Cody Oppermann
M.S. Student
c.oppermannhuskers.unl.edu

Bio: Cody Oppermann is a master's student in the department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Currently living in and originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, Cody is a Traveler Information Meteorologist/Research Assistant for NorthWest Weathernet/the Utah Department of Transportation, and graduated from the University of Utah with a B.S. in Atmospheric Sciences in 2010. Cody enjoys hiking, camping, boating, river rafting, frisbee, football, golf, snowboarding, and anything else that can get him outdoors. And when he finds himself in the Plains, he enjoys severe weather and storm chasing. His current master's research is working toward developing a supercell thunderstorm climatology for the Central U.S. and hopes to defend in 2014.

Current Project:

Supercell Thunderstorm Climatology for the Central U.S. The frequency of occurrence of supercells relative to non-supercells has never been formally documented. Using the Thunderstorm Observation by Radar algorithm (ThOR) and the Mesocyclone Detection Algorithm (MDA), ThOR tracks corresponding with a mesocyclone will be used to create a supercell thunderstorm climatology and determine the percentage of thunderstorms that are supercells as well as the spatial distribution of this percentage.

Supercell Thunderstorm Climatology for the Central U.S.:

Supercell thunderstorms - thunderstorms with a deep, persistent, rotating updraft, or mesocyclone - are often the most severe of any form of thunderstorm and have the potential to cause the greatest damage. While it is the least common type of thunderstorm, it is necessary to understand the spatial and temporal variability of supercells as well as the percentage of thunderstorms that are supercells in order to better understand their existence and help protect life and property affected by these destructive storms. Since they are most commonly observed in the central U.S., a climatology will be completed for the area, restricted by the radar data currently used by the Thunderstorm Observation by Radar (ThOR) algorithm. In addition to the use of the ThOR algorithm the Mesocyclone Detection Algorithm (MDA) is also used which can detect these mesocyclones and will then be attributed to the thunderstorm tracks made by the ThOR algorithm. The percentage of supercells can then be found and a climatology can be created.