Announcements for METR 104: Intro to Meteorology w/Lab

METR 104:
Our Dynamic Weather
(Lecture w/Lab)

Announcements

Dr. Dave Dempsey
Dr. Oswaldo Garcia
& Denise Balukas
Dept. of Geosciences
SFSU, Fall 2012

A prospectus for Quiz #4is now available. Quiz #4 will be administered on Wednesday, Dec. 19, during the time period from 1:30-4:00 pm, a time assigned by the University for a final exam for METR 104. (Stay tuned for a prospectus, available by Monday evening, Dec. 17.) Note that Quiz #4 will cover only material introduced since Quiz #3 (that is, it will not be a comprehensive final exam), and it will not take the full 2.5 hour period allocated by the University. We will begin with student-presented verifications of weather forecasts made in lab last week, followed by Quiz #4, then a standard course evaluation. Altogether, these things shouldn't take more than 1 to 1.5 hours.
Here is a nice, relatively brief summary of this year's weather relative to past years, for the U.S. mostly (but also a bit for the globe), which I recommend.
Forecasting Exercise. Starting on Monday, Dec. 3, a ninth forecasting question has been added to the ongoing forecasting exercise for Oklahoma City's Will Rodgers International Airport (KOKC). It asks, will it rain (or not) between 12Z tomorrow and 12Z the next day (a 24-hour period). As usual, to optimize your forecasting scores and to help you prepare for your weather briefing in lab, we recommend that you follow the suggested tactics for addressing this and the other questions in the document "Some Forecasting Tactics".

Student weather briefings will be conducted in the lab sections each week for the rest of the semester. The briefing assignment dates are listed in the table below. The briefing consists of (1) an oral presentation to the lab section about one or two of the Iowa State University forecasting questions, for the next day's weather; and (2) "verification" (really, an evaluation) of your forecast, presented in lab the following week. The forecast briefing and follow-up verification together are worth 5% of your course grade (4% for the initial briefing and 1% for the follow-up verification). The particular forecasting question(s) that you'll brief the rest of the lab about will be assigned the day before the briefing and sent by email.

	Weather Forecast Briefing and Forecast Verification Assignments
Date	Wed. Lab	Fri. Lab
Dec 11 & 13	Verifications: Gabriela Garnica Kent Hsu Tiffany Lu Briefings: Bryan Chow Jessica Hines Shaquane Jordan	Verifications: Aubrey Ocampo Anthony Soliman James Torrescano Briefings: Sara Marshall Joseph Walker Sonja Frayne
Dec 19 (Wed.)	Verifications: Bryan Chow Jessica Hines Shaquane Jordan Sara Marshall Joseph Walker Sonja Frayne

Scores for Journal Entry #2, along with extensive feedback about your entry, have also been posted on iLearn.
The New York Times has published an informative article about weather forecasting, emphasizing the role played by uncertainty. Recommended reading!
The required textbook for METR 104 is Introduction to the Atmosphere and the Science of Meteorology, Lutgens & Tarbuck, 2010. It is available only at the SFSU bookstore (for $55). It is an abridged (and hence much cheaper) version of The Atmosphere: Introduction to Meteorology, 11th Edition, Lutgens & Tarbuck, 2010, which is custom designed for METR 104 to reduce the cost. A copy will be placed on 2-hour reserve in the SFSU library some time early in the semester (though I still haven't gotten around to doing that yet--sorry!)
Note the following (tentative) dates for the four short, in-class written quizzes scheduled for METR 104: Sept. 24, Oct. 22, and Nov. 26 (all three are Mondays) plus Wednesday, Dec. 19 (finals week) at 1:30 pm. (Wednesday, Dec. 19 from 1:30-4:00 pm is a time scheduled by the University for a final exam for METR 104. We won't have a final exam, but we will use that time slot for our fourth in-class quiz.) Note also that both Monday, Sept. 3 (Labor Day) and Monday, Nov. 12 (Veteran's Day) are one-day holidays for which no classes, including METR 104, meet at SFSU. Note too, though, that Monday, Dec. 17, is the last day of regular classes (including for METR 104), followed immediately by final exams through Saturday, Dec. 22.

iClickers: We will use a student response system (also known as "clickers") made by iClicker (in particular, the iClicker 2 model) in both lecture and lab. You will need to buy an iClicker 2 clicker from the SFSU bookstore as soon as possible. The price is $40 plus tax. The bookstore will buy it back from you for $20 when you no longer need it, and they will buy any other clicker that you already own for $10. The University has standardized use of the iClicker 2 across campus, so you might discover that you need it in other classes, too, while you are at SFSU. Once you've purchased your iClicker, you will need to register it for METR 104 on iLearn. For instructions, see http://atcentral.sfsu.edu/clickers/students#register.
Lab Fee: The Department of Geosciences charges a $10 lab fee to cover the extra costs of printing that labs typically entail. If you don't pay this fee by the end of the second week of instruction, then your access to University services (library, registration, etc.) will presumably be suspended until you do. You can pay the fee in either of two ways: (1) online through the Bursar's office Web site (http://www.sfsu.edu/~bursar) if you have a MasterCard, DiscoverCard, or American Express credit card or can pay by electronic check (see detailed instructions [PDF file]); or (2) in person at the Bursar's office (ADM 155) or at One-Stop Student Services, using the METR 104 Lab Fee form [PDF file].

Need access to the internet on campus? SFSU's Computing Services maintains a list of computer labs on campus, some of which you might be able to use. Failing one of those, you are allowed to use one and possibly both of the two Department of Geosciences computer labs (for work related to METR 104 or other Department of Geosciences course only):
1. The Meteorology program's Weather Graphics and Simulation Lab (Macs and Windows PCs):
  - Location: Room 607 Thornton Hall. (This room is often locked—access can be through TH 604, a classroom; TH 610, my office; or TH 612, the Meteorology program student room).
  - Hours: roughly 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. M-F.
  If you're using this lab for the first time, please ask me for an introduction to it first.
2. The Earth Systems Lab (Macs).
  - Location: Room 518 Thornton Hall.
  - Hours: whenever someone is around to let you in (it's normally locked).

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