CHICAGO, March 16, 2015 – Tom Skilling, WGN-TV’s chief meteorologist, will host the 35th Annual Tornado and Severe Weather Seminar at the Ramsey Auditorium on the grounds of the Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, on Saturday, March 28, 2015 starting at noon. The seminar will repeat in its entirety at 6pm. Attendees are advised to arrive early, as admission is free and the seminars fill up quickly.
Those on Twitter can follow hashtag #SkillingFermi for special giveaways, information, and nuggets from the seminar itself. This year, Tom Skilling will have some First Alert Weather Radios for a limited giveaway. WGN-TV will stream the entire 12 noon CT seminar on WGNtv.com.
Tom Skilling’s Annual Tornado and Severe Weather Seminar was created to educate viewers about the dynamics and after-effects of severe weather, and is open to everyone including students from junior high age and older. Skilling created this seminar 35 years ago, along with Brian Smith, currently with the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Omaha, Nebraska. For more information about this seminar, go to WGNtv.com/fermilab. More info about Fermilab:http://www.fnal.gov/pub/visiting/hours/
The 2015 program features the most impressive and varied roster of severe weather scientists and forecasters in the 35 years of presenting this program at Fermilab. Here’s a more complete description of each speaker and their topic:
Mayor Gary Manier, Washington, Illinois and Sean Lewis, WGN-TV, the station’s reporter/anchor first on the scene Sunday, November 17, 2013 in the wake of the horrific EF4 tornado strike in Washington, IL
At ground-zero in Washington, IL in Illinois’s worst November tornado on the books–an EF4 twister with 190 mph winds–which leveled a huge swath of that central Illinois community, killing three.
Dr. Louis Uccellini, Director of the National Weather Service, Silver Spring, MD
A historic upgrade in supercomputing speed is underway at the National Weather Service, just one facet of the effort to bring more accurate forecasts and move the nation toward “Weather Ready” status. Also, a look back at the crazy extremes of Winter 2014-15: Record Northeast snows; record western warmth and drought.
Dr. Russell Schneider, Director of the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center, Norman, Oklahoma
The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center: Our country’s round-the-clock Severe Weather Sentinel.
Dr. Steven Ackerman, Director of The Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) and Professor of Meteorology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
The indispensable role of weather satellites in observing and forecasting the weather–including severe weather–and the satellite’s role in monitoring climate change.
Chris Strager, Central Region Director, Kansas City, Missouri
NWS’s “Weather Ready Nation” program: Preparing communities and their residents to survive extreme weather events.
Dr. Donald J. Wuebbles, The Harry E. Preble Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana
Severe Weather in a Changing Climate
Ed Fenelon, Area Manager, National Weather Service Chicago area Forecast Office-Romeoville, IL
Marking the 50th anniversary of one of this area and the country’s most devastating tornado sieges: The Deadly Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak of 1965.
Other speakers include WGN Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service-Omaha, Nebraska, Brian Smith.
WGN-TV is Chicago’s CW network affiliate, programming news, sports and entertainment. WGN News programs more local news than any other Chicago TV station, and can be seen on WGN-TV, CLTV and WGNTV.com. WGN 9.2 is Chicago’s home of Tribune Broadcasting’s classic TV network Antenna TV and WGN 9.3 is Chicago’s This TV movie network affiliate. WGN-TV is a Tribune Broadcasting station. For more information on Chicago’s Very Own WGN-TV, go to WGNTV.com
Those on Twitter can follow hashtag #SkillingFermi for special giveaways, information, and nuggets from the seminar itself. This year, Tom Skilling will have some First Alert Weather Radios for a limited giveaway. WGN-TV will stream the entire 12 noon CT seminar on WGNtv.com.
Tom Skilling’s Annual Tornado and Severe Weather Seminar was created to educate viewers about the dynamics and after-effects of severe weather, and is open to everyone including students from junior high age and older. Skilling created this seminar 35 years ago, along with Brian Smith, currently with the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Omaha, Nebraska. For more information about this seminar, go to WGNtv.com/fermilab. More info about Fermilab:http://www.fnal.gov/pub/visiting/hours/
The 2015 program features the most impressive and varied roster of severe weather scientists and forecasters in the 35 years of presenting this program at Fermilab. Here’s a more complete description of each speaker and their topic:
Mayor Gary Manier, Washington, Illinois and Sean Lewis, WGN-TV, the station’s reporter/anchor first on the scene Sunday, November 17, 2013 in the wake of the horrific EF4 tornado strike in Washington, IL
At ground-zero in Washington, IL in Illinois’s worst November tornado on the books–an EF4 twister with 190 mph winds–which leveled a huge swath of that central Illinois community, killing three.
Dr. Louis Uccellini, Director of the National Weather Service, Silver Spring, MD
A historic upgrade in supercomputing speed is underway at the National Weather Service, just one facet of the effort to bring more accurate forecasts and move the nation toward “Weather Ready” status. Also, a look back at the crazy extremes of Winter 2014-15: Record Northeast snows; record western warmth and drought.
Dr. Russell Schneider, Director of the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center, Norman, Oklahoma
The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center: Our country’s round-the-clock Severe Weather Sentinel.
Dr. Steven Ackerman, Director of The Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) and Professor of Meteorology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
The indispensable role of weather satellites in observing and forecasting the weather–including severe weather–and the satellite’s role in monitoring climate change.
Chris Strager, Central Region Director, Kansas City, Missouri
NWS’s “Weather Ready Nation” program: Preparing communities and their residents to survive extreme weather events.
Dr. Donald J. Wuebbles, The Harry E. Preble Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana
Severe Weather in a Changing Climate
Ed Fenelon, Area Manager, National Weather Service Chicago area Forecast Office-Romeoville, IL
Marking the 50th anniversary of one of this area and the country’s most devastating tornado sieges: The Deadly Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak of 1965.
Other speakers include WGN Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service-Omaha, Nebraska, Brian Smith.
WGN-TV is Chicago’s CW network affiliate, programming news, sports and entertainment. WGN News programs more local news than any other Chicago TV station, and can be seen on WGN-TV, CLTV and WGNTV.com. WGN 9.2 is Chicago’s home of Tribune Broadcasting’s classic TV network Antenna TV and WGN 9.3 is Chicago’s This TV movie network affiliate. WGN-TV is a Tribune Broadcasting station. For more information on Chicago’s Very Own WGN-TV, go to WGNTV.com
