John Lawson, Postdoctoral Research Associate
Background:
Ph.D. Meteorology, Iowa State University
M.S. Meteorology, University of Utah
MMet Meteorology, University of Reading (UK)
Experience:
John was born in Stockton-on-Tees in the United Kingdom. He earned his MMet degree at the University of Reading, and was able to come to Oklahoma on a foreign exchange trip during that program of study. This eventually led to his decision to pursue a Master’s degree at the University of Utah, where he took part in field studies of downslope windstorms. He then went on to earn his Ph.D. at Iowa State University, an excellent location for studying severe weather!
What He Does:
John’s passion is in chaos theory and the predictability of weather. At NSSL, he is designing short-range ensemble forecast systems (collections of slightly different weather forecasts) for the Warn-on-Forecast project. The project aims to provide a probabilistic (risk-based) forecast of high-impact weather such as tornadoes and flash flooding to increase warning lead times in these events. His other research areas include supercell and bow-echo predictability, and the development of a Python package that generates and evaluates ensemble forecasts.
Trivia:
John runs a UK private forecasting operation called Bolt Forecast. He also enjoys listening to music, and coaching or watching soccer (or football, as it is known in the UK). He also likes spending time with his dog and coloring (see photo).