NCAR FORECASTERS TAKE FIRST PLACE IN NATIONAL 
CONTEST

NCAR took top honors in the recently concluded National 
Collegiate Weather Forecasting Contest for 1993 - 94.  The NCAR 
team earned the best overall score among the 31 institutions that 
participated.  The universities of Oklahoma and Michigan rounded 
out the top three teams.  This year's contest drew a record number 
of over 650 students, faculty and staff from colleges, universities, 
and research centers in the United States and Canada.

Chris Davis (MMM/RAP) placed first in the faculty/staff division 
of the contest and finished second overall.  Other NCAR 
forecasters that finished in the top 10% nationally, in order of 
placement, were Morris Weisman and Chris Snyder (MMM), Peter 
Neilley (RAP), and Ed Szoke (MMM/RAP).  Morris also topped the 
faculty/staff division in forecasting weather for the cities of 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Las Vegas, Nevada, while Ed took 
the divisional crown for Springfield, Missouri, and Greg 
Stossmeister (RAP) did the same for Great Falls, Montana.

The NCAR team included 
15 forecasters with various degrees of experience, representing five 
different divisions.  Forecasters in the contest predicted the next 
day's high and low temperatures and precipitation amounts each 
day during a two-week stint for each of 13 different cities around 
the country.  Forecasts were sent electronically to Pennsylvania 
State University, which scores and administers the contest.  The 
1994 - 95 competition gets under way in September; watch Staff 
Notes in late summer for details on how to participate.  

NCAR director Bob Serafin (center) congratulates Peter Neilley 
(left), who organized NCAR's championship team for the National 
Collegiate Weather Forecasting Contest, and Chris Davis (right), 
who won first place in the contest's faculty/staff division.