Clark Evans

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. -Wayne Gretzky” -Michael Scott

And speaking of catalysts and storms named Philippe - 2005’s annihilation of Philippe by an upper-level low spurred by Rita’s outflow fascinated me and helped foster a long-lasting interest in how TCs modify their environments and sometimes indirectly interact with each other.

In many ways, the 1995 hurricane season was the catalyst for my interest in tropical cyclones. The swallowing of Karen by Iris definitely contributed to that interest. Here's an archived GOES-8 image about a day before Iris swallowed Karen. The two TCs are east-southeast of Bermuda at this time.

As we go off into the great unknown, the atmosphere was kind enough to provide a moment of zen. Be well, friends.

The Univ. of Nebraska’s Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences has established a webpage soliciting the community’s help in saving their program. Their hearing in front of campus admin is next Friday, Oct 10th. Please consider sharing why they’re essential!

eas.unl.edu/save-earth-a...

None of NOAA’s line offices work in isolation. At GSL, we’re proud to engage with our NWS colleagues on testing and evaluating the modeling system and service innovations — which we then use to make them better before reaching operations! Here’s how we’re doing so now:

gsl.noaa.gov/news/noaa-te...

Memory & Nostalgia Nostalgia is a drug that eats memory. It kicks in right after you say the word remember, and when it works it starts flooding you with warm and pleasant lies. It’s insanely addictive. Works fast. Ever...

Sharing this that made the rounds over the weekend as it hits the nail on the head imo: kalebhorton.ghost.io/memory-nosta...

Memory & Nostalgia Nostalgia is a drug that eats memory. It kicks in right after you say the word remember, and when it works it starts flooding you with warm and pleasant lies. It’s insanely addictive. Works fast. Ever...

Kaleb Horton wrote one of the most powerful things I’ve ever read about memory and nostalgia.

kalebhorton.ghost.io/memory-nosta...

Yes! You can reprocess the data to obtain the updated temperature traces; we did that for data from 2023-24 without issue.

You should be able to see the radiation correction algorithm’s version number in the text output files — 3.5.3 or later should have the improved version. Unfortunately, I don’t have the full software available to me at the moment to check the full application version.

What version of Windsond’s radiation correction algorithm are you all using? All but the latest release result in a warm bias - strongest under full sun, but non-zero even in mostly cloudy conditions - due to insufficient radiation correction. That could explain the T differences you see.

👋 from a soggy Boulder!

@lightningsafety.bsky.social

#MSH45 | May 18, 1980 — 8:32 a.m.
Geologists Dorothy and Keith Stoffel, with pilot Bruce Judson, make a final pass over Mount St. Helens. A M5.1 quake strikes. Ice and rock collapse into the crater.

Below them, the north face heaves—then gives way. The largest landslide in recorded history begins.

The School of Freshwater Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee invites applications for a Postdoctoral Associate position in the area of climate science. The successful candidate will use idealized numerical simulations to study the multi-scale climate dynamics in the Southern Ocean region. The appointment is full-time, available starting November 1, 2025, and is for an initial period of one year, with potential renewal based on performance and funding. The Postdoctoral Associate is expected to: (i) run numerical simulations of the Southern Ocean’s coupled climate system using the Moist Quasi-Geostrophic Model version 2.0 (MQ-GCM2.0); (ii) develop modifications to MQ-GCM2.0 to best match the parallel state- of-the-art model experiments and observations over the region of interest; (iii) analyze model output and use the so-called interactive ensemble technique to understand the underlying dynamics; (iv) collaborate closely with other team members; and (v) publish findings in peer-reviewed journals and present results at scientific conferences. Candidates should hold a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science, Physical Oceanography or related discipline, with demonstrated expertise in numerical modeling and data analysis. Strong communication skills and a record of peer-reviewed publications are expected. To apply, please send a cover letter, CV, and contact information for [2–3] references to kravtsov@uwm.edu. Review of applications will begin on October 1 and continue until the position is filled. The University of Wisconsin is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants and employees are protected from discrimination according to the Federal law. Click here for additional information. Sergey Kravtsov, Ph.D. Professor, School of Freshwater Sciences University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 600 E. Greenfield Ave Milwaukee, WI 53204 Mobile: 414-477-3306 E-mail: kravtsov@uwm.edu Web: https://sites.uwm.edu/kravtsov

