This short course will enable the attendee to better understand and communicate the relatively new meteorological science of atmospheric rivers (ARs).  ARs are an important component of worldwide weather; especially along the West Coast of the U.S. ARs (aka “Pineapple Express”) are a critical component of the hydrologic cycle and vital to understanding large floods, landslides, mountain snowfall/avalanches, water supply, intense rainfall and even drought.

 

Every year more research is being published to refine and expand new information about ARs.  This course will contain an overview of AR science and the latest research. Plus, suggestions on how best to obtain and communicate AR information, including the new atmospheric river scale.

Scientific advances now allow us to estimate how much of a role climate change played in particular extreme weather events, such as Hurricanes Harvey and Florence. The location of this year’s conference also yields an opportunity to share the most recent science on the role of the oceans in the climate system. Additionally for the broadcasters, new tools have been developed to merge the regular weather forecast with the amount of renewable power generated at the local and regional level. Learn how to bring these elements into your weathercasts.

With GOES-16 now serving as GOES-East and GOES-17 soon-to-be taking over in the West we are continually learning more about the capabilities of the next generation of geostationary weather satellites. Bringing a new format to 2019, this course will showcase a brief overview of the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) 16 channels and the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM). The course will immerse students into 3 different forecasting challenge topics, i.e. Aviation Forecasting, Fire Weather, and Convective Weather with each covering specific GOES-R Series products and applications with hands on case studies and lab exercises.