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User:Runningonbrains

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I never get sad when people abandon Wikipedia. It probably means they got a girlfriend.

My policies, beliefs, and principles

This user is an administrator on the English Wikipedia. (verify)

This week in weather history...

November 4

1993: China Airlines Flight 605 overran the runway at Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong and crashed into Victoria Harbour while attempting to land during Tropical Storm Ira. There were no major injuries, and all passengers and crew were able to escape safely before the plane sank.

November 5

1991: Tropical Storm Thelma caused major flooding in the Philippines, killing more than 5000 people.

November 6

2001: An extratropical storm system, formed partially from the remnants of two hurricanes, struck Atlantic Canada with winds as high as 96 miles per hour (154 km/h).

November 7

2006: Japan's deadliest tornado since World War II destroyed several buildings and killed 9 people in Saroma, Hokkaido.

November 8

2008: Hurricane Paloma, the second-strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean in November, reached peak intensity near the Cayman Islands, with maximum sustained winds of 125 knots (145 mph; 230 km/h).

November 9

1913: The deadliest storm ever to hit the Great Lakes destroyed 19 ships and killed 250 people.

November 10

1997: Hurricane Rick made landfall in southern Mexico, the second-latest Pacific hurricane ever to do so.




No situation needs the drama that humans bring to it.

I'm actually a really nice person. If you disagree with something I have done, I will be willing to discuss and reconsider my actions. I do not tolerate assuming bad faith or being overly harsh to new editors. But I am also slow to block and quick to forgive honest mistakes.


Essays

      — See all my essays

My academic background

To-do: (completed tasks)

I received my Bachelor of Science degree in Physics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the spring of 2008. I completed my Major Qualifying Project around the same time: a search for sand dune movement on Mars. I hope to turn it into an article at some point (see User:Runningonbrains/Aeolian processes on Mars if you'd like to help).

My main interest, however, is in meteorology, and I do a lot of research on the topic. At Texas A&M University I received my Master of Science in atmospheric science in August of 2011. My research involved baroclinic waves the Martian atmosphere, and my results were published in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences.

I currently work as an Associate Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), working in the Research Applications Laboratory. I work on a bunch of different projects, including work on the operational NWP models, HRRR and GFS-FV3.

As far as my time on Wikipedia, my contributions will mainly be towards meteorology articles (especially tornadoes and other meso- to microscale phenomena), Mars, computer modeling and related subjects. I am the primary maintainer of Portal:Weather, however, I am currently fairly inactive due to my continuing adult responsibilities and recreations. I may become more active one of these days, but I'm probably kidding myself: there's too many things to do in this world that don't involve sitting behind a computer.

Here's what I've done:

What I do/Who I am:
Trout this userWere this admin to act in a foolish, trollish, or dickish way, he is open to being slapped with a large trout.
This user has a sense of humor.
This user actively participates in WikiProject Severe weather.
This user is a member of WikiProject Meteorology.
This user participates in
WikiProject Tropical cyclones.
This user is a newpage and recent changes patroller.
This editor is a Veteran Editor IV and is entitled to display this Gold Editor Star.
21,000 This user has made more than 21,000 edits.
WPIThis user attends or attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
This user is a SKYWARN spotter.
vn-4This user page has been vandalized 4 times.
rvb This user is a Red vs. Blue fanatic.
This user has written or expanded 11 articles featured in the Did You Know section on the Main Page.
This user has helped promote 4 good articles on Wikipedia.
This user has written or significantly contributed to 2 Featured articles on Wikipedia.


This user has written or significantly contributed to featured list on Wikipedia.
FPCs needing feedback




My first two major projects

Tornado articles

During and after my project to improve Tornado, I created a long list of tornado-related articles.

Working on these

Tornado lists

Later on, I began a very ambitious effort to make a series of nation-wide lists of tornadoes by state (currently, I've only done two + DC)

Working on these

Big surprise, more weather-related articles!

Articles re-written


WikiProjects

Was highly active in restarting WikiProject Meteorology, and created a new sub-project WikiProject Severe Weather.

Portals

Overhauled the Weather Portal, eventually improving it into a Featured Portal. I am currently actively maintaining this portal.

Milestones

Other Contributions

Gallery of my images

Recognition for accomplishments

All contributions...

Works in progress

Me

I have witnessed a few major storms, including one of the most intense tornadoes ever observed near El Reno, Oklahoma on May 24, 2011.

So, about me, huh?

As I said, I have a BS in Physics from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. After graduating, I attended Western Connecticut State University part-time for a year, taking atmospheric/oceanic science courses, before transferring to Texas A&M University's atmospheric science program. I graduated with a MS in atmospheric science in 2011, and in 2012 got a job at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. I've been obsessed with nature, especially meteorology, since I was very young. My first storm experience was in utero, when my mom was in the eye of Hurricane Gloria. At 10 a tornado skipped over my house, downing several trees in my back yard. Among my craziest childhood experiences were sitting outside with a -40ºF wind chill to watch blowing snow, climbing a mountain during a Nor'easter with 60 mph winds at the top, and getting caught in a hailstorm which formed right on top of me. As an adult, I now am lucky enough to live right next to tornado alley, and have been on dozens of storm chases that have yielded so many tornadoes I have lost count.

I also enjoy skiing, hiking, camping, and rock climbing.

Hopefully, someday, I'll get to sit through a good hurricane.

My randonimity*

*No, randonimity is not a word, but it sounds cool