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Bad weather helps interns
Two SCSU students opt for a different kind of internship course
By Cory Fechtelkotter
Published:
Thursday, July 10, 2003
With the winter long gone, people can play in Minnesota golf tournaments without worry and enjoy the beautiful summer weather; unless SCSU meteorology students Mike Schulte and Alan Klein think the weather isn't all that beautiful.
Since May, Schulte and Klein have been forecasting weather for the Minnesota Golf Association as part of an internship they received from the SCSU Meteorology department.
Getting the internship was a fairly easy and simple process, according to Klein.
"One of our professors let us know that there was this opportunity for an internship, and he said whoever was interested should just come talk to him," Klein said.
"Since Mike and I were the first two people to talk to him, we were the ones who got to have the internship."
The internship carries a lot of responsibility for the two seniors, but they seem confident that they can handle the job.
"They just want someone to watch everything and make sure the golfers are safe out on the courses," Schulte said. "You need to learn more than what you already know and apply it."
To do this, Klein and Schulte take turns keeping a close eye on weather patterns across the state by using many different sources.
"The night before the golf tournament I will go and just see what the weather is doing," Klein said.
"Then I get up the next morning at six and I start looking through some of the different weather web sites.
"I'll look at radar sites, satellite, water vapor imaging, and then I also look at the storm prediction center at Norman, Oklahoma. I'll look there and see what kind of severe weather outlooks they have."
The center at Norman is particularly useful to Klein as it monitors entire regions, and he does not need to consult as many other sites to achieve an accurate forecast. Unfortunately, the Norman center does not always cover Minnesota.
Minnesota's erratic weather, in addition to the high number of tournaments this time of year, keeps Schulte and Klein very busy.
"We have tournaments all over the state," Klein said. "We had five different tournaments on one day, so were watching five different locations all at once."
If the weather is obviously going to be fine, however, there isn't much Klein or Schulte have to do.
"On a nice weather day, they say 'don't call us at all,'" said Klein. "Luckily there's been quite a few weeks where we haven't had to call them."
In addition to the SCSU faculty and web sites that have helped the forecasters, they have had a multitude of other resources available to them.
"Chaska has an excellent golf facility, where they have their own radar and lightning data, so whoever is there can actually double check with us and make sure they're seeing the same thing we're seeing," Klein said.
Klein's interest in meteorology began in his home of South Dakota.
"Back when I was in South Dakota I was always out farming," Klein said. And when you're out there you can always see the weather coming and going.
"Whenever it rained we got out of fieldwork, so we didn't have to slave away as much those days."
Schulte simply finds weather to be fascinating.
"Just watching weather, everything, you know, I find it really interesting," Schulte said. "I just like to watch what happens. It's not in my control but maybe I can help people understand it."
Klein and Schulte have both enjoyed their time as forecasters so far, and have both learned a lot about the occupation.
"I would do it again, definitely," Klein said. "This is great for anyone that's in our department. I would do this as long as they want me to do it."
Schulte agreed, describing how it will help him to be a private forecaster in the future.
"It really prepares me for my future career," Schulte said.
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Hey i know those guys...they are pretty ... (7/10/03)
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