MSC/COMET Winter Weather Course 2016

MSC/COMET Winter Weather Course 2016

In January the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) and the Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training (COMET) hosted a Winter Weather Course at the COMET classroom facilities in Boulder, Colorado, USA. Thirteen operational Canadian meteorologists, three representatives from US National Weather Service and one meteorologist from the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) participated. The course focused onsignificant weather during the winter season, from synoptic scale to mesoscale events. The ultimate goal of the course was to increase three-dimensional understanding of phenomena and atmospheric processes associated with winter weather. The exercises included interpretation of water vapour channel images and 3D understanding. Cyclogenesis, jet streak dynamics and weather interaction to topography also played an important role in the course.