Kelly Crowley
On Monday, May 19th, twenty-six AP Statistics students traveled to Gray, Maine to tour the National Weather Service Station. Mr. Justin Arnott, Science and Operations Officer, gave a presentation on how Probability and Statistics are used in different aspects of operational forecasting. Students learned about what courses are required for a meteorology degree, Model Output Statistics, Forecast Products, Joint Probabilities, Ensemble Forecasting, and Verification. While there, students were given a tour of the facilities and were able to see weather predictions in action! They were introduced to different tools that gather data such as electronic temperature equipment, precipitation gauges, weather balloons, and the doppler radar. This visit to the National Weather Service Station helped students understand that statistics play an important role in many aspects of the forecast process and that math is an essential skill set for any operational meteorologist.