Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--After weeks of thinking constantly about the weather and waking early to check online temperatures, a Mississippi State team is being rewarded with the major honors of a 2009 national weather forecast competition.
Recently, a broadcast meteorology group from the university topped peers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Georgia and even the National Center for Atmospheric Research to win first place in team, undergraduate, graduate, and faculty categories.
Known as the WxChallenge, the competition is considered by many to be the national championship of weather forecasting. Created in 2006 at the University of Oklahoma, the annual event involves up-to-the-hour scoring on forecasting of cities throughout North America.
This year, more than 1,600 participants from some 70 universities and research organizations in the U.S. and Canada were involved. Each was required to accurately forecast maximum and minimum temperatures, precipitation and maximum wind speeds for selected cities over a 20-week period.
Senior Jessica L. Dealy, a broadcast meteorology major from Daphne, Ala., credits her MSU instructors for the first-place award she won in the undergraduate category.
"Growing up along coastal areas and my dad in the Navy, I have always had an interest in the weather," she added.
Jacob B. "Jake" Irvin of Fort Wayne, Ind., placed first in the graduate student category. Scheduled to receive his master's degree in broadcast meteorology at May 2 commencement, he plans to work with either the National Weather Service or a private company.
"I really like the challenge of figuring out if the models are right," Irvin said.
Forecasting instructor Doug Gillham, director of distance learning for geosciences, earned first place in the faculty category. Also the departmental adviser for the forecasting challenge, he said the program's strong emphasis on accuracy helped the team excel.
"The dedication of our students and faculty has helped make the program a success," Gillham said.
Specifically, this year's MSU honors included:
--First through fourth places in the undergraduate division;
--First through sixth places in the North American graduate student division; and
--First through third in the faculty division.
Darrel Schmitz, head of the geosciences department in which broadcast meteorology is based, said the achievements "are unprecedented." No institutional team previously has placed first overall while simultaneously sweeping individual awards in the same year, he observed.
"If this competition was college football, it would be like winning the national championship, Heisman Trophy, coach of the year, and having each player as an All-American," Schmitz said.
Schmitz said MSU forecasters have placed atop individual and group rankings nationally over the past three years.
Beyond campus, MSU's broadcast meteorology graduates may be found on cable television's Weather Channel, as well as in nearly all major U.S. television markets, he added.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, contact Gillham at 662-325-9646 or dmg3@msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.
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LOCAL EDITORS:
Jessica Dealy is the daughter of Daniel and Jan Dealy.
Irvin, a 2006 Indiana University graduate, is the son of Chuck and Judy Irvin.