Florida Tech Master’s Students Win National Weather Forecasting Awards

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Robert James and Tony McGee, students in Florida Institute of Technology’s Department of Marine and Environmental Systems, College of Engineering, won awards for excellent weather forecasting in the annual WxChallenge, national collegiate weather forecasting competition. Both are studying for their master’s degrees in meteorology.

James’ trophy is for National Overall Winner, which he received for forecasting weather for the city of Lincoln, Neb. McGee’s trophies are second place for Juneau, Alaska; first place overall for Albuquerque, N.M.; and a third trophy for finishing second place in his category of M.S./Ph.D. students for his forecasts over the entire year.

Steven M. Lazarus, Florida Tech professor in the Department of Marine and Environmental Systems, is faculty adviser to the two students.

About 1,500 student, faculty and staff forecasters from universities around the country participate in the WxChallenge, a national forecast contest, http://wxchallenge.com. It is open to all undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students as well as higher-education faculty, staff and alumni.