Did you know that snow can fall at temperatures above freezing? In this presentation from the 2022 AMS Weather Band Community and Citizen Science Symposium, Jeff Uhlik describes the impact of community engagement through the Tahoe Rain or Snow project. The group is working to reduce inaccuracies in determining precipitation type by estimating the temperature of the rain-snow boundary, which is used in weather forecasts and hydrologic models. With help from Tahoe Rain or Snow weather spotters, they have been able to record evidence of snow consistently falling at above-freezing temperatures in the Sierra Nevada. This project is now expanding in 21/22 to include many parts of the Western US.
Jeff Uhlik holds a BFA in Graphic Design from Kent State University and an MA in Interactive Digital Media from San Diego State University. He has spent the better part of 40 years on the bleeding edge of digital media focusing on computer graphics, 3D animation, digital video, web, and interactive media. The last 20 years of that time were spent as a tenured professor and department chair of the Media Arts and Technologies Department at MiraCosta College. He was an early adopter of online education (1998) and retired in 2020. More importantly, he has been a weather geek since he was 10 years old when he got his first weather station, creating weather forecasts for his neighbors. He continues to be active in weather projects such as AMS Weather Band, CoCoRaHS, Weatherlink, and Mountain Rain/Snow. He is an avid equestrian in 3-day eventing and riding to the hounds and currently lives with his wife Julie, their five horses and three dogs in the Sierra Nevada foothills north of Reno NV.