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Jason Keeler ’07
(left), a meteorology major, checks data from
a tornado with meteorology faculty members Scott
Steiger ’99
(top) and Robert Ballentine. Keeler will take
the college’s new “Storm Forecasting
and Observation” summer course taught by
Steiger. Students will go on the road throughout
Tornado Alley in the Great Plains states to observe
extreme weather. |
SUNY Oswego will present a new summer program, “Storm
Forecasting and Observation,” from May 28 to June
16, studying extreme weather where it strikes.
The course may have the biggest classroom of any college
offering, as the class may spend time anywhere in Tornado
Alley — from Texas to North Dakota, Colorado to
Missouri — on any given day, said Scott
Steiger ’99 of SUNY Oswego’s meteorology
program.
Steiger said the new course, presented by the college’s
Division of Continuing Education, is the only one he
knows of in the Northeast. The handful of existing offerings
are located at Midwestern colleges.
The first week will include six hours of daily coursework,
including lectures, classroom discussions, laboratory
exercises and videos to recognize different storm conditions.
“We want to give them a good background before
we go out in the field,” Steiger said.
The next two weeks are a traveling storm-chasing adventure
throughout the Great Plains where tornadoes are most
prevalent. “Every morning, we’ll have a
forecast discussion as a guide. Then we’ll travel
to our target zone where we believe we’ll have
the best chance to observe storms,” Steiger said,
noting that the class will also stress observing the
weather safely.
The course does involve a lot of time on the road in
a large van and uncertainty in what city they will book
a hotel the next night. “One day, we could be
in Texas, a few days later, we could be in North Dakota,”
Steiger said.
“I want students to be able to learn how to forecast
the weather, but also how to observe the weather,”
Steiger explained. “By going out, looking at clouds,
feeling the temperature and the moisture in the air,
they are learning by observing.”
Jason Keeler ’07,
a meteorology major from White Plains, said he has been
interested in taking the storm-chasing course since
it was proposed a few years ago. While he has “lost
count of how many waterspouts” he has seen on
Lake Ontario, “I’d like to see some full-fledged
tornadoes,” Keeler said.
The course represents “one more opportunity for
me to be with the people I’ve been with for four
years and see exciting weather,” Keeler said.
“Even if there aren’t a lot of severe storms,
I’ll be seeing a lot of the country I haven’t
seen before.”
Keeler is excited by the opportunity for real-time forecasting,
or “nowcasting.” “Every morning, we’ll
be looking at the maps and figuring what’s going
to happen and where it will happen,” he said.
Steiger has had discussions with NBC about the possibility
of SUNY Oswego alumnus Al Roker
’76 joining the class on the road and considering
segments on the “Today” show.
While the three-credit course appeals most to meteorology
students, Steiger said anyone capable of doing the coursework,
including non-traditional learners, is invited to apply.
Saying he looks forward to “living, eating and
breathing severe weather,” Keeler adds: “It’s
going to be intensive, but I couldn’t imagine
spending three weeks any better way, in terms of education
and fun.”
For information, call (315) 312-2270, visit www.oswego.edu/summer
or e-mail summer@oswego.edu.
—Tim Nekritz M ’05 |
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To May 2007 E-Newsletter |
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