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Charles A. Doswell III

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Charles A. Doswell III
Doswell in 2010
Born(1945-11-05)November 5, 1945
Elmhurst, Illinois, U.S.
DiedJanuary 18, 2025(2025-01-18) (aged 79)[2][3]
Norman, Oklahoma, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison[4]
University of Oklahoma[4]
Known forResearch on thunderstorms and tornadoes
Scientific career
FieldsMeteorology
InstitutionsNational Severe Storms Forecast Center, Environmental Research Laboratories, National Severe Storms Laboratory, C. Doswell Enterprises
Thesis The Use of Filtered Surface Observations to Reveal Subsynoptic Scale Dynamics[1]  (1976)
Doctoral advisorYoshi Kazu Sasaki
Notable studentsRoger Edwards
Richard Thompson

Charles (Chuck) A. Doswell III (November 5, 1945 – January 18, 2025[2][3]) was an American meteorologist and thunderstorm researcher. Doswell was an influential contributor, along with Leslie R. Lemon, to the modern understanding of the supercell, which was developed originally by Keith Browning.[5] He also made extensive research on forecasting methodologies and forecast verification, especially regarding severe thunderstorms, and was an advocate of ingredients-based forecasting.

Life and career

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Education and employment

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Doswell was born on November 5, 1945.[2][6] He did undergraduate school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison with meteorology as his major and obtained his B.Sc. in the spring of 1967. Doswell continued at the University of Oklahoma (OU), finishing a M. Sc. in January of 1969.[4] Doswell was called for military service in August of 1969 and after basic training was assigned to the Atmospheric Sciences Laboratory at White Sands Missile Range, in New Mexico, for a study on fog modeling.[4][6]

In 1972, he resumed graduate studies at OU, were he got a PhD in Meteorology in 1976. Having worked summers as a student at the National Severe Storms Forecast Center (NSSFC is now the National Severe Storms Laboratory), in Kansas City, Missouri, Doswell was hired as a Research Forecaster at the Techniques Development Unit (TDU) of NSSFC. In 1982, he was to the Environmental Research Laboratories Weather Research Program in Boulder, Colorado, then to National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma, in 1986. He retired from Federal Service in 2001 to join the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies (CIMMS) at the University of Oklahoma where he taught part-time, too.[4]

He was a forecaster for the first project VORTEX in 1994/1995 and produced more than 100 refereed publications and several contributions to books and encyclopedias. He edited the American Meteorological Society monograph Severe Convective Storms as well as co-authored two papers there.

Storm chasing

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He was among the first professional storm chasers, and continued to chase recreationally later in life. Doswell was a semi-professional photographer, with a special emphasis on storm photographs and also was a Certified Consulting Meteorologist (CCM). Doswell hosted the blues program Juke Joint and co-hosted with Gene Rhoden the severe storms program High Instability on the ShockNet internet radio station.[7]

Doswell appeared in The Chasers of Tornado Alley (1996) along with friend and meteorologist Alan Moller. The award-winning documentary film about storm chasing, produced and directed by storm chaser and filmmaker Martin Lisius, follows Doswell and Moller as they intercept a powerful tornado in the small town of Pampa, Texas, on June 8, 1995. Doswell captured significant, up-close footage of the tornado which appeared in the film.

Death

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Chuck Dowswell died on January 18, 2025, at the age of 79 in Norman, Oklahoma[2][3][8]. A memorial service will be held at the National Weather Center.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Charles A. Doswell III (1976). The use of filtered surface data to reveal subsynoptic scale dynamics (PhD thesis). Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma. p. 126. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d "Charles Arthur Doswell III Obituary". obituare.com. 2025. Archived from the original on January 21, 2025. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d "Charles A Doswell (Chuck) Obituary". obituaries.normantranscript.com. 2025. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e Doswell, Chuck. "Career History of Chuck Doswell". cimms.ou.edu. Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies. Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  5. ^ Lemon, Leslie R.; Doswell, C.A. (September 1979). "Severe Thunderstorm Evolution and Mesocyclone Structure as Related to Tornadogenesis". Monthly Weather Review. 107 (9): 1184–97. Bibcode:1979MWRv..107.1184L. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1979)107<1184:STEAMS>2.0.CO;2.
  6. ^ a b "Curriculum Vitae of Charles A. Doswell III". flame.org. August 4, 2010. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  7. ^ ShockNet Radio. Archived January 30, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ^ Ruggieri, Angelo (January 19, 2025). "Scienza, passione e tempeste: addio a Charles Doswell III, un gigante della meteorologia". MeteoWeb (in Italian). Retrieved January 19, 2025.
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