Al Pietrycha's

After growing up in New England, I relocated to Colorado in 1989. I completed a Bachelor's Degree in Meteorology at Metro State College of Denver (5 '99) and a M.S. in Atmospheric Science at Texas Tech University (5 '01). At Texas Tech I worked under Drs. Arthur Doggett and Erik Rasmussen. Immediately after Texas Tech, I took an additional year of graduate course work at Penn State University working under Dr. Paul Markowski. Furthermore, Dr. Charles Doswell has endured my plethora of nagging questions and comments for a number of years now. He is a great mentor and friend.

My professional area of interest lies within observational meteorology with emphasis on mesoscale and storm scale studies (e.g., tornadoes, supercell thunderstorms, hurricanes, convective initiation, snow bands, etc,). While in college I was a principle, co-principle investigator, or field coordinator for several field projects; sub-VORTEX, MOCISE, STEPS, HAL, IHOP, and NGS2000. In 2009 and 2010 I particpated in VORTEX2. I currently serve as a board member for the Electronic Journal of Severe Storms Meteorology. I've also participated as an anonymous reviewer for the American Meteorology Society’s Weather and Forecasting and the Journal of Climate. I’ve also chaired several sessions at various American Meteorology Society conferences, and an invited lecturer at several universities and colloquiums. I'm also a member of the National Weather Association and serve as Vice President for the High Plains Chapter of the AMS/NWA. Visit my research and publications pages to view a portion of my interests.

My passions in life lie in storm chasing, astronomy, ornithology, micro-brews, and slalom skiing. I’m the local Emergency Coordinator for Amateur Radio Emergency Communications, and serve as a council member for a regional Department of Homeland Security Council. I also lend a hand with nowcasting for the El Paso County, Colorado, Search and Rescue organization. I do not take people out chasing with me; please refrain from emailing any such inquiries.