Selected Adventures
Hypodermic Needle
Ben Lomond Peak
Selkirk Mountains
Food for Thought
"All observations are bad, but some are useful" - Unknown
"Performing a map analysis is not about drawing lines on a map - it is about feeling the weather in your veins" - Unknown
"The principal task of any meteorological institution of education and research must be to bridge the gap between the mathematician and the practical man, that is to make the weather man realize the value of a modest theoretical education and to induce the theoretical man to take an occasional glance at the weather map" - C. G. Rossby
"Did you ever wonder what would happen if it started snowing and never stopped?" - Steve Casimiro
"Nobody knows quite how destructive human beings are, but it is a fact that over the last fifty thousand years or so wherever we have gone animals have tended to vanish, in often astonishingly large numbers." - Bill Bryson
"If you were designing an organism to look after life in our lonely cosmos, to monitor where it is going and keep a record of where it has been, you wouldn't choose human beings for the job." - Bill Bryson
"I am pessimistic about the human race because it is too ingenious for its own good. Our approach to nature is to beat it into submission. We would stand a better change of survival if we accommodated ourselves to this planet and viewed it appreciatively instead of skeptically and dictatorially." - E.B. White
"It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English -- up to fifty words used in correct context -- no human being has been reported to have learned dolphinese" - Carl Sagan
"Take away wilderness and you take away the opportunity to be American." - Roderick Nash
"Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed." - Wallace Stegner
"The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders." - Edward Abbey
"Aridity, more than anything else, gives the western landscape its character" - Wallace Stegner
"Alaska is our biggest, buggiest, boggiest state. Texas remains our largest unfrozen state. But mountainous Utah, if ironed out flat, would take up more space on a map than either." - Edward Abbey
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics" - Leonard Courney (not Mark Twain)
"The best test of (statistical) significance is seeing it with your eyes." - John Horel
"A pessimist is simply an optimist in full possession of the facts." - Edward Abbey
"Art, science, philosophy, religion -- each offers at best only a crude simplification of actual living experience." - Edward Abbey
"True research is like fumbling in the dark for the right switches. Once you've turned the light on, everyone can see." - Unknown
"There is only one thing even more vital to science than intelligent methods; and that is, the sincere desire to find out the truth, whatever it may be." - Charles Sanders Pierce
"Science is always wrong. It never solves a problem without creating ten more." - George Bernard Shaw
"A computer lets you make mistakes faster than any other invention, with the possible exception of handguns and tequila." - D. W. McArthur
"Unix was not designed to stop people from doing stupid things because that would also stop them from doing clever things." - Doug Gwyn
"There are two major products to come out of Berkeley: LSD and UNIX. We don't believe this to be a coincidence" - Unknown
"640K ought to be enough for anybody." - Bill Gates
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." - Thomas Watson, IBM Chairman, 1943
"Rock 'n' roll, man, it changed my life. It was like The Voice of America, the real America coming into your home. It was the liberating thing, the out. Once I found the guitar, I had the key to the highway." - Bruce Springsteen
"We learned more from a three minute record baby than we ever learned in school." - Bruce Springsteen
"Most of my life I've been skiing. The rest I've just wasted." - JS
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Jim Steenburgh
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Meteorology
University of Utah
819 WBB/(801) 585-9482
jimsteen@met.utah.edu
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Research and Teaching Interests
Mountain weather and climate including orographic precipitation, orographically modified cyclone evolution, thermally driven flows, lake-effect snowstorms, and weather prediction over complex terrain.
Current Classes
Other Classes Taught Recently
Current Staff and Students
Former graduate students and their current positions
- Justin Cox, Ph. D., 2006: The Sensitivity of Thermally Driven Mountain Flows to Land Cover Change. Research Meteorologist, AIR Worldwide, Boston, MA.
- Jay Shafer, Ph. D., 2005: Topographic and diabatic influences on baroclinic storm evolution over the Intermountain West. Assistant Professor, Lyndon State College, VT.
- Greg West, M.S., 2005: Spurious grid-scale convection in the North American Regional Reanalysis. Doctoral student, University of Utah.
