Meet your Mets: Meteorologist Heather

 We have had quite a few meteorologists and staff come and go over the years, so we figured it was time to introduce you to some of the newer forecasters. Heather has been working with us at NWS Reno since mid August and is quickly familiarizing herself with the quirks of eastern Sierra and Nevada weather. 

Welcome to Heather! 

A picture containing sky, person, outdoor Description automatically generated

Heather first became interested in meteorology as a child growing up in Michigan, witnessing many storms, floods, and winter events. Her family lived along a river in a flood zone, and had three separate occasions of complete inundation of their house. Her undergraduate degree in meteorology (Central Michigan University) and Master’s degree in geography (Ball State University) allowed her to study the hydrological and meteorological relationships responsible for the flood events that led to the inundations. Heather used GIS, hydrology, and meteorology to model flood behavior for flooding related to frozen versus unfrozen soil conditions. She was successful in convincing her family to move to a new home on higher ground.

Heather’s background is diverse, having worked in academic settings, hospitality, and customer service in her past. These experiences have offered Heather myriad opportunities to communicate on many different topics, and she always enjoys learning from others. Heather’s most recent position was Graduate Assistant with Ball State University, where she taught and tutored students in geography, thermodynamics, statistics and GIS. She was able to assist with a storm chase class that took students to the Great Plains and Texas Panhandle in search of beautiful storm structures.

Photo: Meteorologist Heather Richards on a storm chase in May 2019.

Location: Reno, NV, USA

Popular posts from this blog

What is the Rain Shadow and What's Wind Gotta do With It?

Image
The dreaded rain shadow - something that those of us who live east of the Sierra crest are more than familiar with and hate to hear. So what is this rain shadow and why does it even exist? Lets start with the topography just to our west... The Sierra Nevada mountain range runs 400 miles from north-to-south and is approximately 70 miles wide. It includes the highest peak in the lower 48, Mt Whitney at 14,505 feet, and rises above 10,000 feet in many locations. Left: The Sierra Nevada Mountains highlighted in blue. Right: A relief map showing elevation (in meters) of the Sierra. The Sierra are a significant barrier for Pacific storms which typically move from west to east. The movement of air masses and associated weather cannot go through the mountains and is forced up and over the mountain range. As Pacific moisture is driven eastward by the wind, the air mass is lifted up and over the Sierra. Rising air will cool and once it reaches the point of saturation, condense into
Read more

NWS Wind Forecasts: AKA What's the Deal With Friction?

Image
We have had a number of comments on social media which mention much lower observed wind speeds locally than are in the forecast. Well, you are unlikely to know this (it is not exactly advertised!) but National Weather Service wind forecasts are for 10 meters, or almost 33 ft, above the ground. As we are about to explain, that makes all the difference in the wind between eye-level (~5-6 feet) and ~33 feet.  It is natural to wonder the purpose of a wind height forecast well above where you and I typically reside. The main reason for this is the complication in forecasting wind as one nears the ground due to frictional influence caused by the surface. Here is a diagram showing the concept of wind speeds change as one gets away from the ground.  As you can see above, there is a rapid speed reduction (gray dashed line) near the ground with a lesser change away from the surface. Note that the above diagram is generalized. How much reduction is realized depends on the nature of the surface wh
Read more

Forecasting "Dry Microburst" Potential From Soundings and Observations

Image
Summer afternoons in the valleys of eastern California and western Nevada usually feature dry low level relative humidity. In certain cases where low levels are very dry (single digit relative humidities) and enough instability for showers and/or thunderstorms exists, there is the heightened possibility for severe (over 60 mph) outflow winds. Now, severe winds are possible from strong thunderstorms in many cases, even without very dry surface relative humidity. However, what makes very dry surface or low level conditions special is that severe outflow winds are possible even with w eak  convection such as light showers...or even just cumulus clouds! When severe winds are produced by convection with little or no rainfall reaching the ground, it is referred to as a "dry microburst". Microbursts can be of significant danger to aviation and, if they are strong enough, life and property. Before we move onto what conditions we look for to determine the threat for dry microbursts,
Read more