Roger Edwards is an American meteorologist and expert on severe convective storms (

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are some ...

s). He is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the '' Electronic Journal of Severe Storms Meteorology'' (''EJSSM'').

Biography

Edwards was born in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and attended Woodrow Wilson High School. He earned a B.S. in

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...

from the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

(OU) in 1989 and worked as a meteorological aide at the

National Severe Storms Laboratory The National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather research laboratory under the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. It is one of seven NOAA Research Laboratories (RLs). NSSL ...

(NSSL) as an undergraduate. Here he worked under the direction and mentorship of Don Burgess and participated in field research, including with the TOtable Tornado Observatory (TOTO) team. Edwards left graduate work at OU to accept a meteorologist position at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) where he worked from 1990 to 1993. He joined the National Severe Storms Forecast Center (NSSFC), now the

Storm Prediction Center The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) is a US government agency that is part of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), operating under the control of the National Weather Service (NWS), which in turn is part of the National Oceani ...

(SPC), in 1993, where he continues to work as a lead forecaster. Edwards is an expert and is outspoken on issues of

weather forecasting Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the conditions of the atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia and formally since the 19th cent ...

, on public safety, particularly regarding tornado preparedness for large event venues, schools, and other large congregations of people, and on storm spotter training. He also has a research focus on

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depen ...

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

es. He has authored and co-authored as well as reviewed papers in

American Meteorological Society The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is the premier scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences. Its mission is to advance th ...

(AMS) journals and conferences. With his expertise and emphasis on public outreach, Edwards is frequently interviewed by the media and is invited to speak at conferences across the country. He maintains the Online Tornado FAQ section at the SPC website. He is a storm chaser and is known for strong stances on storm chaser conduct and responsibility. He was a forecaster for Project VORTEX in 1994 and deployed mobile

mesonet In meteorology and climatology, a mesonet, portmanteau of mesoscale network, is a network of automated weather and, often, environmental monitoring stations designed to observe mesoscale meteorological phenomena and/or microclimates. Dry lin ...

vehicles and in-situ probes for

TWISTEX TWISTEX (a backronym for Tactical Weather-Instrumented Sampling in/near Tornadoes Experiment) was a tornado research experiment that was founded and led by Tim Samaras of Bennett, Colorado, US, that ended in the deaths of three researchers in ...

in 2008. Edwards was a contributor to ''

Storm Track ''Storm Track'' was the first magazine for and about storm chasing. The magazine was in circulation between 1977 and 2002. History and profile ''Storm Track'' was started in 1977 by chasing pioneer David Hoadley following an informal meeting o ...

'' magazine and maintained the storm Storm Chase FAQ at its associated website. He co-founded with David M. Schultz and serves as editor-in-chief of the open access ''Electronic Journal of Severe Storms Meteorology''. Edwards served for fives years as the Local Steward representing SPC for the National Weather Service Employees Organization (NWSEO). Edwards is married to Elke (Ueblacker) Edwards and they have two children. Elke is also a storm chaser and photographer, and Roger enjoys travel, field geology, hiking, softball, gardening, and fishing.

References

External links

Personal website

Weather or Not: Severe Outflow by Roger Edwards
(blog)
''Storms Observed: Roger and Elke's Chase Blog''
*

(Roger Edwards, ''Storm Track'')
Not Obeying Stupid Rules
(''WeatherBrains'' interview, Dec 2, 2013) {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Roger American meteorologists Storm chasers University of Oklahoma alumni Living people People from Dallas Year of birth missing (living people) National Weather Service people

Biography

See also

References

External links