The Texas Severe Storms Association (TESSA) is a national

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

founded in 1993 by storm chaser Martin Lisius. Kim George currently serves as chairperson after Martin Lisius stepped down in 2015. The organization’s mission is to bring together both professional

meteorologists A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while t ...

and weather enthusiasts in an attempt to better understand dangerous storms through the collection and diffusion of knowledge. Its scope is national but focuses on

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. TESSA hosts the "National Storm Conference" every March in

North Texas North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas) is a term used primarily by residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas to describe much of the north central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. Residents of the Dallas–Fort Wor ...

. One of the conference highlights is the "Super Storm Spotter" Training Session, which the organization bills as the most advanced storm spotter training available in the nation. The event attracts

storm spotters Storm spotting is a form of weather spotting in which observers watch for the approach of severe weather, monitor its development and progression, and actively relay their findings to local authorities. History Storm spotting developed in the ...

storm chasers ''Storm Chasers'' is an American documentary reality television series that premiered on October 17, 2007, on the Discovery Channel. Produced by Original Media, the program follows several teams of storm chasers as they attempt to intercept to ...

, forecasters, researchers, educators, and emergency managers from across the United States. In 1995, TESSA, in partnership with the

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 ...

, produced the ''StormWatch'' spotter training video, which is used nationally. ''StormWatch'' was written and directed by Martin Lisius and co-produced by meteorologists

Alan Moller Alan Roger Moller (February 1, 1950 – June 19, 2014) was an American meteorologist, storm chaser, nature and landscape photographer known for advancing Storm spotting, spotter training and bridging operational meteorology (particularly severe st ...

and Gary Woodall.Brotak, Edward (Dec 1995). "StormWatch". ''

Weatherwise ''Weatherwise'' is a magazine founded by David M. Ludlum and was published by Heldref Publications in Washington DC, but now is published by Taylor & Francis Group. It covers weather and climate for weather enthusiasts as well as meteorologists a ...

''.

References

External links

TESSA website
Climate of Texas Severe weather and convection Non-profit organizations based in Texas Storm chasing {{US-org-stub

See also

References

External links