Student takes 2nd in national weather contest

Fri, May 9, 2008
A Valparaiso University meteorology student has taken second place in a national weather forecasting contest in which he competed against more than 1,200 undergraduate and graduate meteorology students and faculty.

Mark Borchelt, a senior meteorology major from Fort Wayne, finished second in the WxChallenge, an eight-month long competition that began in September.

For the second consecutive year, a Valparaiso meteorology major was among the top forecasters in the contest. Last year Todd Kluber, a senior meteorology major from Aurora, Ill., won the WxChallenge and this year he joined Borchelt among the 64 contestants who qualified for the competition’s tournament rounds. Borchelt also reached the championship round last year.

Borchelt and the other contestants submitted daily forecasts for 11 different cities across the United States. They forecast high and low temperatures, the amount of precipitation and maximum wind speeds over a 10-day period for each of the cities. At the end of the contest, the overall most accurate 64 forecasters squared off in a final bracket for top honors.

“Forecasting combines all the skills I have learned within the last four years, as concepts from boundary layer meteorology to atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics are utilized in each and every forecast,” Borchelt said. “The professors within the meteorology program have been a huge part in the development of those skills, and deserve a lot of credit.”

Students in the contest had to apply their forecasting skills in a variety of climates, preparing forecasts for Cape Hatteras, N.C.; Great Falls, Mont.; Portland, Maine; Peoria, Ill.; Wenatchee, Wash.; New Orleans; Crescent City, Calif.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Memphis, Tenn.; Minneapolis; and Dodge City, Kan.

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