VLab Forum Members,
This is a reminder that the June 2022 VLab Forum will occur on
Thursday, the 23rd, at 3:35 – 4:35pm (Eastern Time). The talk
features a presentation by Randall Graham titled "Remote
Mesoanalyst Support - A Mutual Aid and Crowdsourcing Success
Story". We hope you can attend.
To participate in the forum, please register
for the webinar.
Abstract:
Mesoanalysis has long been an important component of severe weather
operations at National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast
Offices (WFOs). In recent years there has been increased emphasis on
mesoanalysis as a way to not only better anticipate storm morphology
and event evolution, but also with respect to providing improved
information to the public and Decision Support Services to partners.
In 2021, the NWS Central Region launched a program to provide WFOs
with Remote MesoAnalyst (RMA) support in the interest of mutual aid
and also to provide a learning platform for forecasters across the
region. Subject matter experts facilitate a mesoanalysis discussion
in Google Chat, that all Central Region forecasters have access to,
and share pertinent information with impacted offices on
environmental changes and expected event evolution. Over the course
of two convective seasons the concept has proven to be extremely
effective as a situational awareness tool for offices experiencing
severe weather and as a learning opportunity where forecasters can
sharpen their mesoanalysis skills and participate in peer-to-peer
learning. Leveraging displaced expertise, such as this, is a model
that may be leveraged in other service areas, such as flash
flooding, fire weather, or winter weather.
Over thirty-one instances of mutual aid, exceeding 325 hours of
support, will be summarized and the utility of the effort will be
discussed in light of forecaster feedback. Lessons learned and best
practices such as asking guiding questions, providing appropriate
context when sharing mesoanalysis information, and the effectiveness
of graphical content will be addressed. Finally, the growth of the
initiative to include expertise in the chat from outside of Central
Region, such as the Warn on Forecast System (WoFS) group and SPC
forecasters will be discussed.
Agenda:
You can find the agenda for the Forum at the following link:
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