The School of Freshwater Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee invites applications for a Postdoctoral Associate position in the area of Atmospheric Science with the focus on empirical modeling of weather and climate. The successful candidate will apply linear and non-linear data-driven techniques for the global simulation and subseasonal forecasting of precipitation and temperature. The appointment is full-time, available starting November 1, 2025, and is for an initial period of one year, with potential renewal based on performance and funding. The Postdoctoral Associate is expected to: (i) develop improvements to the existing yet experimental methodology of data-driven high-resolution modeling of global precipitation and temperature based on linear inverse models; (ii) quantify the updated model’s performance in reproducing the statistics of the observed variability and assess its prediction skill; (iii) analyze model dynamics to explain the sources of skill; (iv) collaborate closely with other team members; and (v) publish findings in peer-reviewed journals and present results at scientific conferences. Candidates should hold a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science or related discipline, with demonstrated expertise in big data analysis and data-driven modeling. Strong communication skills and a record of peer-reviewed publications are expected. To apply, please send a cover letter, CV, and contact information for [2–3] references to kravtsov@uwm.edu. Review of applications will begin on October 1 and continue until the position is filled. The University of Wisconsin is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants and employees are protected from discrimination according to the Federal law. Click here for additional information. Sergey Kravtsov, Ph.D. Professor, School of Freshwater Sciences University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 600 E. Greenfield Ave Milwaukee, WI 53204 Mobile: 414-477-3306 E-mail: kravtsov@uwm.edu Web: https://sites.uwm.edu/kravtsov

My friend and former colleague at UWM, Sergey Kravtsov, is looking to hire *two* postdoctoral fellows, one in climate dynamics and the other in data-driven modeling for global precipitation. Please see the advertisements below for more details and share with your networks!

The Advanced Study Program’s Graduate Visitor Program Fellowship is accepting applications! This fellowship allows graduate students to work on their thesis, dissertation, or final project equivalent, with guidance from NSF NCAR scientists and engineers.

Faint hint of the northern lights at 40°N in Colorado.

Not by any fault of the programs, necessarily, but because enrollments across their universities are declining, and small programs are always the first on the chopping block then — often no matter their quality. (2/2)

Another factor: I do think the relative “safeness” varies geographically. Programs in the south, where the college-aged population remains steady or increasing, are safer. Programs in the Midwest and northeast, where the college-aged population is declining, are more at risk. (1/2)

And it all absolutely stinks. It was hell for me and my colleagues and our students to go through and I don't wish it on anyone. There's a lot of really high quality programs and people in our field. I fear that we're just at the tip of the iceberg. (3/3)

I fear that any program that doesn't have at least 100 undergraduates and/or is super research active is at least somewhat threatened. There's a bit of shielding in having the program embedded in another one -- e.g., atmo/met as a geography concentration -- but only so much. (2/3)

I was chatting with a friend earlier this week about the stability of atmospheric science academic programs. We agreed that the number of "safe" programs is somewhere between 5-10. For better or worse, we're a niche field, and college admins love big programs and don't care much about quality. (1/3)

Since state aid is calculated on a per-pupil basis, school districts are loathe to give up students — and the municipalities in which the developments occur are loathe to fight to keep the students in their school district since they’ll still benefit from the additional to the property tax rolls.

Some of it is affected by annexations. I think of a new neighborhood on the northwest edge of the Village of Grafton. It used to be part of the Town of Cedarburg and in the Cedarburg School District, but it was annexed to the more-adjacent Village of Grafton when developed.

😭, says the person who has long used that line to start an email to someone I’ve never met before

🚨 Recruiting Two PhD/MS Students 🚨

I am looking to bring on at least two GRAs (M.S. or Ph.D. Level) beginning Spring or Fall 2026 to join our CHAOS research group. Research projects will be related to artificial intelligence and machine learning applications for extreme temperatures and rainfall

I think it’s hard for outsiders to grasp how low staff and faculty morale get at universities where everyone’s job gets worse every year because there’s a hiring freeze and program cuts and any real money is locked up in new projects meant to help higher admin shine so they can move somewhere better

IMO the biggest differences between universities are:

- does the library have books (not only digital subscriptions) and a budget

- are there staff for support/admin work or is it someone’s second job

- do students have time to study and faculty time to teach

No big names or tech matter as much.

Demystifying the Atmospheric Sciences Graduate School Application Process As the dawn of another academic year is upon us, many college seniors will soon be starting the graduate-school application process. To help these students, I’ve prepared some semi-assorted, semi-orga...

Much has changed since I first wrote this ~2 years ago. Even as there is much uncertainty about what graduate school opportunities will look like for 2026, I hope this information is still useful. Please feel free to share, and feedback is welcome!

www.linkedin.com/pulse/demyst...

We at GSL are excited for NSSL’s three new MPAS configurations! For the first time, their runs and ours are using a common code base, the result of 18+ months of development by both groups (plus NCAR too).

MPAS-HTPO vs our MPAS_RRFSA (MPAS-G on PivotalWx) is an initial conditions comparison (1/2)…