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 acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...

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 a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

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

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

from the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

(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). NSS ...

(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 The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the IERS Reference Meridian, Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian ...

(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 worked as a lead forecaster until his retirement on December 31, 2024. Edwards is an expert and is outspoken on issues of

weather forecasting Weather forecasting or weather prediction is the application of science and technology forecasting, to predict the conditions of the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather info ...

, 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 with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of 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, although the ...

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

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

(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 vehicles and

in-situ is a Latin phrase meaning 'in place' or 'on site', derived from ' ('in') and ' ( ablative of ''situs'', ). The term typically refers to the examination or occurrence of a process within its original context, without relocation. The term is use ...

probes for TWISTEX 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 K. Hoadley, David Hoadley following an ...

'' 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 Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which nominally copyrightable publications are delivered to readers free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 de ...

''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 Woodrow Wilson High School (Dallas) alumni

Biography

See also

References

External links