The second group of the 2011 Hokie Stormchase is heading back to Blacksburg as I write this, due in sometime today. I was not along for this trip but have been following their efforts to catch storms as part of a VT field course. Unfortunately the second group ran into a "death ridge", the jet stream pattern that pushes the storminess north toward the Canadian border and has provided us with a generally northwest flow of upper air for the past week or so. As a result they struggled to find decent storms to chase but have hopefully sharpened their forecasting skills during a difficult time.
All this is part of the soon-to-be-approved undergraduate meteorology major at Virginia Tech, which will be located in the Geography department within the College of Natural Resources and Environment. In conjunction with the National Weather Service forecast office in Blacksburg such a program will prove beneficial to the state of Virginia as a practical application of research and analysis efforts to weather-related challenges faced by state residents. A natural fit with our land-grant university, the new VT meteorology program should be a great benefit to Virginia citizens.
2 comments:
I just saw this in their latest newsletter. My parents and I are excited because now there is an IN state school that offers (Or hopefully will) a full meteorology degree. They are going to have the full one right? And will it be available next year or what?
Michael,
The VT undergraduate meteorology program now must receive final approval from the State Council on Higher Education of Virginia. They should approve it quickly because the plans for the degree have been continuously shared with them all along the way. And according to the news release the degree program will be available spring semester 2012, e.g. starting this coming January. If you're interested you might consider contacting VT about it.
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