METR 361                                                                                                                   Spring, 2019

“Instant” Case Studies 

The objective for today is to produce a quick case study.   From one of the computers in room 308, open the desktop folder named Meteorology. Then open the METR 361 lab cases folder.  There you will see folders with dates. Your case is listed below. View the maps in the folder named with the dates of your case.  You need to be ready to show the class what happened with your case before the end of lab today.

Specifics of the assignment:

1. The cases happened on the following dates (with assigned presenters). Some are snowstorms. Some are not.

Jan 21-25, 2016                            Keane

December 3-5, 2013       Witteman

Jan 3-4, 2015                              Baird

Sep 1-17, 2018 Mensah

Dec 25, 2017 - Jan 2, 2018            Tomasso

You must identify the key weather event(s) in your cases.   These will all be synoptic in scale. Key event(s) to be discussed could be a Colorado storm, an Alberta Clipper, a strong warm or cold front, a Nor’easter, any combination, or something else!  It could include other storms besides the main one. There may also be important associated weather, like severe thunderstorms, heavy rain, or extreme cold. Figure out which are the most important weather phenomena in your case and concentrate on them.  IMPORTANT: I put many more maps than you need in the folders.  Don’t show all of them!!!

2. Go to the Web to check on precipitation, snowfall and other features of your case.  You must use NOAA’s Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (http://water.weather.gov/precip/) for radar estimates of the precipitation.  Use their archive to find 24-hour precipitation estimates for your dates.  For snowfall, use the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/nsa/index.html)

3. Starting at 3:30 p.m., show the class what happened during your case.  You have a maximum of 15 minutes, so be brief and to the point. You can take a maximum of 5 minutes of questions after your presentation. Tell the class what happened using maps and information about the impacts, such as a snowfall or precipitation map.  Do not use PowerPoint.  Just show maps. You will need to save just the ones you want to show. This is not a finished product.  It’s an informal map showing.

     There will be a folder named Presentation in your case folder.  Use that to save the images you want to show and we will transfer them to the podium computer in 309 with a USB drive.

4.  Find some meteorological anomaly in your case, something that was different from classic storms we study in lecture.  Every storm has something unique that makes it a challenge to forecast.  You have the advantage of hindsight. Explain how your anomaly was important to the case.

5. During the other students’ presentations, I want you to take notes and give each of them a grade.  Your rubric is to look for the following:

     a. Did the presenters correctly identify the most important storm(s) in their map folder?       

     b. Did the presenters show you enough information so you have a good idea of the weather situation during his/her case?

     c. Did the presenters show and explain at least one meteorological anomaly that made their case unique?

This is a graded lab.  I will use your classmates’ grades as part of my assessment.  I will also use the same rubric of questions a, b, and c.