David Owen Blanchard is an American meteorologist, photographer, and storm chaser. He was a significant collaborator in seminal research on tornadogenesis, specifically the importance of baroclinic boundaries, the rear-flank downdraft (RFD) and its

thermodynamic Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws of ther ...

characteristics.

Background

Blanchard studied

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

(FSU) where he earned a B.S. and at

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

(CSU) where he earned a M.S. in 1983 with the thesis ''Variability of the Convective Field Pattern in South Florida and its Relationship to the Synoptic Flow'' and a Ph.D. in 1994 with the dissertation ''Jet-induced Inertial Instabilities and the Growth of Mesoscale Convective Systems''. From 1978-1980 Blanchard worked at the

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

National Hurricane and Experimental Meteorology Laboratory (NHEML) in Coral Gables, Florida after which he moved to the Office of Weather Research and Modification (OWRM) in Boulder, Colorado until 1982 when he worked at the Weather Research Program (WRP) until 1988. Blanchard was at the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) in Boulder from 1998-1994, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) from 1994-1995, and returned to NSSL Boulder from 1996-1999. Since 1999 he has been a meteorologist at

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

(NWS) Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs). Blanchard participated as a team leader for Project VORTEX in 1994-1995 and was co-

principal investigator In many countries, the term principal investigator (PI) refers to the holder of an independent grant and the lead researcher for the grant project, usually in the sciences, such as a laboratory study or a clinical trial. The phrase is also often us ...

(PI) of subVORTEX during 1997-1998. Blanchard is a

Certified Consulting Meteorologist Certified Consulting Meteorologist (CCM) is the title of a person designated by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and CCM Board to possess the attributes of Knowledge, Experience, and Character as these pertain to the field of meteorology ...

(CCM) by the

American Meteorological Society The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is the premier scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the Atmospheric sciences, atmospheric, Oceanography, oceanic, and Hydrology, hydr ...

(AMS), served on the AMS Severe Local Storms Committee, an associated editor of ''

Monthly Weather Review The ''Monthly Weather Review'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Meteorological Society. It covers research related to analysis and prediction of observed and modeled circulations of the atmosphere, including technique ...

'', and on the Atmospheric Dynamics Committee of the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, space, and planetary scientists and enthusiasts that according to their website includes 130,000 people (not members). AGU's act ...

(AGU).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchard, David O. Living people Florida State University alumni Colorado State University alumni American meteorologists American photographers Nature photographers Storm chasers Year of birth missing (living people)