- Ken Hart, Ph. D., 2004: An evaluation of high-resolution modeling and statistical forecast techniques over complex terrain. Lt. Col., U.S. Air Force and Professor, Air Force Academy.
- Jay Shafer, M.S., 2002:
Synoptic and mesoscale structure of a Wasatch Mountain winter storm.
- Justin Cox, M.S., 2002:
Kinematic structure of a Wasatch Mountain snowstorm.
Doctoral student, University of Utah.
- Robert Grandy, M.S., 2001: Case studies of ozone transport processes along
the Wasatch Front. Permit engineer, State of Utah Division of Air Quality. (Co-advised with Jan Paegle).
- Andy Siffert, M.S., 2001: Point-specific MOS forecasts for the 2002 Winter Games. Senior Meteorologist, ACE USA.
- Daryl Onton, Ph.D., 2000: An observational and numerical modeling investigation of Great Salt Lake-effect snow. Meteorologist, National Weather Service.
- Tom Blazek, M.S., 2000: Analysis of a Great Basin cyclone and attendant mesoscale features. Major, U.S. Air Force
- Scott Halvorson, M.S., 1999:
Climatology of lake-effect snowstorms of the Great Salt Lake. Meteorologist, U.S. Army Dugway Proving Grounds.
- Kirby Cook, M.S., 1998: An evaluation of mesoscale model performance over the Intermountain region of the United States. Scientific Services Division, National Weather Service Western Region.
Publications
- Shafer, J. C., and W. J. Steenburgh, 2006: Climatology of strong Intermountain cold fronts. Mon. Wea. Rev., in press.
- Cheng, W. Y. Y., and W. J. Steenburgh, 2006: Strengths and weaknesses of MOS, running-mean bias removal, and kalman filter techniques for improving model forecasts over the western U. S. Wea. Forecasting, in review.
- West, G. L., W. J. Steenburgh, and W. Y. Y. Cheng, 2006: Spurious grid-scale precipitation in the North American Regional Reanalysis. Mon. Wea. Rev., in press.
- Shafer, J. C., W. J. Steenburgh, J. A. W. Cox, and J. P. Monteverdi, 2005: Terrain influences on synoptic storm structure and mesoscale precipitation distribution during IPEX IOP3. Mon. Wea. Rev., 134, 478-497.
- Pataki, D. E., B. J. Tyler, R. E. Peterson, A. P. Nair, W. J. Steenburgh, and E. R. Pardyjak, 2005: Can carbon dioxide be used as a tracer of urban atmospheric transport? J. Geophys. Res.- Atmospheres, 110:D15102.
- Colle, B. A., J. B. Wolfe, W. J. Steenburgh, D. E. Kingsmill, J. A. W. Cox, and J. C. Shafer, 2005: High resolution simulations and microphysical validation of an orographic precipitation event over the Wasatch Mountains during IPEX IOP3. Mon. Wea. Rev., 133, 2947-2971.
- Cheng, W. Y. Y., and W. J. Steenburgh, 2005: Evaluation of surface sensible weather forecasts by the WRF and Eta models over the western United States. Wea. Forecasting, 20, 812-821.
- Hart, K. A., W. J. Steenburgh, and D. J. Onton, 2005: Model forecast improvements with decreased horizontal grid spacing over fine-scale Intermountain orography during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Wea. Forecasting, 20, 558-576.
- Cox, J. A. W., W. J. Steenburgh, D. E. Kingsmill, J. C. Shafer, B. A. Colle, O. Bousquet, B. F. Smull, and H. Cai, 2005: The kinematic structure of a Wasatch Mountain winter storm during IPEX IOP3. Mon. Wea. Rev., 133, 521-542.
- Steenburgh, W. J., 2004: One hundred inches in one hundred hours - The complex evolution of an Intermountain winter storm cycle. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 85, 16-20.
- Steenburgh, J., and E. Greene, 2004: Intermountain winter storm evolution during a 100-inch storm cycle. The Avalanche Review, 22(4), 13-16.
