Number 34, June 2002

WeatherZine News

WeatherZine To Call It Quits

Almost six years ago-on December 15, 1996, to be exact-the WeatherZine was born. What started as an internship project for Quindi Franco, a UCAR SOARS student, the WeatherZine was supported by the U.S. Weather Research Project (USWRP) up to the present time, growing to 750 subscribers in academia, government, the private sector, and NGOs in the U.S. and beyond. In the early days of the Internet, the WeatherZine was originally conceived to provide a simple summary of recent changes to the Social Aspects of Weather website (along with links to relevant sections), and news, events, and announcements of interest to the weather research community. But the WeatherZine expanded, largely based on feedback from its readers, to include:

• A regular column by the editor on policy issues related to the atmospheric sciences community such as "The Data Quality Act and the Atmospheric Sciences" and "Ka-ching!! Dealing with Financial Conflicts of Interest."
  
• In April 1999, a regular guest editorial from a prominent member of the weather research community was added featuring articles such as "How much 'skill' is there in forecasting El Nino?" by Chris Landsea and John Knaff, and "The Future of the 'Public-Private Partnership' Toward a More Synergistic Relationship in the 21st Century," by Michael R. Smith, WeatherData, Incorporated.
  
• A student editorial, as well as Education and Research Highlights, were added after the WeatherZine relocated to the University of Colorado in August 2001.

The look of the WeatherZine has evolved as well over the years from simple email text to what we believe is a much more sophisticated and stylish appearance. The WeatherZine was distributed in.pdf format and was also available online. The subscription list grew solely by word of mouth from 0 in 1996 to over 750 in June 2002. The WeatherZine has been cited in the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and in Science magazine.

With the August 2002 issue the WeatherZine will be saying farewell, though the archives will remain online. The WeatherZine staff has greatly enjoyed producing this bimonthly publication and appreciates the support that its 750+ subscribers and other readers have provided over the years.

Materials Available for the Convective Season and Flood Forecasting

The following materials are available on the MetEd web site.

• Mesoscale convective systems: squall lines and bow echoes
  
• Anticipating convective storm structure and evolution CD-ROM
  
• Predicting supercell motion using hodograph techniques
  
• A convective storm matrix CD-ROM
  
• An MCS matrix CD-ROM
  
• How models produce precipitation and clouds
  
• Hydrology for the meteorologist: the headwater forecast process
  
• Hydrology for the meteorologist: basic hydrology for headwater forecasting CD-ROM
  
• Rain gauges: are they really ground truth?
  
• A social science perspective on flood events
  
• Urban flooding: it can happen in a flash!
  
• Quantitative precipitation forecasting overview