Presentations

(Updated August 2025)

Major Presentations

How to Keep Track of the Weather (February 2025)
Presentation providing an overview on the National Weather Service, weather-related hazards, and hydrology. Invited presentation to the Farm Bureau Agricultural Leaders of Tomorrow leadership development course.

River Ice Spotter Training to Will County and Wilmington EMAs (November 2023)
Detailed training on river ice observations, river ice forecasting, and ice jam flood forecasting to emergency managers and first responders in a river-ice-prone part of the NWS Chicago forecast area.

Lead Time for Recent Chicago Metro Flash Flood Events (November 2023)
Presentation to the Will County, IL, Public Information Officer Workshop. Overview of what goes into forecasting river flooding vs. flash flooding, and how much lead time can reasonably be provided.

Piecing Together Historical Weather Events Using GIS (October 2023)
Presentation summarizing recent research efforts on historical severe weather and flood events in the NWS Chicago forecast area with an emphasis on how mapping and GIS tools assisted with the effort.

Forecasts and Warnings from the National Weather Service (February 2022)
Invited presentation to Wheaton, Illinois, Rotary to cover topics such as NWS operations, forecasting process, climate change, and the NWS hydrology program. Co-presented with Brett Borchardt, NWS Chicago.

Hydrology Information for Emergency Response from the National Weather Service (September 2022)
Presentation providing an overview of recent event which required hydrology-related decision support services from the National Weather Service. Presented to Will County Local Emergency Management Workshop.

Determining the Location of the May 22, 1855, Chicago Area Tornado (October 2022, February 2023)
Presentation summarizing research into one of the earliest tornadoes in Chicago history.
AMS journal article | NOAA SciShare presentation | ArcGIS Story Map | Whirlwind on the Prairie blog series

Potential Lake Michigan Inland Flood Risk to Lake County, IN (multiple presentations: January, February, April and October 2020)
Presentation outlining research into potential inland flooding from elevated Lake Michigan water levels during the 2019-2021 high water event.

Rock River Flooding in Winnebago County Public Meeting (March 2019)
Presentation to about 300 citizens with interests along the Rock River in Winnebago County, Illinois, to discuss how the NWS makes river forecasts, the hydrology of the Rock River basin, causes of recent flooding, and changes to rainfall and streamflow.

Other Selected Presentations

Spring flood outlook briefings to emergency management partners and state representatives
(multiple dates)

Presentations on multiple hydrometeorology topics to Chicago and Rockford media markets
(multiple dates)

Spring hydrology workshops and training to NWS Chicago staff
(multiple dates)