- Hart, K. A., W. J. Steenburgh, D. J. Onton, and A. J. Siffert, 2004: An evaluation of mesoscale model based model output statistics (MOS) during the 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Wea. Forecasting, 19, 200-218.
- Steenburgh, W. J., 2003: One hundred inches in one hundred hours: Evolution of a Wasatch Mountain winter storm cycle. Wea. Forecasting, 18, 1018-1036.
- Steenburgh, W. J., 2002: Using real-time mesoscale modeling in undergraduate education. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 83, 1447-1451.
- Stewart, J. Q., C. D. Whiteman, W. J. Steenburgh, and X. Bian, 2002: A climatological study of thermally driven wind systems of the U.S. Intermountain West. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 83, 699-708.
- Schultz, D. M., W. J. Steenburgh, R. J. Trapp, J. Horel, D. E. Kingsmill, L. B. Dunn, W. D. Rust, L. Cheng, A. Bansemer, J. Cox, J. Daugherty, D. P. Jorgensen, J. Meitin, L. Showell, B. F. Smull, K. Tarp, and M. Trainor, 2002: Understanding Utah winter storms: The Intermountain Precipitation Experiment. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 83, 189-210.
- Horel, J, T. Potter, L. Dunn, W. J. Steenburgh, M. Eubank, M. Splitt, and D. J. Onton, 2002: Weather support for the 2002 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 83, 227-240.
- Steenburgh, W. J., and T. R. Blazek, 2001: Topographic distortion of a cold front over the Snake River Plain and central Idaho Mountains. Wea. Forecasting, 16, 301-314.
- Steenburgh, W. J., and D. J. Onton, 2001: Multiscale analysis of the 7 December 1998 Great Salt Lake-effect snowstorm. Mon. Wea. Rev., 129, 1296-1317.
- Onton, D. J., and W. J. Steenburgh, 2001: Diagnostic and sensitivity studies of the 7 December 1998 Great Salt Lake-effect snowstorm. Mon. Wea. Rev., 129, 1318-1338.
- Steenburgh, W. J., S. F. Halvorson, and D. J. Onton, 2000: Climatology of lake-effect snowstorms of the Great Salt Lake. Mon. Wea. Rev., 128, 709-727.
- Mass, C. F., and W. J. Steenburgh, 2000: An observational and numerical study of an orographically trapped wind reversal along the west coast of the U.S. Mon. Wea. Rev., 128, 2363-2396.
- Schultz, D. M., and W. J. Steenburgh, 1999: The formation of a forward-tilting cold front with multiple cloud bands during Superstorm 1993. Mon. Wea. Rev., 127, 1108-1124.
- White, B. G., J. Paegle, W. J. Steenburgh, J. D. Horel, R. T. Swanson, L. K. Cook, D. J. Onton, and J. G. Miles, 1999: Short-term forecast validation of six models. Wea. Forecasting., 14, 84-107.
- Steenburgh, W. J., D. M. Schultz, and B. A. Colle, 1998: The structure and evolution of gap outflow over the Gulf of Tehuantepec, Mexico. Mon. Wea. Rev., 126, 2673-2691.
- Steenburgh, W. J., C. F. Mass, and S. A. Ferguson, 1997: The influence of terrain-induced circulations on wintertime temperature and snow level in the Washington Cascades. Wea. Forecasting, 12, 208-227.
- Steenburgh, W. J., and C. F. Mass, 1996: Interaction of an intense extratropical cyclone with coastal orography. Mon. Wea. Rev., 124, 1329-1352.
- Steenburgh, W. J., and C. F. Mass, 1994: The structure and evolution of a simulated Rocky Mountain lee trough. Mon. Wea. Rev.,122, 2740-2761.
- Steenburgh, W. J., and J. R. Holton, 1993: On the interpretation of geopotential height tendency equations. Mon. Wea. Rev., 121, 2642-2645.
- Mass, C. F., W. J. Steenburgh, and D. M. Schultz, 1991: Diurnal surface-pressure variations over the continental United States and the influence of sea level reduction. Mon. Wea. Rev., 119, 2814-2830.
Projects
Acknowledgments
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