Department of Geography Faculty Publications
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Synoptic-Scale Features Common to Heavy Snowstorms in the Southeast United States
(American Meteorological Society, 1997-03)Eighteen heavy snowstorms in the Southeast are examined to determine the synoptic-scale features common to these storms. Storm-relative composites in the temporal domain are created by assigning a "zero hour" to each storm ... -
The relationship between tornadic and nontornadic convective wind fatalities and warnings
(American Meteorological Society, 2011)A database of tornado fatalities, nontornadic convective wind fatalities, severe thunderstorm warnings, and tornado warnings was compiled for the period 1986–2007 to assess the spatial and temporal distribution of warned ... -
Effects of Urban Sprawl on the Vulnerability to a Significant Tornado Impact in Northeastern Illinois
(American Society of Civil Engineers, 2008-11)A sprawling U.S. population continues to spread into the fringes of urban development placing both populations and property in areas that were once largely unoccupied. Population tallies, housing unit totals, and housing ... -
Efforts to improve predictions of urban winter heating anomalies using various climate indices
(Royal Meteorological Society, 2002)Meteorologists who work in the energy commodities market continue to investigate ways to enhance predictions of seasonal temperature anomalies using oceanic/atmospheric indices. This study examines the relationship of ... -
Changes in the Frequency of Extreme Warm-Season Surface Dewpoints in Northeastern Illinois: Implications for Cooling-System Design and Operation
(American Meteorological Society, 2002-03)Warm-season (1 May–30 September) hourly dewpoint data were examined for temporal changes at two weather stations in northeastern Illinois during a 42-yr period (1959–2000). This area has dense population (greater than 8 ... -
Lessons from the unusual impacts of an abnormal winter in the USA
(Royal Meteorological Society, 2005)Economic impacts from the near record warm and snow-free winter of 2001–2 in the United States were assessed to ascertain their dimensions and relevance to issues like climate prediction and climate change. Unusual impacts ... -
Using dew points to estimate savings during a planned cooling shutdown
(Royal Meteorological Society, 2006-12)In an effort to save money during the summer of 2003, Northern Illinois University (NIU) administrators instituted a four-day working week and stopped air conditioning buildings for the three-day weekends (Friday through ... -
Temporal and Spatial Characteristics of Snowstorms in the Contiguous United States
(American Meteorological Society, 2006-08)A climatological analysis of snowstorms across the contiguous United States, based on data from 1222 weather stations with data during 1901–2001, defined the spatial and temporal features. The average annual incidence ... -
Climatology of Surface Cyclone Tracks Associated with Large Central and Eastern U.S. Snowstorms, 1950–2000
(American Meteorological Society, 2008-08)The 241 largest snowstorms over the eastern two-thirds of the United States during 1950–2000 exhibited considerable temporal variability ranging from 1 storm in three winters to 10 storms in 1993/94. The peak decadal ... -
Using climatology to predict the first major summer corn earworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) catch in north central Illinois
(Royal Meteorological Society, 2010)One of the largest food production companies in the United States, with sales in the billions of dollars, must closely monitor anything that may affect their vegetable crops. This includes harmful insects, such as the ... -
Major growth in some business related uses of climate information
(American Meteorological Society, 2010)Uses of climate information have grown considerably in the past 15 years as a wide variety of weathersensitive businesses sought to deal effectively with their financial losses and manage risks associated with various ... -
A Synoptic Climatology of Derecho Producing Mesoscale Convective Systems in the North-Central Plains
(Royal Meteorological Society, 2000)Synoptic-scale environments favourable for producing derechos, or widespread convectively induced windstorms, in the North-Central Plains are examined with the goal of providing pattern-recognition:diagnosis techniques. ... -
A Multiscale Observational Case Study of the Development of an Isolated High Plains Tornadic Supercell
(American Meteorological Society, 2002-07)On 21 May 1995, a strong tornado developed with an isolated supercell in southwestern Nebraska. Largescale conditions were not supportive of a tornadic thunderstorm outbreak; however, evidence suggests significant mesoscale ... -
A 15-year climatology of derecho producing mesoscale convective systems over the Central and Eastern United States
(Inter Research Science Center, 2003-07)A 15 yr (1986–2000) climatology of derecho-producing mesoscale convective systems (DMCSs) is presented in order to better delineate their spatial and temporal patterns. Several significant results emerged from the analysis, ... -
Climatology of cloud-to-ground lightning in Georgia, USA, 1992-2003
(Royal Meteorological Society, 2005-11)A 12-year climatology of lightning cloud-to-ground flash activity for Georgia revealed the existence of three primary regions of high lightning activity: the area surrounding the Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area, ... -
Cloud-to-ground flash characteristics for Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
(Inter Research, 2006-02)We analyzed the patterns of cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning flashes around Atlanta, Georgia (USA), a region that has undergone an intense conversion from natural to anthropogenic land uses. For the 12 yr period from 1992 ... -
Concurrent cloud-to-ground lightning and precipitation enhancement in the Atlanta, Georgia (USA) urban region
(American Meteorological Society, 2008)This study explores how the Atlanta, Georgia (United States), urban region influences warm-season (May through September) cloud-toground lightning flashes and precipitation. Eight years (1995–2003) of flashes from the ... -
Synoptic evolution of midwestern U.S. extreme dew point events
(Royal Meteorological Society, 2008-09)Eight Midwestern extremely high dew point events were examined with respect to their synoptic characteristics and evolution. Individual and composite analyses of events suggest that there exists three predominant features ... -
Environmental controls on species composition along a (maquis) shrubland to forest gradient on ultramafics at Mont Do, New Caledonia
(South African Association for the Advancement of Science, 2001)The landscape-scale pattern of distribution of maquis, maquis with emergent conifers (Arauacaria laubenfelsii), and rain forest, on ultramafic substrate at Mont Do, New Caledonia, is investigated in relation to soil and ... -
The Spatial-Temporal Dynamics of China’s Changing Urban Hierarchy (1950–2005)
(Hindawi, 2012)This paper examines the dynamic spatial and temporal patterns of China’s urban hierarchy from 1950 to 2005. We limit the study to mainland China’s 137 urban agglomerations of 750,000 or more population as of 2005. The ...