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Student Forecasts
Fri Sep 26, 2003
Listen in RealAudio 
Classroom learning can only take a person so far. But real world experience, especially in
forecasting, can mean a difference in millions of dollars to businesses, and sometimes,
whether people live or die.
I'm Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook.
In Mobile, Alabama, Dr. Bill Williams runs a program that gives meteorology students the
chance to forecast - for real.
BW: The Coastal Weather Research Center is really a fully operational weather forecast center;
we're part of the University of South Alabama, and we provide emergency warnings as well as
routine forecast information to business and industry.
BY: For how many companies do you provide forecasts?
BW: Right now it's between forty and fifty different companies, and these are chemical
companies, paper, shipbuilding, even the oil business. We even have clients that are cities,
hotels, and recreation facilities.
BY: How are students involved in the forecasting that goes out to these companies?
BW: During the year they will at least spend one week, possibly more, as chief meteorologist,
of course, supervised. But they get into the Weather Center before sunrise, and they prepare
the forecast, get them out on the Internet, fax them to the companies, then the rest of the
day, they are responsible for briefing clients, and it may be that the day they are on duty
might be one of severe weather. So they might find themselves very, very busy for at least
eight to ten hours of rather intense work, so they learn about forecasting for business and
industry rather rapidly and quickly.
Dr. Bill Williams runs the Coastal Weather Research Center at the University of South Alabama,
in Mobile. The Weather Notebook is produced by Margaret Landsman at the Mount Washington
Observatory, and is funded by Subaru.
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