That is my understanding from personnel at U of L, like I said I am not working on my major yet. I am interested in both, less on theory though.

I'm a Purdue Grad (1999). Is UofL finally offering a met program or would you have to take the physics route? I hear the WKU has an up and coming program. Are you more interested in applied meteorology or theory?

I am going to U of L. They had an atmospheric science program slated to start fall 2008 (unsure if I will do major here or not). I also have looked into WKU and UNC Ashville. Where did you go?

The 1/14 06z looks good right now with a very favorable storm track that could give us a dumping next Sunday. It's the only one other than the euro showing this solution maybe the others will follow suit over the next day or two. It's something that bares watching... It looks cold for the 7-14 day period, but not bitter cold. I think the bitter cold is going to take longer to develop shortly after the 14 day period. As la nina weakens that may help cool us as well.

Like you, I am also a snow lover. I even considered pursuing jobs in the Great Lakes just to experience some real winter weather. I guess if there is one thing you can take from living around here is that you learn to appreciate the times that we do get smacked with a good one.

OK, here is my philosophy on forecasting... First, I take great pride in it. It is a constant challenge. Just like golf, it is something that can never be mastered but can always be improved upon. Forecasting excellence is always the aim but is rarely realized. It is probably the one thing that I enjoy the most about my job. Unfortunately, I think it is also one of the least appreciated aspects of television meteorology.

I, like most competent mets, use a blend of models in the medium and long range. I typically don't look at the ensemble gfs before about day 3 or 4 because the differences are usually negligible from the operational. If there are large differences among the ensemble members and the operational in the extended, I tend to be more conservative in my forecasting. If they are on the same page and are showing continuity, I will be more bold in my predictions and try to stay ahead of the trends. I liked your analogy of the girlfriend. Yes you can get to know her, but she's still a female and will consistently throw you some curves, or "irrational" solutions. The key is not to get too hooked on a particular solution no matter how attractive it might seem. Or else you will get burned time and time again. Trust me, I know.

You seem very knowlegable and passionate about weather. You remind me of myself. You will not go wrong with a career in this field. By the way, what school are you going to?

FYI, latest gfs and euro painting an interesting scenario for Sunday. (Yes, I do have a chance of snow for Day 7)

Good to hear back Jeremy. When I say you guys I mean your staff and a lot of other meteorologist's in general. I understand that not everyone is wired like me so I can see why you speak in more basic terms. I guess I feel like if I were an actual meteotrologist I would go in depth and utilize all of my resources to strive for excellence in my field and I'm not saying that you're not. Maybe you just need an audience and I assure you that there is an audience of weather minded people like me.

I am currently in school seeking a degree in atmospheric science, but have not started in my major yet. I am a late bloomer in this field of study, but weather has always been a passion of mine since elem. school.

I'm sure that you can get a good feel for the models you use to predict in long-range forecasting just like you get used to a girlfriend or what not, you kinda can predict what she's gonna do before she does it,lol.

As far the GFS it's all over the place over the next 8-14 days it's not showing the same solution twice from run to run, so I can see your hesitation in hyping anything yet. I do know this Jeremy it looks like it is going to be a very interesting month especially the 8-14 day period and beyond. I am so ready to get this warm-up out of the way and move on into a big snowstorm. We are so overdue here and I think we are goin to get a big snow sometime mid-month. Also it looks colder than anticipated....

Which GFS do you use more? The Operational or the Ensemble Mean?

Hello Matt. First thanks for your comments. It is always a pleasure to hear from someone who knows a thing or two about weather.

Now regarding your questions, when you say “you guys”, do you mean our staff meteorologists or television meteorologists in general? Now I can’t speak on behalf of the “other meteorologists” but this is my take…

I agree that most of the time we blog about pretty basic concepts. This is because we are trying to connect with a general audience and not someone schooled in meteorology or even your average weather nut. With that being said, I would love to blog more specifically for those that are more weather minded. Maybe now is a good time to start?

I personally don’t like to hype an event that is more than 7 or 8 days down the road simply because of the unreliability of computer models that far out. Now if the gfs and/or euro are showing good run to run continuity on a major event by the time day 8 comes around, I will make a mention of it during my extended forecast, but probably not before then.

It may be true that some of the “other meteorologists” weren’t talking about this event before a few days out, but I can assure you that I had it in my forecast on day 7. I know this because at 7 days out, it was Christmas Day and I was stuck here working the evening shift. I also archive all of my forecasts. So since you brought it up, I thought I’d take this opportunity to pull out my forecast from Christmas (Dec. 25th) and it went like this… Day 7 (New Year’s Day) Mostly Cloudy with Snow Flurries Low 20, High 28. I’m not one to float my own boat, but that is pretty close to what we saw. I believe it officially made it up to 30 for an afternoon high.

Since you are asking, the 12z gfs from this morning is still showing a lot of cold air coming our way around the 12th or 13th, but is keeping the storm track too far south for a major snow here. The latest euro is showing a similar solution. However, given all the uncertainties associated this far out, I wouldn’t disregard the possibility of a good snow quite yet.

So I’m curious, are you a meteorologist or just a weather fanatic?

I'm not trying to be ugly, but this blog isn't very in depth. You guys tell people 2 or 3 days in advance about the cold coming or talk about it when it's already here and state the obvious a lot. I knew about this retreating artic blast about 3 weeks ago from other sources. I don't understand why you guys can't look down the road and talk about the long-range gfs and euro models some.

I see a possible snow system here in about 10 days. Why aren't you guys blogging about it or how the warm-up is going to be short lived. Man up guys, put em out there.