 NWA February 2020 Newsletter
Issue 20 - 2
NWA President Todd Lericos
The first month of 2020 is now in the books. It was quite an amazing month for many of us in meteorology and associated fields. Our sister organization, The American Meteorological Society (AMS) held their Annual Meeting in early January. This year was extra special for them as the meeting was the culmination of a year long Centennial Celebration. I was not able to attend the AMS Annual Meeting, but I heard from many that did. By all accounts it was an amazing success. On behalf of the entire NWA, I would like to extend my congratulations to Past President Jenni Evans and current President Mary Glackin along with the rest of the AMS leadership on a job well done. We are looking forward to another productive 100 years from the AMS. Now is a good time to mention our own 2020 Annual Meeting. It is set to take place September 12-17 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Janice Bunting, the NWA CEO, has found a great venue in an exciting location for our 45th Annual Meeting. While this may seem like a long time away, there is already a great deal of work going on behind the scenes to make this the best Annual Meeting ever. Some of you may be unaware that the NWA has a standing Annual Meeting Steering Committee that is responsible for putting together a large portion of the agenda, sessions, and activities. This year, the NWA is fortunate to have two outstanding people leading the Annual Meeting Steering Committee: co-chairs Matt Alto and Cindy Elsenheimer. They are joined by the rest of the Committee that consists of equally outstanding individuals: Vice President Becca Mazur, Betsy Kling, Dan Gallahger, Trisha Palmer, Wendy Sellers, and Shawn Cable. Trisha and Dan are last year’s committee chairs, while Wendy and Shawn are the chairs of the 2021 Annual Meeting. This three-year rotational system was set up a few years ago and has paid big dividends on bringing more consistency and improvement to our meetings. Speaking of improvements, I believe many of you will be pleased with some of the changes the committee has in store for this year. The most notable will be some changes to the overall flow of activities and sessions throughout the week. There will also be a new abstract submission and review process. Folks that are planning on submitting abstracts will want to watch for information regarding these changes. In both these cases, the improvements being made are based largely on feedback from YOU! The NWA has made a point of soliciting your feedback on past Annual Meetings and using that information to improve the overall experience of our yearly get-together. I am excited to see what the Steering Committee has in store for us this year. They are laser focused on providing the best experience possible for our membership and focusing our activities at the Annual Meeting on moving Forward Together. I look forward to seeing you all in Tulsa in September. NWA Member Award Winners at AMS Congratulations to the following NWA Members for their awards at the 2020 AMS Annual Meeting! THE AWARD FOR BROADCAST METEOROLOGY: Alan Sealls, CBM "For a career of providing weather information to the public in relatable, entertaining terms, and for benefiting students of all ages and the meteorological community." THE HENRY G. HOUGHTON AWARD—EARLY CAREER: Matthew R. Kumjian SPECIAL AWARD: NOAA/National Weather Service Forecast Office, Houston/Galveston, Texas THE AWARD FOR AN EXCEPTIONAL SPECIFIC PREDICTION: NOAA/National Weather Service Forecast Office, Omaha/Valley, Nebraska AMS Newly Elected Fellows: Annual Meeting Abstract Submissions Abstract Submissions will be open very soon — stay updated through our app and watch for email announcements! The deadline for abstract submissions will be March 19. The NWA's 45th Annual Meeting will be held at Hyatt Regency in Tulsa, Oklahoma from September 12-17, 2020. Get the NWA App
June Bacon-Bercey, Ph.D: America’s First Female TV Meteorologist
We received word from our corporate member AccuWeather that Dr. June Bacon-Bercey passed on July 3, 2019. Her death went virtually unreported until her daughter, Dail St. Claire, notified the staff at AccuWeather. Dr. Bacon-Bercey was an advocate for education and supporting women and minorities in meteorology. An article describing the life of Dr. Bacon-Bercey appeared in AccuWeather News on January 3. It is a story of determination and grit, both necessary qualities for not only women but also women of color in a time when they were openly discouraged from pursuing a career in meteorology. Happy 150th to National Weather Service
Explore the history and stories of the NWS on the NWS Heritage page. Did you know that NOAA's 50th anniversary is this year too?
The full NWA Event Calendar is located in Member Connect. Stay up to date on our latest job postings on the NWA Jobs Corner!
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Get to Know our Seal Holders
by Laura Velasquez, Broadcast Meteorology Committee Public Relations Chair Dylan Robichaud: Dylan Robichaud is the current weekend evening meteorologist for WMTV in Madison, Wisconsin where he has been since April of 2019. Prior to his currently position, he was the morning and noon meteorologist for KNOE in Monroe, LA. Dylan started there in May of 2016, following graduation from Lyndon State College. So far, he said, the highlight of his career was covering Hurricane Harvey in August of 2017. Dylan said he is a huge fan of snow, and "the more snow the better." He said his favorite aspects of the science are blizzards and tornadoes, and he particularly enjoys the rapidly changing conditions that present themselves within the field of meteorology. Congratulations again Dylan, on earning your NWA Weathercaster Seal of Approval! David Heckard: David Heckard was awarded his Weathercaster Seal of Approval on October 10, 2019. David holds his Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology from Purdue University in Indiana, his home state. David said he grew up experiencing all sorts of extreme weather, which led him to his passion, weather. Since 5th grade, his goal was to become a meteorologist, he said. His first job out of college took him to Greenville, Mississippi. In 2006, David found his way back to Indiana by way of WEHT in Evansville. David said he spent seven years there before accepting a position in Ft. Myers, Florida, and then moving on to Spectrum News 13 in Orlando. While he still enjoys forecasting thunderstorms, Dylan said that he’s grown fond of tropical meteorology since moving to Florida. With more than a decade in the business, David has covered multiple major weather events including the Super Tuesday tornado outbreak of 2008, the western Kentucky Ice Storm 2009, Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Hurricane Dorian in 2019. His main goal is to keep people safe from severe weather. Congrats David, on earning your NWA Weathercaster Seal of Approval! For more information about earning a Seal of Approval and to view our current Seal Holders, visit this page.
A new NWA JOM article was published in January. JOM 2020-01: National Blend of Models: A statistically post-processed multi-model ensemble by Craven, J.P., D.E. Rudack, and P.E. Shafer. The JOM publishes submissions in three categories: Article, Short Contribution and Commentary. The JOM is a peer-reviewed, all-electronic journal with an international scope, providing authors with the benefits of economical publication costs and rapid publication following acceptance. If you are interested in submitting a paper to the JOM, please go to the Call for Papers webpage. Thank you to the JOM authors, reviewers and editors for continuing to make JOM a success!
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