The Memphis, TN Chapter of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) held its fourth meeting of the 1998-1999 year on 2 March 1999. There were 22 people present, which included guests from the Fort Worth, TX NWS regional headquarters in attendance for a manger's meeting being held at the Memphis NWSFO. The evening commenced with a brief business meeting. Items of interest included an announcement that the 1999 Memphis-Shelby County Science and Engineering Fair will occur during mid-March and that local chapter judges are needed. Chapter members Ben Boorman and Erik Proseus volunteered again this year to serve as judges. The next chapter meeting will be held in May and will likely be non-scientific in nature. Election of officers will occur at this time.

On the agenda for this meeting was an overview by Memphis NWSFO personnel of recent local tornado events. This topic was especially relevant at this time since we were heading into the traditionally active severe weather period in the Mid-South region. Scott McNeil, Matt Zika, and Mark Frasier spoke about the January 17, 1999 tornado outbreak. The speakers focused on the performance of the latest version of the NEXRAD Tornado Detection Algorithm (TDA), the synoptic situation as it pertained to severe weather development, and radar imagery of the Doppler velocity signatures.

Respectfully submitted,
Benjamin Boorman
Secretary / Treasurer

Minutes Approved,
Mark Isaminger
Chairperson