Weather Seminar at Wachusett Mountain Ski Area

Marc C. writes "To anyone who is interested in weather, this might be a nice conference to attend on 11/2/02.

PRINCETON-- The third annual Southern New England Weather Conference this weekend will offer insight on topics such as winter weather, satellite photo interpretation and computer modeling.

The conference, sponsored by the National Weather Service and the Blue Hill Observatory, will be held at Wachusett Mountain Ski Area from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday.

Tom E. Myers, Wachusett Mountain's marketing director, said planning for the event began in the spring. He said Mish Michaels, meteorologist for WBZ-TV Channel 4, recommended the site during last year's conference.

"We are really excited to have the event here" Mr. Myers said. "In a weather-dependent business like ours, we depend on the meteorologists."

In addition to conference events, Wachusett will offer a tour of the mountain's snowmaking equipment, and SnowStation LLC of Natick will offer a demonstration of its Backyard Blizzard home snowmaking equipment. Weather permitting, the ski lift will offer rides to the top of the mountain.

Charles Orloff, executive director of the observatory, called previous conferences extremely successful and expects a high turnout this year."Seating capacity at Wachusett is 300 and we're almost sold out," he said. "It's been well-attended each year, and last year, we had 230 people attend."

Mr. Orloff said that before the joint efforts of the two organizations, each would hold separate events for teachers and the media. While the conference is open to the public, it is primarily for science teachers and meteorologists. For families, a weather festival is planned, offering children basic weather lessons, as well as kite making and kite flying.

Boston meteorologists Dick Albert and Harvey Leonard, both of WCVB-TV Channel 5, and Ms. Michaels will be in attendance, as will numerous experts from across the country.

Dr. Louis Uccellini, director of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, and Paul Kocin, of the Weather Channel, co-authors of what Mr. Orloff calls the classic weather book, "Snowstorms on the East Coast," will offer presentations on preparing for winter, the effects of El Nino, global warming and the progress that has been made over the years in predicting Northeast snowstorms.

Mr. Leonard will look back in time, at the Blizzard of 1978, which produced one of the most powerful and memorable winter storms on record. The storm produced hurricane force winds and blinding snow, with accumulations measured in feet, rather than inches.

For more information, or to register, call (617) 696-0389, or visit www.bluehill.org.

I never liked riding in helicopters because there's a fair probability that the bottom part will get going around as fast as the top part. --Lt. Col. John Wittenborn, USAFR.

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