Operation Sierra Storm returns to Lake Tahoe

A leading national weather conference, Operation Sierra Storm (OSS), returns to the South Shore January 21-24 and locals are invited to attend a morning of their presentations. OSS brings together national weather broadcasters and journalists, prominent scientists and experts.

Are extreme weather events linked to global warming? How do weather broadcasters decide what is aired?

Deciphering the science and providing answers is the job many of those in attendance. The conference will feature keynote speaker Stanford University professor of earth system science Noah Diffenbaugh. He and his lab team examined the connections between global warming and extreme events. They recently published their findings in a new framework - What role did climate change play in Hurricane Harvey?

“There is now ample evidence that global warming has influenced extremes in the United States and around the world through such factors as temperature, atmospheric moisture and sea level. This doesn’t mean that every event has a human fingerprint. But it does mean that we can expect more years like this one, when our old expectations no longer apply,” said Diffenbaugh in a recent guest editorial in the New York Times.

OSS will provide ongoing education, networking, and live broadcasts opportunities from Heavenly Mountain Resort. A media panel will address results from the disbanding of the national climate assessment advisory committee, controversial positions on both sides, editorial polices, sources from scientists, and what is allowed. Speakers include Angela Fritz, deputy weather editor for The Washington Post; Brandon Miller, meteorologist and CNN supervising weather producer; Paul Goodloe, The Weather Channel; and Keith Stellman, meteorologist in charge of the Atlanta National Weather Service Office.

The conference host, the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority invites the public to attend the complimentary presentations from 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 23 in the Harvey's Lake Tahoe Cabaret Theater. A question and answer period will follow. For details and to RSVP: http://bit.ly/OSS18Keynote.

The NWS endorsed conference will include presentations on:

Network Hurricane Coverage – Good, Bad and Next Time. Efforts, planning, staffing, capital and time that were dedicated, as well as how and why.

Sea Level Panel: Coastal Storm Modeling System – Shrinking California Coastlines, interventions to preserve or risk economic and protective benefits; Rising Seas in So. Florida

National Fire Safety: Weather Contributions to Large Wildfires; New Technology to Combat Wildfires

News of the Day: Green Energy at Ski Resorts: National Model for Zero Footprint
Attendees for 2018 currently include CNN, The Weather Channel, Washington Post, markets in Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Jose, Santa Barbara, Barstow, Reno, Billings, Alabama, Sioux Falls, etc.

Event sponsors include the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, Tahoe Douglas Visitors Authority, Heavenly Mountain Resort, Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, Harveys Lake Tahoe, Hard Rock Casino Lake Tahoe, Lodge at Edgewood Tahoe, Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel, MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Tahoe Fund, and South Tahoe Airporter.