OVERVIEW REGISTER AGENDA SPEAKERS AWARD-GRANT DIRECTIONS FAQ
Speakers
Dr. Harold Brooks, Senior Scientist- Forecast Research and Development Division, National Severe Storms Laboratory, Norman, OK
Dr. Brooks has credits for over 70 peer-reviewed papers regarding various measures of severe storms and climate impacts related to severe storms. His most recent paper published in the journal Science, talks about whether there has been a climate-related change in the number of tornadoes across the United States or if it is from changes in reporting and verification and he will look at what this might mean for the number of tornadoes in the past, present and future.
Skip Talbot, Storm Chaser, Springfield, IL
Skip Talbot is a storm spotter and chaser who has been very involved in safety and helping communities impacted by tornadoes. He is a member of the board of directors for Storm Assist , whose mission is to help communities impacted by severe weather in recovery efforts through financial contributions. They release a yearly DVD with video contributions from storm spotters and chasers across the country. Skip is also involved in the El Reno Survey Project, looking into the events surrounding the storm, and what can be learned from the storm that took talented tornado researchers from us far too soon. Skip will be talking about spotter safety and what recent events have taught us.
John Wetter, Skywarn Coordinator, NWS Chanhassen, MN
John Wetter is currently the coordinator of Skywarn radio operations at the National Weather Service in Chanhassen, MN. He has been involved with Skywarn since 1997. While attending St. Cloud State, he was a member of Stearns County Skywarn where he was a Net Control Station coordinator and also a member of the board of directors. John has presented several studies locally and regionally specializing in radar interpretation and pre-storm environmental parameters, as well as Skywarn operations. He also has produced the last three Skywarn training videos for use by the NWS Chanhassen Office. John works in the IT field and lives in Maple Grove with his wife Jamie.
Dan Miller , Science and Operations Officer, NWS Duluth, MN
Dan Miller is the Science and Operations Officer at the National Weather Service forecast office in Duluth, Minnesota. Dan is originally from Owatonna, Minnesota and is a 1992 graduate of Iowa State University with a degree in meteorology. He has a 21 year career in the National Weather Service, having worked at NWS offices in Limon, Colorado, the Twin Cities, Norman, Oklahoma, and his current office in Duluth. Dan’s primary areas of interest and expertise are radar and severe thunderstorms, as well as timely and accurate communication of severe weather threat information. He was involved with developing nationally deployed training for the WSR-88D radar upgrade to dual-polarization capability from 2009 to 2012, and is currently a member of the NEXRAD Technical Advisory Committee. Through his experiences with the NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed from 2006 to 2011, he also has considerable experience with Terminal Doppler Weather Radar, Phased-Array radar data and CASA radar, and the application of this data to observe and warn for severe convective storms. Dan also served as the chair of the American Meteorological Society Committee on Severe Local Storms from 2012 to 2015.
Dr. Kenny Blumenfeld, Hazardous Weather Lead, Hennepin County Emergency Management, Medina, MN
Dr. Kenny Blumenfeld is the hazardous weather research lead for Hennepin County Emergency Management, and also recently became Senior Climatologist with the Minnesota DNR. He is a skywarn spotter, instructor, and has dedicated many years to research-driven severe weather outreach and education for audiences throughout Minnesota. Kenny enjoys public speaking and storytelling, and often engages in pub-science weather-related talks at bars and theaters around the region. He serves on the Societal Impacts Board with the American Meteorological Society, is an avid bicyclist, loves camping, and has two sons who have persuaded him to ride on and become fascinated with roller coasters. Kenny currently lives near Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis.
Jacob Beitlich, Forecaster, NWS Chanhassen, MN
Jacob has been a meteorologist at the NWS office in Chanhassen since the spring of 2012. Before joining the staff at Chanhassen, he was with the Des Moines, IA National Weather Service office. Originally from the rural La Crosse, WI area, he attended the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse where he earned his degree in Mathematics & Physics. He then attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison where he obtained his masters degree in atmospheric and oceanic sciences in 2009.
Mike Griesinger, Forecaster, NWS Chanhassen, MN
Mike is a native of southwest Michigan and took his life long interest in the weather off to Central Michigan University, where he received a B.S. degree in 2004. Mike then traveled to Lubbock, TX, where he received an M.S. in Atmospheric Science from Texas Tech University in 2006. While at Texas Tech, he conducted a research project surrounding the topic of convective initiation along the dryline and also assisted research teams in the spring with investigating the RFD environment through the use of in situ observations using mobile mesonet equipment. Mike joined the National Weather Service as in intern in the fall of 2006 at the Atlanta office in Peachtree City, GA and joined the forecast team at the Twin Cities office at the beginning of 2009. Since coming to the Twin Cities, he has be an active participant in the Skywarn program, having taught several classes and updated the skywarn presentation given by the office.
Organized by
John Wetter, K0WDJ
Skywarn Coordinator
NWS Chanhassen
Sponsored by
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