Being able to stay in New England is really fantastic. I cannot wait to start this next phase of my career.

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The November 2012 newscast, boasting the latest coverage of the Sandusky Scandal and Hurricane Sandy, was named Student Newscast Best of Festival.

I worked as the Centre County Report meteorologist during the Fall of 2012, including that newscast. It was a phenomenally fun and hard working team to be apart of, and the honor is well deserved!

Fortunately, Hingham’s power outages were limited. I was quoted in an article written about how Hingham Light kept the power on. Read it here.

I was also quoted in a Boston Globe article summarizing the wind impacts of the storm. Read it here.

I love putting major weather events into perspective, so I always appreciate the opportunity to be included in stories like these!

Ahead of the storm interest has been quite high. My thoughts on the storm have been used in several Boston Globe and Hingham Patch articles.

> Hingham to Declare Local Emergency due to Storm [Boston Globe]
> Residents Along Massachusetts Coast Brace for Surging Seas [Boston Globe]
> As Storm Nears, Scituate Warns Residents to Avoid Waterfront [Boston Globe]
> Braintree Officials Say they are Ready for Snow Event [Boston Globe]
> Hingham Weatherman Predicts Up to 18″ of Snow [Hingham Patch]
> Hingham Schools Schedule Early Release Friday [Hingham Patch]
> Snowfall Predictions Vary Largely for Friday Storm [Hingham Patch]

Of course I will continue to post updates to HinghamWeather.com throughout the storm.

The hyperlocal news website has long asked me for the occasional comment or forecast during major weather events, but these posts will be written by me on a regular basis.

I will try to highlight interesting weather topics, or answer questions that I get from readers.

To read my first few blog posts, click here.

If you have a weather or climate question you’d like me to answer, submit it either on this website, or via Twitter (@MichaelPageWx)!

Being a major topic at the conference, I sat in on several space weather sessions. According to experts, we will reach a solar maximum sometime in 2013. There is some debate as to whether or not we’ve already maxed out, or if it will happen sometime this summer. Regardless, reaching a maximum in the 11-year solar cycle often leads to increased action on the sun which can disrupt things like communication and GPS signals here on earth. The cost of a major Space Weather event could be significant. I posted about this last year.

I attended a handful of talks on global teleconnections as well, which is always interesting given the increasing public interest in things like El Nino and the North Atlantic Oscillation. One talk in particular focused on the impact that the Madden Julian Oscillation has on surface temperatures in the United States. The author said the MJO appears to show a connection to temperatures across the western part of the country, but not the east.

Hurricane related talks abound at these major conferences, and this year was no different. One talk researched sea surface temperatures before and after Irene. According to the researcher, Irene was able to draw cold, deep water to the surface in just 6-8 hours as she passed by New Jersey. This accelerated upwelling may help explain why the National Hurricane Center failed to accurately predict her weakening before landfall.

Monday night’s Town Hall meeting on Hurricane Sandy was also very enlightening. Louis Uccellini, Director of the National Center for Environmental Prediction, Rick Knabb, Director of the National Hurricane Center, and Bryan Norcross, Hurricane Expert at The Weather Channel were just a few of the speakers. Nearly every speaker commented on the remarkable track forecast, which consistently brought the storm into south Jersey days ahead of time. Countless metrics were shown in an effort to pin down when Sandy transitioned from a hurricane to an extratropical system. This, of course, is critical as the National Hurricane Center opted to issue standard alert headlines as opposed to hurricane headlines for places like New Jersey and New York. The most agreed upon point was that cold air clearly wrapped into the storm in the hours preceding landfall, cutting off and squashing the warm core. Norcross spent most of his presentation discussing how The Weather Channel conveyed the seriousness of the storm even without official hurricane warnings. That included using the unofficial term “superstorm.”

By Wednesday and Thursday I attended many climate related sessions. Several speakers presented on the expected increase in days featuring extreme heat over the coming decades. One author in particular said the days hitting 90 degrees will increase, but the days featuring extreme heat index values will increase even more since there is a non-linear relationship between the temperature increase, and the likely increase in dew point. That may result in more health issues relating to the heat. Other speakers continued that theme by calling on the National Weather Service to better define their heat alert criteria. Health experts who spoke reminded meteorologists that the most vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, often fail to use their fans properly in excessive heat. Artificial cooling will be needed more and more according to another researcher who says there are likely to be more hot and humid days over the next decade, and fewer hot and dry days (considered more refreshing). That trend is expected to be most amplified in the mid-west.

