is to encourage more of us in the weather community in guiding businesses, and especially manufacturing plants, to develop weather safety plans.

In a 2007 NWS AWARE publication, Dennis explained: “The Designated Weather Watcher is a person assigned to pay attention to the weather, while others go about their business.” Having a well organized safety plan helped save over 100 people at a manufacturing plant that was struck by an F4 tornado in 2004.

If you're interested in learning more about Dennis, you can visit the buttons below. 

Dennis McCarthy

NWA Foundation: Education Changing Lives

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Thank you for your donations and support!

In the last month, our members donated $6,500 while renewing memberships. Thank you for your generosity! You can always visit our donation page to make a contribution.

NWA Annual Meeting attendees talk in the exhibitor hall.

Have you been looking to get more involved?

Volunteering with the NWA is a great opportunity to develop skills and work with others. Right now, committees are determining which volunteer roles will need to be filled for 2024, so this a great time to get involved!

Don't miss out on this exciting chance to make a difference - submit your interest now!

NWA Operational Committees: Annual Meeting, Awards, Broadcast, Diversity, Local Chapters, Member Group, Membership & Marketing, Professional Development, Remote Sensing and Social Media

NWA Board Committees: Governance and Finance

In addition to the committees listed, opportunities also exist in the following areas: abstract reviewing, scholarship evaluation, WeatherReady Fest, RON, WAF, and webinars.

Interested members must be in good standing.
Filling out this form is not a guarantee of committee selection.
Appointments are approved by the NWA President per NWA Bylaws: Section 9.1.

New Seal Holder: Matthew Huddleston!

What is the most memorable weather event you have covered?

Working along the coast, we get our fair share of tropical systems. With them comes the risk of tornadoes. When Tropical Storm Idalia came ashore in August of 2023, there were four active tornado warnings at once. Covering all of them for nearly two hours straight was a challenge but taught me a lot...

NOAA: January Storm Sets Water Level Records in 3 States

NOAA’s water level stations experienced high water during this week’s East Coast Storm, as shown on the custom storm dashboard. Credit: NOAA’s Coastal Inundation Dashboard.

NOAA’s water level stations experienced high water during this week’s East Coast Storm, as shown on the custom storm dashboard. Credit: NOAA’s Coastal Inundation Dashboard.

From NOAA: Silver Spring, MD — On January 9-10, 2024, a severe storm system traveling up the eastern U.S. seaboard brought heavy rainfall and high winds to many Mid-Atlantic and New England communities. The storm caused widespread flooding and resulted in record or near-record water levels at numerous NOAA gauges located across 8 states: Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine. 

As the system passed over the Mid-Atlantic, water levels at many of NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay stations soared, reaching around 4 feet above Mean Higher High Water (MHHW) in Baltimore (peaked at 3.74 feet) and Chesapeake City (peaked at 4.3 feet). Preliminary CO-OPS data indicates that five of NOAA’s eight Maryland-based coastal gauges registered a top five water level event during this impactful storm.

Significant impacts occurred from Maryland to Maine. Details can be found in the full article from NOAA.

weather related images from the NWA logo.

Share your work in the NWA Newsletter!

If you have a weather-related article you think belongs in the NWA newsletter, shoot us an email! We are always excited to promote new ideas and research. 

Are You Weather-Ready?

Help us make people Weather-Ready! As winter comes near, please help us share the WRN graphics and resources to encourage people to be ready for the weather. Here is one example, but there are a lot of seasonal infographics on the WRN website that are ready to be used for social media.

The NWA is proud to be a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador™.

Infographic - The Science of Wind Chill. The average temperature of the human body is 98.6 degrees fahrenheit. Under calm conditions, the body radiates heat, creating a layer of warmth between or skin and the cold surroundings. But when it's windy, the moving air breaks up this insulating layer. It speeds up heat loss by whisking away the warmth from our skin. Hypothermia begins when our body temperature drops two to four degrees.

From weather.gov: Extremely cold air affects millions of people across the United States every winter and even into parts of the spring. This Arctic air, together with brisk winds, can lead to dangerously cold wind chill values, which can cause your body to lose heat quickly. 

Digital Seal of Approval: Elevate Your Digital Presence

NWA Digital Seal Logo

Do you create online content related to weather and meteorology?  Did you know the NWA offers a Digital Seal of Approval for those in the digital space? 

