Memorandum for Record Jan 20, 2006

Subject: Meeting notes – Jan 17, 2006 AMS Meeting

The January meeting was held at the NWS office in Portland on January 17, 2006. The guest speaker was Captain Crystal Stout from Ridgefield, who gave a talk about Weather and Hot Air Ballooning. She and her husband explained how weather affects hot air balloon operations—for both commercial and recreation pilots. Captain Stout is a corporate balloon pilot and also operates a commercial hot air balloon business in Ridgefield, WA. The attendees found it very interesting to hear how very low wind thresholds affect their operation and how balloon pilots use micro-meteorology resulting from different land use types (e.g., asphalt, green grass) as well as land contours to perform several maneuvers. Approximately 12 people attended the meeting.

Kyle mentioned to the attendees the board plans to send a survey to the group members to get input on how to improve attendance at the meetings. The survey is designed to obtain feedback on what motivates members to attend (or not attend) and the frequency of meetings the group would like to have. Surveys were handed out at the meeting and will be emailed to the group members.

The meeting in February will be the second annual Temperature Trek, which is tentatively scheduled for either February 4^th or 11^th (Saturday). Mark Nelsen will be the coordinator. A decision on the exact date will be made approximately one week prior based on the expected weather pattern. Ideally, we want to pick a date that is expected to be cold and clear so we can sample a large variation in surface temperature during the morning hours across the region.

Note-taker: Tyree Wilde, NWS, and OR-AMS Vice President