Our guest for February 21st will be Dr. Charles Doswell, renowned severe storms meteorologist.
"Dr. Charles A. Doswell III was born in 1945, in the Chicago suburb of Elmhurst, Illinois and lived in nearby Villa Park, IL through high school. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison, WI, graduating in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology. He began his graduate work at the University of Oklahoma (OU) in Meteorology the following fall, completing his Master of Science degree in January 1969. After beginning his doctoral studies at OU, he was inducted into the U.S. Army in the fall of 1969 and served 2 1/2 years, including a tour in Viet Nam and another at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. After leaving active military service, he returned to his doctoral studies, graduating in the summer of 1976. He spent six years with the Techniques Development Unit at the National Severe Storms Forecast Center, in Kansas City, MO. Then, he moved to Boulder, CO, where he spent four years with the Weather Research Program. Following that, he moved to the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, OK, in the fall of 1986 and retired from Federal service there in January 2001. Since then, he has been working part-time as a Senior Research Scientist with the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies, which is affiliated with the University of Oklahoma. He is a certified consulting meteorologist and a semi-professional photographer - videographer, using both his chasing and his scientific knowledge to help develop U.S. national training materials for storm spotters (slides, videos, and guidebooks) and the National Weather Service."
We will be speaking with Chuck (live in studio) about a number of topics including the general perception of risk and how it relates to Storm Chasing. Is chasing storms considered a fringe type of behavior? What are the real risks involved and how do others perceive this hobby? Is there anyone or anything to be blamed on the apparent "explosion" in popularity of storm chasing? We'll also talk about where he thinks the science of weather forecasting is headed, how important the human element is and what qualities he feels are important in becoming a talented forecaster. Are weather forecasters really loosing their ability to analyze and diagnose using basic atmospheric reasoning in favor of automated computer models? Are computer generated indices and model output going to result in an ever increasing "glass cockpit" style whereby weather forecasters turn into mere "high-tech babysitters"? Well get out your colored pencils and get ready, we'll hear what Chuck has to say about all of this and more.
So tune in on February 21st from 7-8pm CT for an hour that's guaranteed to be both controversial and thought provoking. All this and much more can be heard on the new "High Instability" Show right here on ShockNet Radio."