The NWA created the Digital Seal of Approval to help distinguish accurate and unreliable sources of weather information on the internet.

Interested applicants must be 21 or older and demonstrate their proficiency in producing original content by taking an exam and submitting examples of their work. The Digital Seal must be renewed every three years and can be prominently displayed.

Community: Connect Communicate, Collaborate

Did you know you can access the NWA Community from the app on your mobile device? Simply click the "NWA Community" widget on your app's homepage!

Monthly Top 10 Contributors

James Marusak

David Nussbaum

Trevor Boucher

Nate Johnson

Sarah Trojniak

Morgan Barry

Jared Guyer

Jeffrey Hahn

Bryan Karrick

Keith Sherburn

Join the discussions to vie for a top 10 spot next issue!

Haven't joined yet? Here's how:

1. Log in to your Member Profile.

2. Click on the "Community" tab in your main navigation menu

3. Agree to the Terms & Conditions.

You're in! Be sure to take the Community Tour to orient yourself and get started. We will be looking for you in the NWA Community! Come on over!

Community is available on our mobile app!

JOM: A change in the weather: Understanding public usage of weather apps

ABSTRACT: …A majority of the public—untrained in meteorology—is now interpreting the forecast on their own without the help of a broadcast meteorologist as would be present in a television forecast, making the forecast open to misinterpretation and false expectation. This study calls for continued research to combat misinterpretation and to enhance weather apps and mobile notifications with more personalized information that can aid weather-related decision making…

JOM: A tale of two hazards: Studying broadcast meteorologist communication of simultaneous tornado and flash flood (TORFF)

ABSTRACT: Broadcast meteorologists are the primary source of weather information for the public, and thus are key to messaging the multiple weather hazards that can occur during simultaneous tornado and flash flood, or TORFF, events. Due in part to the challenge and cost needed to study broadcast coverage, there has been limited study into how broadcasters present these hazards to their viewers during TORFF events. To begin to address this knowledge gap, we developed the Coding Algorithm for Storm coverage Transcripts, or CAST.

NWA Merchandise: Easy Ordering Guide!

You can now order NWA logo apparel and merchandise at the NWA Lands' End storefront.

Here’s how:
1. Visit our storefront 
2. Create an account. 
3. Select Men's or Women's. (tab at top under search bar)
4. Choose your item.
5. Pick color, size and quantity.
6. Add logo and placement.
7. Click 'Add to Bag' or keep shopping.

Annual Meetings Shirts Available!

We have a few shirts left from the meeting! Grab your exclusive NWA 48th Annual Meeting shirt for just $25 (plus $8 shipping). Shipping is available within the United States and U.S. Territories. Please note: Payment is due at the time of purchase, and refunds will not be provided.

Weatherwise: Reat the Latest discoveries in meteorology and climatology.

Have you heard of this NWA Member Benefit?

Explore the latest in meteorology and climatology with Weatherwise, available to NWA members at a discounted rate. 

NWA Member Rate: $35.00 (includes hardcopy and shipping)

To set up a new subscription, email societies@tandf.co.uk. To renew, check for a reminder email toward the end of the year.

Heliophysics BIG Year

The NASA Heliophysics BIG Year (2023-2024) ​​is a global celebration of solar science. Want to get involved? Two Facebook groups are discussing upcoming solar events and sharing educational content about the BIG year.

Upcoming 2024 Events

Have you checked out our job page recently? We update the job postings as they arrive, and they've been arriving more frequently. Check out the newest job postings or submit a job posting.

Jobs Corner Promotional Image
Yearly Infographic: The infographic provides statistics and details about the National Weather Association's 48th Annual Meeting in 2023. It includes membership distribution with 35% Broadcaster, 25% Government, 13% Retired, 11% Private Sector, 7% Academic, 6% Student, 3% Other, 2% Emergency Management, and 2% Military. The NWA Strategic Plan 2023-2025 focuses on Finance, Engagement, Diversity, and Governance. The meeting had a record turnout with 569 attendees and 11 awards presented.

Stay Connected!

Through our NWA App and Social Media.

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Publisher: Janice Bunting, NWA CEO
Digital Editor: Valerie Sharp

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