Miami AMS Conference

First off, AMS stands for American Meteorological Society and they hold two conferences a year, one for broadcasters and another for scientists in general, which is usually in January. Scientists and meteorologists gathered to present information on topics such as the current oil spill, global warming, and other new discoveries in the world of weather. Aside from the meetings, we had a chance to tour the National Hurricane Center, and the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (where they do extensive research on the interaction of the atmosphere with the oceans, and it's quite complex when you get right down to it). You're already familiar with the job of the hurricane center, and it turns out Tropical Storm Alex just happen to form during our time in Miami. The pictures (from left to right) include:

1) A forecaster that is looking at sea swells and weather conditions in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and in the Atlantic. They have another meteorologist that is working on the Pacific forecasts, but he's on the other side of the room. 2) During hurricane events, you will see the national media do interviews with Bill Read (Director of the hurricane center) from this desk, located just off to the side of the actual forecast center. 3) The gentleman in the blue shirt is one of the meteorologists that coordinates with the hurricane hunters as they prepare to fly through Alex. While we were visiting with him about his job, data started flowing in as the reconnaissance aircraft was just entering the storm 4) This is a briefing room where research meteorologists coordinate with the hurricane center and hurricane hunters before flying into tropical storms and hurricanes. Once inside the storm, weather instruments are dropped from 10-15,000 feet to get measurements of temperature, pressure, and winds 5) Dr. Richard Wanninkhof explains to us how the ocean gives off and takes in Carbon Dioxide, depending on which part of the ocean you are looking at, and how it changes depending on El Nino and La Nina conditions.


This was such a great learning experience, and helped broaden my knowledge of tropical weather (which you don't get to use much when you are landlocked here in Kansas). Have a great week.