NWA Meeting Update

As Jacob mentioned on Monday, the 40th Annual Meeting of the National Weather Association (NWA) is taking place this week in Oklahoma City. Students and professionals alike are in attendance to hear various speakers, look at research posters, and make professional connections. I am privileged to be here this week, among such high-esteemed professionals in this field.

The first full day of sessions began Monday with presentations in a variety of subjects, such as new radar and satellite data, severe weather forecasting, and the role of social science in meteorology. These sessions lasted until around 5:30 PM, when buses began to shuttle conference attendees to the National Weather Center where I saw my first balloon launch, visited the SPC, and sat in on a recording of WeatherBrains!

We enjoyed joining @weatherbrains last night at #nwas15! Thanks for having us! pic.twitter.com/4JDdTzKlMq

— WXGeeksTWC (@WXGeeksTWC) October 20, 2015

Wednesday, the keynote speaker was the man himself, James Spann. Spann spoke with such passion and raw emotion on how we can save lives in this industry if we all are on the same page and communicating effectively. Sessions afterward fell into the categories of droughts and fires, lightning, numerical weather prediction, and satellites.

Spann: “Humility is missing in this business. We need less pride and more humility.” #nwas15 pic.twitter.com/xz2dgFN2W5 — Mallory Schnell (@MallorySchnell) October 20, 2015

Very heartfelt and emotion keynote from James Spann about remember tornado victims as part of our job. #nwas15 https://t.co/TvljUFkE93 — Brad Panovich (@wxbrad) October 20, 2015

There are still two days remaining of the conference, with more great speakers and presentations lined up! Be sure to check out the hashtag #nwas15 for live tweeting of the conference!