CandymanColumbusGA

Charlottesville has been quite toasty this December. I mean, McCormick Observatory, where mostly reliable records have been kept since the mid 1890s, is finishing up the warmest Meteorological Winter month (DJF) on record. CHO, where records have been officially recorded since 1998, is finishing up an impressive month. This December bests the old warmest December by at least 6°! I know the data isn't old enough to have a "climo" yet, but that's still mighty impressive. In fact, we had 2 five day stretches where we broke record highs at CHO: I mean, that's impressive in any month! Then again, records only go back to 1998, but still. Impressive nonetheless. When you combine the records of McCormick & CHO, we still beat 3 record highs this month:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/23/national/main20065247.shtml Here's an article stating the death toll being at 89.

Here's video of damage our photographer got in the Pine Mountain, GA area.... This is near FDR State Park and Warm Springs: http://www2.wrbl.com/weather/2011/apr/28/tornado-strikes-widespread-damage-ar-1773790/ We'll have more video later today as we will have more sunlight to work with....

Our photographer got some video of that storm and the damage it left behind... I'll post it on here when I finally get a chance to upload it.... He said the damage goes on for miles and miles and numerous oak trees down... Very sombering sight to see... Just incredible damage not only there, but near Hamilton, GA too.... This is my viewing area btw and I covered these storms last night and the storm cells that went threw were just amazing... If I find out more, or get more video I'll post some...

In regards to using technology to forecast... I had to spend TWO semesters doing everything by hand. That's the only way you can learnt to look for patterns is when you do it yourself. How else are you going to actually see the CAA or WAA or even isentropic lift and all that fun stuff unless you sit there and take the time to contour it yourself. Yes, computers are a very important part of our work environment now a days, but it shouldn't be the MAIN emphasis when learning all of the material. I didn't learn how to graph maps on computers until my last semester in school (Synoptic 2). I was okay with this since I had a sound understanding of most of the material and had already been through the blood, sweat, tears, and colored pencils. Many times my classmates would wonder why I was able to forecast the next few days so well... It's easy... look to the skies! Or even the conditions to the West/North of you (depending on where you are this helps a ton). I agree with many on here about picking up another major in Computer Science or even GIS if possible. If you have a GIS certificate or better, then you will have no issue finding a job. If you want to do television... make sure that is what you want to do and have a VERY thick skin. Also, as with any other major, find internships! These are THE most important part of finding a job ANYWHERE! I did two, while some of my friends didn't do any... and you know what? They are still looking for jobs. I graduated in April and found a job in October. Jobs are to be had out there, but you just have to set yourself above all others. Those are just my words of wisdom, from someone who recently graduated and found a job in broadcasting.

I recently graduated from Florida State and we had all the normal reqs: Chemistry, Physics 1 and 2 as well as Atmo. Physics, Dynamics, Synoptic as well as a statistics/programming class combined. Calc 1 thru 3 were required, as was Diffy Q, I took partial differential equations because I was thinking of majoring in math, but that class kicked my butt (got a B but it was hard earned and with a lot of help). They also had a weather casting class that I took (which is how I got to be where I am now). Current WX Discussion was essentially our forecasting class because we had to give a 45 minute discussion 3 times in a semester just about the current weather and why we are forecasting the way we are. It helped the TA we had was incredibly knowledgable and I was able to learn a lot. I find it hard to believe you can get by in a Meteorology major without Calc 3 (how are you going to know how to do Q-Vectors? haha!) Overall, the major was difficult, but rewarding. Also, meteorology HAS to be your life.... If you want to work in a meteorology field you have to LOVE it... not like it, but LOVE it! I get ragged on by my girlfriend that I check the weather out more than her (which is true if there is some severe wx or wintry wx events in the SE), but she understands. You have to stay on top of it all, including the latest research because this field is still 'relatively' new compared to the other major sciences. Also, the weather changes from day to day and model run to model run, and if you miss a few you can never make a really know where the models have trended (unless of course you want to look at the hundreds of posts about it on here ) But if you love it and this is what you want to do, then find internships, get to know people, talk with professors (because they know a TON of people usually), and just never give up. I was lucky and found a broadcasting job in 6 months, but stick with it and you won't regret it!