Roger Edwards
ROGER EDWARDS
Roger Edwards is a meteorologist with the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, specializing in forecasting and applied research related to severe storms and tornadoes. He is the author of the Online Tornado FAQ, answering questions about nature’s most violent wind. He has been with SPC and its predecessor, the Severe Local Storms Unit (SELS) in Kansas City, since April 1993. Before that, Roger was a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. He began his career as a research aide and storm intercept field coordinator at the National Severe Storms Lab in Norman, while in undergraduate and graduate school at the University of Oklahoma. Roger was born and raised in Dallas, and of course is a die-hard Cowboys fan. He lives in Norman with his wife, Elke; cat, Iniki; and his kids, David Andrew and Donna Camille (all named after hurricanes), who are already avid storm watchers.
Roger has authored or coauthored several formal publications in AMS journals, as well as many informal papers for AMS and regional conferences on topics ranging from hail size forecasting to RUC-2 model sounding assessment. His current specialties are in analyses of the 3 May 1999 tornado outbreak and of tornadoes spawned by hurricanes.
An avid storm observer since infancy, Roger roams the Great Plains every spring in search of violent and photogenic weather. He witnessed the three costliest weather disasters of their kind in U.S. history: Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the Midwest Floods of 1993, and the Oklahoma City F5 tornado of 1999. His photographic influences include Adam Clark Vroman, Clyde Butcher, Craig Blacklock and Alan Moller.
Besides “feasting on the smorgasbord of atmospheric violence,” he enjoys travel, field geology, hiking, softball, gardening and fishing.
See much more of Roger’s photography at the SkyPix Gallery.