Last week I graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a degree in meteorology. My 3.5 years in Happy Valley were terrific. Not only did I study in one of the nation’s top meteorology programs, but I also obtained valuable on air forecasting experience while doing so.

I made some excellent, life long friends at Penn State, so while I’m excited to launch my career in the real world there is a tinge of sadness in leaving State College.

Stay tuned for more on where I turn up next!

First of all, the shear meteorological factor was remarkable. Being able to forecast a historic storm like Sandy amongst some of the best professors in our field was terrific. Secondly, as a senior, I was given great opportunity to forecast the storm both on my website (HinghamWeather.com) and through other media outlets.

Last Thursday, more than four days before the storm hit Central Pennsylvania, Altoona’s WTAJ-TV featured me in a story about the potential historic nature of the storm.

Also on Thursday I began producing special video update’s for Centre County Report’s website. The updates focused on the impacts of Sandy to both the Northeast and Centre County.

Back at home, I provided my normal weekly video forecast for HCAM-TV. The forecast was heavily focused on Sandy.

By the weekend, Hingham Patch began running my forecast details in a series of online posts.

On Sunday and Monday Penn State’s Daily Collegian also used my forecast in a series of articles regarding the storm’s impact on Centre County.

As someone looking to get into broadcast meteorology later this year, this storm provided an excellent opportunity to not only track a major weather event, but communicate the risks it poses.

First of all, the National Weather Service’s Central Region provided preliminary results from the new impact based warnings used this summer. The new warnings used more significant language to describe the impacts of severe weather. The main problem with the test was the lack of summer storms. However, a few cases did crop up where forecasters used words such as “catastrophic” to describe potential tornado damage. In general, forecasters found they were more comfortable using warning tags that included “significant” rather than “catastrophic.” Interestingly enough, Emergency Managers reported that they rather the use of “catastrophic.” An interesting point to be looked into further, no doubt. The weather service also said they recognize that the media generally scans warnings for just a few details since people are most interested in where a hazard is, if it has been confirmed, how bad it is, how long will it last, when it will arrive, and the confidence in it actually occurring. One Emergency Manager even suggested having some kind of intermediate statement between a watch and warning to help provide this critical information.

During the Tuesday afternoon Town Hall Meeting, users of weather information gathered to explain what they want and need in a forecast. The panel, which consisted of FEMA personnel, transportation officials, hospital officials, and airport officials all echoed the same sentiment. Each wanted a clear, easy to understand forecast without a lot of jargon. They also said they appreciate forecast confidence information.

Some of the final sessions dealt with analyzing Dual Pol data. One talk of interest provided real life examples of how correlation coefficients can be used to confirm the presence of a tornado because of debris detection.

Overall, it was another very insightful meeting in a beautiful city!

The highlight of today may have been details regarding VIIRS data available to the National Weather Service. That satellite data now includes a new ‘night band’, essentially allowing for a visible satellite image at night. Traditional visible satellites go dark overnight. The new satellite imagery shows anything that gives off, or reflects light. That includes cities, smoke, low clouds, and fog. The quality of the image depends on things like moon phase, but it is still a fun new tool for meteorologists tracking weather after dark.

Also of interest was a report from the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama. The presenter pointed out that most velocity data shown on television is not dealiased, or unfolded. That can lead unexperienced or unsuspecting meteorologists to mislead their viewers by pointing out erroneous areas of rotation. While most private suppliers of radar data do not dealias, Baron Services apparently does.

Finally, we also learned today that the Hydrometeorological Predication Center will begin issuing new mesoscale precipitation discussions, much like the mesoscale discussions from the Storm Predication Center. Unlike the SPC, HPC mesoscale discussions will only focus on the risk of flash flooding. Statements will say flash flooding is likely, possible, or unlikely. The statements will not comment on whether or not warnings are needed, or how the flooding may impact river levels. Those should start in 2013.