High Plains Chapter

American Meteorological Society / National Weather Association


Welcome to the professional meteorology headquarters of the U.S High Plains! We are a local chapter sponsored jointly by the AMS and NWA. Our coverage area spans western Oklahoma to western/central Kansas and Nebraska. If you are a resident of this area, or just have an interest in its wild weather, you've come to the right cyberplace!

The chapter was recognized as the 2008 Local Chapter of the Year and 2003 Local Chapter of the Year by the
NWA.

14th Annual High Plains Conference

The 14th Annual High Plains Conference is scheduled for August 12-13, 2010 in Dodge City, KS.  A Call for Papers is now available, with one-page abstracts (including student competition entries) due August 4A tentative Conference Agenda is available (MS Word format).

Keynote speakers for the conference tentatively include:
Don Burgess -
OU/CIMMS and Vortex2
"Doppler" Dave Oliver - KFDA-TV 10, a CBS affiliated television station in Amarillo, Texas
Pam Heinselman - NSSL/Phased Array Radar Innovative Sensing Experiment (PARISE)

Please see the Conference Webpage for additional information including online registration and lodging.


Latest News and Chapter Meetings

An electronic virtual meeting is currently ongoing for May 2010 -- please see the available Word document.

The next chapter meeting is tentatively scheduled for early July.



13th Annual High Plains Conference

The 13th Annual High Plains Conference was held August 27-28, 2009 in North Platte, NE.  Thanks to all of our 77 attendees and speakers!  Click here for highlights and photos from the conference.  Presentations from the conference are now available for online viewing and download.


Jim Johnson Scholarship

The High Plains Chapter of the AMS/NWA is pleased to announce that Jennifer Uhrich of North Platte, NE is the 2009 recipient of the Jim Johnson Scholarship.  She is planning to major in Meteorology at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.  This scholarship was established to honor Jim Johnson, retired Lead Forecaster at NWS Dodge City, for his contributions to the founding of the High Plains AMS/NWA chapter and 1st Annual Conference in Dodge City in 1996.

Jordan Carroll of Atwood, KS was the 2008 recipient of the Jim Johnson Scholarship.
  William L. Friesen was selected as the first recipient of the Jim Johnson Scholarship in 2007.


Chapter Officers

The officers for 2010 are:

President - Mike Umscheid (Dodge City)
Vice-President -
Al Pietrycha (Goodland)
Treasurer - Corey King
(Hastings)
Secretary - Tim Burke (Dodge City)

See our officers page for contact info and "mug shots."


Past Meetings

Click here to go to the past meetings webpage, which includes regular meeting minutes and past conference information.



Please inquire into our related links page!

Here are our officers, constitution, and members.

Direct inquiries to the webmaster.
Last update: July 5 2010