The High Plains AMS/NWA chapter met for lunch at Gwen’s Hometown Café in Hill City, KS.  There were 19 in attendance, a very good turn out for our chapter.  There were 5 guests, including our featured speaker, Dr. Matt Parker from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.  WFO Goodland brought two student-trainees, Hastings brought one, and the other guest was visiting from the AFWA near Omaha.

Following a nice lunch, our business meeting was held, outlined in the minutes below.  Our invited speaker, Dr. Matt Parker, gave a presentation of “Adiabatic Layers and Tornado Genesis”, an interesting perspective on the relationship of layer lapse rates and tornado genesis.  The talk was well received, and generated plenty of discussion.  Dr. Parker is looking for verification of his theory from the field, and anyone with further interest can contact him at UNL.

OPENING

President Mike Moritz called the meeting to order at 12:30 PM.  Secretary Tim Burke reviewed the minutes from the 4/2/03 meeting; the minutes were accepted as read. 

REPORT OF THE TREASURY

In the absence of Treasurer Aaron Johnson, President Moritz gave the treasury report.  As of Aug 5, 2003, our checkbook balance was $2,150.47.  Since our April meeting, $111.86 had come in: $90 from collections for meals at the Hays meeting; $20 for membership dues; and $1.86 interest.  Expenses totaled $134.98: $99.98 for the meal and speaker costs on 4/2/03 and $35 for our Website maintenance fee.  This balance leaves us in fairly good standing, going into the upcoming High Plains conference. The treasury report was accepted as read.

Warm congratulations were extended to our Treasurer Aaron Johnson and his wife on the birth of their son, just days before this meeting.  Good luck and best wishes to the Johnson family!

President Mike Moritz then introduced some our visiting guests.

OLD BUSINESS

Mike Moritz brought us up to date on the 7th High Plains Conference plans, in Hastings, NE, October 8-10th.  Our chapter website is being updated regularly with new information, www.highplain-amsnwa.org.  The agenda of speakers is filling up, but there is room for more.  The abstract deadline has been extended until Sept 1st.  One of our featured speakers, Don Burgess, has had to back out due to a scheduling conflict.  Our key speakers do include:  Tim Marshall, Damage engineer/storm chaser; Steve Weiss, SPC; Al Dutcher, Nebraska State Climatologist.  Quite a few other interesting presentations are lined up, including 2 student entrees.  An updated agenda, including speaker outlines, should be on the chapter website by Sep 10th.  There is an evening out planned for Thursday night at a local establishment, and it will cost approximately $15.

Vice President Jared Guyer (conference co-chair) has put the hotel reservation information on our chapter web site, and will be posting registration details shortly.  Please register and make your reservations soon. Many Hastings staff members have stepped forward to assist with the logistics of putting this conference together - Thanks!     

HSI MIC Mike Lewis announced a meeting which will dovetail off our conference on Wed, Oct 7th, a day before the conference starts.  Initial plans are to meet for lunch, followed by a Wed afternoon session.  Hastings college (conf site) will most likely be the location.  This meeting will be a meeting-of-the-minds, to discuss operational issues of IFPS.  Since many area WFO’s will be represented at the conference, it was thought this might be a good opportunity to meet and discuss IFPS.  This gathering is meant to be a means to exchange ideas, review Smart Tools, share knowledge/experiences, and discuss ways to put more “meteorology” vs “knobology” into the forecast process.  Hopefully we can all learn from each other.  This meeting will not be reserved just for NWS employees but for anyone interested, and Mike Lewis will get the word out on the meeting details.  
 
Submissions for Chapter of the Year were sent to both the AMS and NWA.  Basically, Tim Burke did the AMS form, and Jared Guyer completed the NWA application.  We are currently looking for any chapter member planning to attend the national meetings.  Dan Nietfeld, OAX is going the AMS conference in Seattle in January.  Is anyone going to the NWA national conference in Jacksonville, FL in October?  We would like to send a poster, which can be a static display or manned. 
 
Matt Gerard, DDC, will arrange to have conference t-shirts for sale at the conference.  Attendees will place orders, and we will then order and ship them using the cafepress.com web site.

NEW BUSINESS

President Mike Moritz was contacted recently by Pete Wolf, ICT SOO, on behalf of the South Central Kansas AMS chapter.  Their chapter is considering the possibility of hosting a conference, and Pete inquired about hosting a conference, in general.  Also, it was mentioned that perhaps at some time in the future, our two chapters could collaborate on a joint conference.  

ADJOURNMENT

This meeting adjourned at 1:15 PM, followed by Dr. Matt Parker’s presentation.  The next meeting will be held during the High Plains conference in Hastings, NE.

Respectfully submitted,

Tim Burke, Secretary    Mike Moritz, President