NOAA in the Carolinas Hurricane Conference
May 6th, 2008 - NOAA Beaufort Lab on Pivers Island, NC

The National Weather Service in Newport, in conjunction with the NOAA National Ocean Service/National Marine Fisheries Service Beaufort Lab, hosted a hurricane conference on May 6th.  The location was the NOAA Beaufort Lab auditorium, located on Pivers Island, NC.  Detailed directions to the NOAA Beaufort Lab are listed below.

The conference featured guest speakers from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC), local NWS offices, the NOAA Beaufort Lab, and North Carolina Hurricane History author Jay Barnes.  The event was broken up into two sessions.  Below you will find an agenda with copies of the presentations

The morning session was be geared towards a general audience.  It included presentations on the general characteristics of hurricanes and their societal impacts, a review of NHC products, information on hurricane climatology and history for the North Carolina, ecological impacts of hurricanes, HPC tropical responsibilities, and rainfall forecasting associated with tropical cyclones.

The afternoon session was a bit more technical and geared towards those looking for a more in depth review of meteorological issues and new technologies.  This included long range hurricane forecasting, a review of radar and warning strategies for tropical cyclone tornados, use of ocean surface wind vector wind retrievals to analyze tropical cyclones, observations and modeling of ocean waves in tropical cyclones, and tropical cyclone numerical forecast modeling.

The conference was a success that included over 60 attendees from the media, academia, emergency management, and NOAA. Due to the already increasing demand, we hope to have a similar conference next year. Until then, enjoy the agenda from this year below with links to presentations (where available) from our esteemed list of speakers.

Agenda

Morning Session

7:45 AM – Registration/Light Refreshments

8:15 AM - Welcome and Introduction

– David Johnson NOS/Richard Bandy, NWS Newport, NC

8:20 AM – Trying to Reason with the Hurricane Season

– Jamie Rhome, National Hurricane Center

9:20 AM – Hurricane Climatology in the Carolinas

– John Cole, NWS Newport, NC

9:40 AM – North Carolina Hurricane History

– Jay Barnes, Director NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores/Author

10:10 AM – Break/Light Refreshments

10:30 AM – Ecological Impacts of Hurricanes

– Eric Davenport, NOS Beaufort Lab, Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat

11:00 AM – Hydrometeorological Prediction Center Tropical Responsibilities and Tropical Cyclone QPF (Rainfall Forecasting)

– Mike Brennan, Hydrometeorological Prediction Center

11:45 AM – Lunch

Afternoon Session

1:00 PM - Registration (If you did not attend Morning Session)

1:15 PM – ENSO and Long Range Hurricane Forecasting

– Sarah Jamison, NWS Newport, NC

1:45 PM – Radar and Warning Strategies for Tropical Cyclone Tornados

– Gail Hartfield, NWS Raleigh, NC

2:15 PM – Analysis of Tropical Cyclones with Satellite Ocean Surface Vector Wind Retrievals: Current Capabilities and Future Plans

– Mike Brennan, Hydrometeorological Prediction Center

3:00 PM – Break/Light Refreshments

3:15 PM – Observations and Modeling of Ocean Waves in Tropical Cyclones

– Mark Willis, NWS Newport, NC

3:45 PM – Tropical Cyclone Numerical Modeling

– Jamie Rhome, National Hurricane Center

4:30 PM – Wrap-Up/Adjourn

Have a Question?

For more information about the conference, contact Richard Bandy at phone: (252) 223-5122 ext 222 e-mail: Richard.Bandy@noaa.gov , Mark Willis at phone: (252) 223-5122 ext 5 e-mail: Mark.Willis@noaa.gov, or John Cole at phone: (252) 223-5122 ext 223 e-mail: John.Cole@noaa.gov.