17 September 2002
The September 2002 meeting of the Memphis, TN Chapter of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) was held on September 17th with about twenty-four people in attendance. The local chapter hosted a 6:30 pm dinner meeting that was held at Corky’s BBQ restaurant in Cordova, TN. The meeting hosted several out of town meteorologists from regional NWS offices and national forecast centers (including Southern Region Headquarters & HPC), who were attending the Mid-South Science Workshop that was held at the NWS-Memphis office. President Erik Proseus opened the meeting with a welcome to returning AMS local chapter members, new AMS local chapter members, and to visiting guests. In addition, several topics of concern were discussed including continuation of off-month informal lunches, awareness of dwindling attendance, upcoming formal meeting topics, and the new AMS Memphis Chapter website (http://chapters.ametsoc.org/memphis). Future 2002/2003 meeting topics were also announced, including:
Also discussed at this meeting was the possibility of speaker swaps with other area NWS offices and AMS chapters. Following the approximately fifteen minute business meeting, 2002/2003 yearly dues of $10.00 were collected from 11 members.
The guest speaker for the evening was Mr. Mike Watts, a Meteorologist with FedEx Express in Memphis, TN. Mr. Watts presented an excellent slide presentation entitled “28 Years of Highlights from Storm Chasing,” which included several severe storm events that he captured on film while storm chasing across the Great Plains and Midwestern states. He showed several photos of spectacular supercell thunderstorms including pictures of developing wall clouds, cloud to ground lightning, and tornadoes. His slides were highlighted by his explanation of the structure of each storm as well as a detailed explanation of the pre-storm environment and storm chase preparations. Special thanks go to Mr. Watts for the excellent presentation and storm chasing slide show.
The meeting was then concluded with brief closing statements and appreciation to all in attendance.
Respectfully submitted,
Jonathan Howell
Vice-President, Memphis Chapter
American Meterological Society
Approved,
Erik Proseus
President, Memphis Chapter
American Meterological Society