Since 1960, the AMS Conference on Severe Local Storms (SLS) has been a thriving forum for disseminating cutting edge scientific research, operational knowledge, and studies of the societal impact and response to tornadoes, hail, flash flooding, and other hazards associated with convective storms. With the 2026 SLS conference in Madison, Wisconsin quickly approaching, it is also time to begin thinking about the upcoming 2028 meeting.

The AMS Committee on Severe Local Storms, a part of the Scientific and Technological Activities Commission (STAC), is soliciting proposals for a team of two individuals to organize the 33rd Conference on Severe Local Storms to be held in 2028. Among other responsibilities, the co-chairs are expected to: write and disseminate a call for abstracts; help select an optimal meeting time, location, and accommodations; organize a program committee; establish an overall theme and agenda for the meeting, special activities, and any planned receptions and awards; and solicit financial sponsorship for events. Some of these activities will be performed in consultation with AMS staff, STAC members and/or the conference program committee. AMS is transitioning to a co-located/summit meeting model, prioritizing joint gatherings with other AMS specialty meetings to maximize our collective impact and control costs. Chairs will be asked to fill out a form indicating preferred dates/locations etc at the end of this summer

The co-chairs for the 33rd Conference on Severe Local Storms are also expected to serve a 3-year term on the SLS STAC Committee beginning January 2027, which would require regularly attending STAC meetings and providing conference planning updates.

Candidate teams interested in serving as co-chairs for the conference should present a 1-page (single spaced) proposal to the SLS STAC committee. Proposals should identify and justify an overarching theme and organization of the conference program including possible sessions, describe how this plan will appeal to the diverse members and interest groups of the SLS community, and list any possible innovations to the traditional execution of the conference. This plan must also indicate the skills that the candidates possess that would qualify them to serve as co-chairs, including, but not limited to: discussing past experiences in organizing conference activities, evaluating abstracts, logistical skills acquired through non-conference experiences, and other relevant tasks.

Co-chair teams will be considered based on the quality of their proposal to facilitate practical communication of knowledge within the SLS community, and to appeal to and/or integrate a broad diversity of participants. Such diversity in participants includes those with different academic backgrounds, career stages (e.g., students, early-, mid-, or late-career professionals, etc.) and tracks (e.g., academia, private sector, research labs, and operations), demographics (e.g., age, gender, and ethnicity), and job perspectives (physical science, social science, operations and forecasting, communication of weather threats, etc.) who use a wide variety of scientific research techniques including observations, surveys, idealized or real-data numerical simulations, data assimilation, and theoretical work.

*Proposals will initially undergo a double-blind review process. Applicants are asked to refrain from referring to names and specific details about themselves that might reveal their identity to the reviewers.

Proposals should be emailed to Chris Melick ([email protected]), by 1 June 2026 for consideration by the SLS STAC committee. Proposals will be reviewed shortly thereafter and applicants will be notified by 1 July.

Interested teams should also consult the STAC Best Practices document, section 4, which can be found at: AMS STAC Board Committee Best Practices July 2022 and the AMS Program Chair Guide, which can be found at: Site Selection Process.

Thank you for considering serving in this capacity!

Sincerely,

The SLS STAC