Student Mitchell Gregg wins award at AMS 21st Conference on Mountain Meteorology

Graduate student, Mitchell Gregg, received the first place for Outstanding Presentation Award after presenting at the American Meteorological Society 21st Conference on Mountain Meteorology in July. Gregg’s presentation, titled “Comparison of Microphysical and Topological Influences on Warm Season Storm Electrification Between Subtropical South America and Colorado,” shared research he’s conducted with his advisor Associate Professor Kristen Rasmussen.

“I compare storm electrification processes between subtropical South America and Colorado using data from the CSU CHIVO radar and lightning mapping arrays and have shown that there are fundamental differences in how microphysical storm parameters relate to lightning behavior between these regions,” said Gregg. “South American storms require significantly larger intense radar echoes as well as greater volumes of graupel to produce the same lightning flash rate as equivalently active storms in Colorado.”

This is the first study directly comparing lightning regressions between Colorado and South America.

“Their systematic differences suggest that there is no single microphysics/lighting relationship that can automatically be assumed to apply to other convective hotspots around the world,” said Gregg. 

The talk was Gregg’s first conference presentation.