2008 Town Hall Meeting

2008 Town Hall Meeting:

Joining Researchers, Forecasters, and Users to Tackle Challenges in Tropical Cyclone Prediction

Cosponsored by the Board for Operational Government Meteorologists (BOGM), the Board for Private Sector Meteorologists (BPSM), and the Weather Analysis and Forecasting Committee (WAF)
Wednesday, 23 January, 2008

This Town Hall Meeting engaged researchers, forecasters, and users in an interactive discussion to address some of the principal challenges in the area of tropical cyclone prediction, including the present state of hurricane research, optimal ways to transition these research findings into the NWS forecast offices and private sector operations, and an assessment of the needs of emergency managers and other end users. The goal was to unite members of the hydrometeorological research community with users of tropical cyclone information and services to facilitate the transition of tropical cyclone and related research into operations. After a Q and A session, several of the more than 100 attendees posed questions to the panelists, who were:

Craig Fugate, Director, Florida Division of Emergency Management (moderator)
Dr. Chris Landsea, Science and Operations Officer, NOAA/ National Hurricane Center
- Christopher W. Landsea is the Science and Operations Officer at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami. In addition to forecasting and training duties, he is responsible for administration and evaluation of Joint Hurricane Testbed projects, which may be implemented operationally to assist in the monitoring and forecasting of hurricanes. Dr. Landsea received his Bachelor's Degree in Atmospheric Science from the University of California Los Angeles (1987) and his Master's Degree and Doctorate in Atmospheric Science from Colorado State University (1991, 1994). His graduate work was undertaken with Dr. Bill Gray, one of the world's leading experts on hurricanes and tropical meteorology. Dr.Landsea's main expertise is in seasonal forecasting of hurricanes, in hurricane climate variability and change, and in testing applied research projects for possible use in weather forecasting. He currently is leading up a re-analysis of the Atlantic hurricane database. When Dr. Landsea was a Research Meteorologist at the Hurricane Research Division (HRD) from 1995 through 2005, he participated in the HRD Hurricane Field Program by flying in the NOAA Orion P-3 aircraft into and in the NOAA Gulfstream IV jet around 15 Atlantic hurricanes for research and forecasting purposes.
Dr. Jim McFadden, Chief, NOAA's Aircraft Operations Center’s Programs Office
- Dr. James D. McFadden is Chief of Programs at NOAA’s Aircraft Operations Center located at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, FL. The Center currently operates twelve aircraft in support of NOAA’s environmental programs in sizes ranging from Twin Otters to the larger Lockheed WP-3D Orions and the Gulfstream G-IVSP, the latter two types best known best for their work involving hurricane research, reconnaissance and surveillance. This Programs branch is responsible for orchestrating all of the support provided by these aircraft, which annually operate from Alaska to Mexico and from Hawaii to Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. He also serves as Project Manager for the NOAA WP-3D hurricane program, a position he has held for 28 years. He has been associated with this organization for 39 years, serving in various capacities such as a flight meteorologist, project manager and Chief of Operations. During this period he amassed over 500 hurricane penetrations. Dr. McFadden attended Va. Tech where he received a B.S. degree in Geology in 1956, and following time in the U.S. Army he entered the University of Wisconsin where he received his Ph.D. degree (1965) in Meteorology with a minor in Oceanography. He recently received the Neil Frank award at the 2007 National Hurricane Conference for his contributions to the Nation’s hurricane warning program and a 2007 Department of Commerce Gold Medal for heroism as a member of the crew that successfully brought one of NOAA’s P-3s back to its operating base in St. John’s, Newfoundland following a near catastrophic event that occurred while the aircraft was flying a mission over the North Atlantic.
Dr. Pablo Santos, Science and Operations Officer, NOAA/NWS/WFO Miami, FL
- Pablo Santos, Jr. was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico on September 18, 1969. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from the University of Puerto Rico in 1992. He then attended Florida State University where he earned his Master of Science degree in Meteorology in the spring of 1995 and doctoral degree in 2003. In 1995 he started his career with the National Weather Service (NWS) as a Meteorologist in Jacksonville, Florida. In June 2000 he was promoted to Science and Operations Officer at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Miami, Florida. Pablo also serves in the NWS National Tropical Hazards Impact Graphics and Tropical Cyclone Wind Teams. He has had the honor of being conferred with the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and National Weather Association (NWA) Operational Group Awards, the NWA Operational Achievement Individual Award, the NOAA Administrator’s Award, and the NWS Southern Region Director’s Awards in several occasions. He also serves as a member of the NWA Remote Sensing Committee and as Assistant Editor of the NWA Electronic Online Journal. He is a member of the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association. He lives in South Florida with his wife Maria and two children, Pablo III and Stephanie.
Mike Cetinich, Product Manager of Weather Services, Jeppesen
- Mr. Cetinich has been employed with Jeppesen since 1983. Mike is currently the Product Manager for Flight Planning, Weather and NOTAM Services at Jeppesen, a position he has held since 2000. Mike has P&L responsibility as well as strategic and tactical planning and product development for the Flight Planning, Weather and NOTAM product lines. Prior to Mike’s current responsibilities, he was the Manager of Meteorology Operations from 1991 to 2000, responsible for the day to day operations as well as product development in this role. Mike was a software developer for the Meteorology department, maintaining and developing software for the department from 1986 to 1991. Initially, Mike was an Aviation Forecaster from 1983 to 1986. Mike received a B.S. in Meteorology from San Jose State University in 1982, and attended graduate school at San Jose State University working towards a M.S. in Meteorology from 1982 to 1985. Mike has been a member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) since 1983, and has authored papers that have appeared in the Bulletin of the AMS. Mike has also served on various RTCA, IATA and ICAO weather committees, and has given presentations at numerous industry meetings, including the AMS Annual Meeting, ICAO Safety Seminar, IATA Weather Committee Meeting, NASA ICNS Conference, NBAA and IOC Conventions, EAA Air Venture Annual meetings, and Civil Air Patrol meetings. Mike was a student pilot from 1981-1983. Mike also recently traveled to Antarctica to study the weather and flight operations for the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Mark DeMaria, Chief, NESDIS Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Branch (RAMMB), Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA)
- Dr. Mark DeMaria is the chief of the NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research (StAR) Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Branch. The emphasis of this branch, which is co-located with Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO, is to develop satellite applications for severe weather and tropical cyclones. He has held this position since December of 1998. Before that time, he spent 3 ½ years as the chief of the Technical Support Branch at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, and 8 years as a research meteorologist at the NOAA Hurricane Research Division, also located in Miami. During most his career he has worked on research and development related to tropical cyclone forecasting and numerical weather prediction. Dr. DeMaria holds a B.S. in Meteorology (1977) from Florida State University, and a Masters (1979) and PhD (1983) in Atmospheric Science from Colorado State University. Since 1981, he has published more than 50 articles on tropical cyclones, numerical weather prediction and mesoscale meteorology in the refereed literature. He has received the Banner Miller Award from the American Meteorological Society three times (1987, 1989, 2002) for his work on tropical cyclone forecasting.

Details of the proceedings of this Town Hall Meeting will be available later this year. Additional information on the Annual Meeting can be found on the AMS Annual Meeting page.