Course Syllabus
photo by Zachary Biggs
Be sure to check the Announcements for the Zoom password for our regular class meetings!!
Professor Dale Durran
Remote Office Hours: Tuesday 12:30-1:20 PM https://washington.zoom.us/j/98146650288 Wednesday 2:00-3:00 PM https://washington.zoom.us/j/870908459
Physical office: 502 ATG Building, (206) 543-7440
Email Me
TA: Daniel Lloveras
Remote Office Hours: Tuesday 1:30-2:30 PM https://washington.zoom.us/j/836118073
Thursday 1:30-2:30 PM https://washington.zoom.us/j/116897001
Online learning strategy: We'll present lectures live online at their scheduled time using Zoom. Much of the material will be in the form of Keynote slides. We will also use Poll Everywhere and show videos (there is a lot of great footage of severe storms and hurricanes). The Zoom session will be recorded and posted. Further details will be posted here as we try and test things (like bandwidth for videos).
Our goal: To explore the science, history and impacts of thunderstorms and hurricanes. We will examine the basic processes responsible for both types of storms, and the lightning, hail, tornadoes, high winds and storm surges that accompany them. Significant historical examples will be presented, along with their impact on human activities and strategies for personal safety and societal adaptation.
Textbooks: Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes (for hurricane history and impacts) by Kerry Emanuel and The Weather Book (1997 updated Edition) by Jack Williams (for the science of thunderstorms, hurricanes and a bit of general meteorology). Inexpensive used copies of both books are available online. Note that pdfs are posted for the readings for the first week under Assignments, so there should be no problem if you get these books a week late.
** PDFs of the keynote slides for each lecture will be posted here. **
Grading: Homeworks 25%, two midterms each 23%, final 29%
Exam dates: Midterm 1 April 29; Midterm 2 May 20;
Final June 11, 8:30-10:30 AM PDT
Week 1
- Overview
- Water in the atmosphere
- Making clouds
- Storm of the week
Week 2
- Ordinary thunderstorms: observational viewpoint
- Lightning, hazards, safety
- Lightning slow-motion video
- World Wide Lightning Location Network
- Storm of the week
Week 3
- Clouds and atmospheric stability
- Basic thunderstorm ingredients
- Flash floods
- Storm of the week
Week 4
- Making raindrops and hail
- Multicell thunderstorms
- Satellite observations
- Storm of the week
Week 5
- Severe thunderstorms: supercells and the mesocyclone
- Weather radar
- Storm of the week
Week 6
- Tornadoes
- Storm Prediction Center: watches, warnings, safety
- Societal response and adaption
- Hurricane overview
- `More will die': The ethics of up-close tornado chasing
- Storm of the week
Week 7
- Hurricane life cycles
- Historical storm tracks, climatology
- Hazards: storm surge, wave generation
- Storm of the week
Week 8
- National Hurricane Center: watches, warnings, safety
- Satellite images
- Hazards: rain, flooding, winds
- Storm of the week
Week 9
- Hurricane Katrina
- Evacuation issues
- Storm of the week
Week 10
- Likely changes in a warming climate
- Adaption and mitigation
- Storm of the week
Important Alert
This course is scheduled to run synchronously at our scheduled class time via Zoom. These Zoom class sessions will be recorded. The recording will capture the presenter’s audio, video and computer screen. Student audio and video will be recorded if they share their computer audio and video during the recorded session. The recordings will only be accessible to students enrolled in the course to review materials. These recordings will not be shared in the public, and will be deleted after 90 days.
UW-IT and Zoom have a Business Associates Agreement (BAA) to protect the security and privacy of UW Zoom accounts and is FERPA compliant. Students who do not wish to give consent to being recorded should:
- Choose a Zoom username that does not include any personal identifying information like their name or UW Net ID
- Never share their computer audio or video during their Zoom sessions
By enrolling in this class, all students agree to never upload the recordings to other platforms.
Course Summary:
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