The meeting was held at the National Weather Service Office in Jackson. Presentations were made by NWS Jackson Lead Forecaster Eric Carpenter and local NWA President Vincent Webb.
Meeting Minutes
Call to Order
The second NWA/AMS meeting of 2011 started at 6 p.m. and was officially opened by Corresponding Secretary, Mr. Eric Carpenter at 6:30 p.m. The Chapter meeting was held at the NWS office in Flowood, MS. Time was allowed for the catering by the Time Out Sports Café before assembling into the meeting.
Rolls
Recording Secretary Ms. Nancy Lopez took attendance, and the sign-in sheet confirmed 18 attendees.
Minutes Approval
Ms. Lopez briefed the group on the activities and minutes from the March 3, 2011 meeting which were approved. An announcement was made that minutes were made available to another website, and now should be posted three places.
New Business
Treasurer, Ms. Joanne Culin gave an update on the financial report. The last balance in March had funds totaling $180. The group collected more dues of $20 at the meeting, to be used to pay for the caterer.
Mr. Eric Carpenter, NWS Forecaster then started his power point presentation analysis of the April 25-27, 2011 historical tornado outbreak. This information was also used at the JSU (Jackson State University) weather camp. He described the number of tornados vs. straight line wind events, showed damage photos and damage surveys. He used the SPC (Storm Prediction Center’s) materials from the events including soundings, and said it was the first EF5 tornado since the Candlestick Park tornado in 1966. The staff on call those days also recalled their version of the events that struck Mississippi and Alabama over the duration.
The second part of the meeting was presented by NWA President Mr. Vincent Webb on his post-graduation storm chase trip from May 23 to 25 this year. He traveled across Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee for one week in his own car, videotaping and storm chasing several funnel clouds and tornados. One clip showed footage of several harrowing near misses of vehicles and a semi-truck in direct path while parked on the side of the road. He had to reverse the vehicle at one point to get out of harm’s way, and he checked on a nearby school before leaving the area.
Adjournment
The meeting concluded at approximately 7:47 p.m. The next meeting date is being planned for September.
Minutes submitted by Nancy Lopez, Recording Secretary.
Central Mississippi Chapter of the NWA and AMS 