Category: technology

GOES-16: A Weather and Climate Game-Changer

May 24, 2017

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Erik Proseus

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education, GOES, GOES-R, meteorology, technology, weather 102

When it comes to weather forecasting, meteorologists are often only as good as the technology and data they have access to. Perhaps one of the greatest leaps forward for the weather enterprise in the 21st Century is not even on this planet, but rather orbiting well above it. One satellite has the capability of changing…
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Meet StormWatch+, your NEW national weather app!

March 21, 2016

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Erik Proseus

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mobile applications, stormwatch+, technology

As many of our loyal readers know, a couple years ago we “un-bundled” the StormWatch+ severe weather alerting technology from the MemphisWeather.net brand and created a national iOS app called, aptly, StormWatch+. The centerpiece of the app was the push notification alerts, but it also included a basic radar display, local conditions, and the NWS…
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Recap of Oct. 2 severe weather, challenges faced, and a word on siren policy

October 3, 2014

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Erik Proseus

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event recap, outdoor sirens, radar failure, severe thunderstorms, siren policy, stormwatch+, technology, tornado warnings

Until last night, it had been a long time since widespread severe weather (not including biblical flooding events) had affected the Memphis metro. Tornado Warnings were last issued in late April. A well-advertised, and well-forecast, squall line moved through the region during the late evening hours bringing many reports of wind damage and several areas…
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Memphis tech community loses one of its great leaders

June 16, 2014

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Erik Proseus

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#memstorm, Dave Barger, technology

Earlier this evening, I was reading my Twitter feed and came across the following tweet from a friend in the Memphis tech scene: The light that burns twice as fast burns half as long. Tech & startup champion, dedicated family man, biz owner & friend. #RIP @davebarger — Elizabeth Lemmonds (@elizlemmonds) June 16, 2014 I…
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Outdoor warning sirens – part 3: the warning process and future of severe weather warning systems

April 19, 2012

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Erik Proseus

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emergency management, MSCEMA, outdoor sirens, stormwatch+, technology, tornado warnings

This part of the series is a long time coming, but here it is! In the first two posts of this series on outdoor warning sirens, we examined the role of the Emergency Management Agency during severe weather (including the activation of warning sirens) and the role of outdoor warning sirens themselves, which was to…
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Commentary: the tornado warning process, use of technology, and application of social media during severe weather

June 19, 2011

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Erik Proseus

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commentary, social media, technology, tornado warnings

I’ve posted in the past on the phenomena known in the weather broadcast community as “wall-to-wall” (or long-form) coverage, in which a local broadcast station (typically TV, though known to occur on radio as well) preempts all routine programming in order to keep the community informed and safe during a severe weather event. It’s not a…
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New NOAA supercomputers to take forecast models into the future

August 12, 2009

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Erik Proseus

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forecast models, technology

As of noon CDT today (1700 UTC 8/12/09), the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), a division of NOAA, declared operational two new massive supercomputers that will spit out weather model data used by forecasters throughout the world. Model data, a mainstay for all meteorologists in determining what the weather will be like over their…
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Manipulation of the sea ahead of a hurricane?

July 15, 2009

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Erik Proseus

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hurricane, technology

Found this article from the New Orleans Times-Picayune to be very interesting… http://cli.gs/RYBTzZ Bill Gates and several other engineers and scientists have a patent (actually multiple patents) pending for a tub-like device that would weaken a potentially destructive hurricane before it reaches land. The device is designed to cool the waters in the forecast path…
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