Live vicariously through Carrie's recap of her trip to the Broadcast Meteorology Conference in Oklahoma City!

As many of you know from my absence on air the latter half of last week (June 22-25, 2011), I attended the American Meteorological Society's 39th Conference on Broadcast Meteorology. I am an AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (the little logo you see next to my name on TV), and attending this conference is part of my continuing education and development. If you already "Like" me on Facebook, then you were able to live vicariously through my experiences in Oklahoma as I posted video and photo updates, and engage in the weather conversation live as I reported on the various presenters.

You can view my online Facebook public photo album by clicking here (i.e., you don't have to join Facebook to view the pictures).

And you can also watch the videos I took of what I experienced, from flying past a thunderstorm at night to climbing a tower into the guts of a radome that houses a groundbreaking research radar on the campus of the University of Oklahoma. Enjoy!

Flying past a thunderstorm at night:


Climate expert Deke Arndt chats with me after his research presentation and summarizes what it means for us in the Mid-Atlantic:


Foucault's Pendulum at the University of Oklahoma, "proving that the Earth still rotates!"


Welcome to the National Weather Center at the University of Oklahoma:


I introduce you to our tour guide Dr. Kevin Kloesel at the National Weather Center, one of my meteorology professors from when I attended the meteorology school:


And here's your tour itinerary for the National Weather Center:


Check out OU:Prime, a research radar that is a "future generation" radar:


Dr. Kloesel introduces us to the OU:Prime radar:


Experience with me what it's like to climb up the OU:Prime radar tower and into the radome!


If you're interested in the technical aspects of the OU:Prime radar, here's one of the students conducting research with this new radar inside the radome:


Wondering what the other side of the radar dish looks like? I crawled on the other side to shoot this video:


Dr. Kloesel explains what it took to build this radar tower:


Back inside the A/C of the National Weather Center, Dr. Kloesel takes us into the large atrium and gives us a taste of his teaching philosophy and style:


Watch this behind-the-scenes clip of the research vehicle bay at the National Weather Center:


Here's one of the VORTEX2 research vehicles:


If you're interested in pursuing meteorology, I would love to point you to one of the coolest new educational tools I learned about at the conference. This is an online site for students called "Young Meteorologist." Click here to go to the website.

There was a fascinating economist speaking about some of his research pertaining to severe weather at the conference, and I snagged his book to learn more.

I'll be updating this blog posting with more details about the conference in coming days, so check back for more!
--Meteorologist Carrie Rose

It's Getting Dry...Again.

Summer is now in full swing, and from the standpoint of annual rainfall, it's looking scarily similar to last year. Our rainfall deficit to date is -2.97", compared to -3.35" at this point last year. We're ahead of the pace from 2010, but not by much, and with a dry weekend ahead, the gap will narrow even more. The top graphic above shows current drought conditions across the state. The area across far SE VA has been upgraded to a severe drought, while a broad area of moderate drought conditions persists for the rest of Hampton Roads, the Middle Peninsula, and the Northern Neck. There is a bright spot on the near horizon in the second graphic. An upper-level disturbance will move into the area on Monday (the blob of yellow across northern VA), bringing us a chance for rain. It's by no means a drought buster, but every bit helps. Enjoy the weekend! -Zach

Summer begins Tuesday

Summer "officially" begins Tuesday at 1:16 PM EDT, the moment when the Sun's most direct rays will be at the Tropic of Cancer north of the Equator.
From our perspective on Earth, this is when the Sun is at its highest point in the sky in the Northern Hemisphere, and it also has the most time of daylight. For Richmond, Tuesday will have 14 hours, 45 minutes, and 29 seconds of daylight.
After Tuesday, the daylight time will gradually lessen as the axial tilt of the Earth puts the Northern Hemisphere less in the direct path of the Sun's most direct rays. From our perspective on Earth, the Sun will appear to sink back southward.
Watch this educational video to learn why the Earth has seasons as a result of this "axial tilt":