My Young Scholar Project
Severe Thunderstorms: An Investigation of Breeding Conditions
My project involved investigating the dynamics of thunderstorms and their development. John Eise, Science and Operations Officer at the National Weather Service Milwaukee/Sullivan, volunteered to be my mentor. My mentor and I investigated the types of atmospheric conditions that contribute most to the development of severe thunderstorms, for example, moisture, lift, and instability. My project included photographing visual aspects of storms, observing conditions with my weather station, documenting my research, and analyzing storm related data.
One of the difficulties of completing this project was the lack of thunderstorm activity in Kenosha between June 11th and July 22nd. I am a storm enthusiast and going 41 days without a thunderstom was very frustrating. One of the highlights of this project was having an excellent case study, the June 11th derecho. A derecho is a widespread, convectively induced windstorm. This storm affected the entire state. The gustiest winds and severe weather stayed north of Kenosha, but we still received a large amount of rainfall.
I learned much about meteorology, and working on this project was a great opportunity. The results have been gratifying, and I have learned much about meteorology that I did not know. This project has increased my desire to become a professional meteorologist. |
