University of Oklahoma
College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences
School of Meteorology

METR 4403/5403
Application of Meteorological Theory to Severe Thunderstorm Forecasting

Spring 2026
Course Meeting Times  : Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10:30-11:20am

Location: NWC 1350

Logistics for office hours of Dr. Xue: Office hours will generally be in person in Ming Xue's office NWC 2502, but if needed Zoom session can be arranged using the following link. See more details in Syllabus.


Send me an email before hand in that case. 

SPC Instructors: Andrew Moore, Andrew Lyons, Harry Weinman, and other Guest Lecturers 
Emails: andrew.moore@noaa.gov, andrew.lyons@noaa.gov, and harry.weinman@noaa.gov
Office hours: by appointment 

We will use Canvas for posting assignments, grades and other functions

Mode of class
Classes will be held in-person in NWC 1350. Course materials, including additional readings and videos, will be posted at the class website or on canvas. Prerecorded lecture videos will be used in lieu of holding make-up classes, as needed. If you are not able to attend a regular in-person class period because you are sick or because of other legitimate reasons, you will be able to attend virtually. If you cannot attend a regular in-person class period, please contact me ahead of time to let me know, and obtain the Zoom link. The two midterm exams and final exam will be held in-person in NWC 1350, so everyone should plan to attend in person on these days. 

Jan 21, 2026: Introduction and Basic Ingradients for Severe Storms

Jan 23, 2026: Skew-T & Parcel Theory

Jan 26, 2026: Surface and Upper Air Analysis (class canceled due to weather - non-critical materials - will make up in forecast exercise session)

Jan 28, 2026: Lapse Rate Tendency

Jan 30, 2026: Lapse Rate Tendency (finishing up remaining parts from Wednesday)

Jan 30, 2026: QG Height Tendency

Feb 2, 2026: QG Height Tendency and Frontogenesis

Feb 4, 2026: Dryline and QG Omega Equation

Lecture materials and recordings below are from 2025.

 

Jan 15, 2025: Surface and Upper Air Analysis

Jan 17, 2025: Skew-T & Parcel Theory

Jan 22, 2025: Lapse Rate Tendency

Jan 24, 2025: Lapse Rate Tendency (continued)

Jan 27, 2025: QG Height Tendency

Jan 29, 2025: QG Omega Equation

Jan 31, 2025: Height Tendency and QG Omega Equations - continued

Feb 3, 2025: Height Tendency and QG Omega Equations - continued

Feb 5, 2025: Synoptic Exercise

Feb 7, 2025: Verrtical wind shear

Feb 10, 2025: Hodographs section 1

Feb 12, 2025: Hodographs section 2

Feb 14, 2025: Hodographs section 3

Feb 17, 2025: Convective Modes

Feb 19, 2025: Convective Mode Exercise

Feb 21, 2025: Writing Forecast Discussions

Feb 24, 2025: Forecase Exercise 1

Feb 26, 2025: Forecase Exercise 2

Feb 28, 2025: Hail Forecasting

March 3, 2025: Supercell Dynamics and Pressure Perturbations

March 5, 2025: Supercell Dynamics and Pressure Perturbations (continued)

March 7, 2025: Supercell Dynamics and Pressure Perturbations (continued)

March 10, 2025: Supercell Dynamics and Pressure Perturbations (continued)

March 12, 2025: Exam 1 Review

March 24, 2025: Fire Weather

March 26, 2025: Supercell Tornadogenesis

March 28, 2025: Supercell and Tornado Parameters

March 31, 2025: Tornado Climatology

April 2, 2025: Tornado Intensity Estimation

April 4, 2025: TC Tornadoes

April 7, 2025: TC Tornadoes - part 2

April 9, 2025: MCS and Its Motion

April 11, 2025: Derechos

Exam 2 Study Guide

  • Study Guide
  • April 14, 2025: Supercell radar applications - 1

    April 16, 2025: Supercell radar applications - 2

    April 18, 2025: Midterm Exam 2 (see study guide posted earlier)

    April 21, 2025: Mesoscale Analysis and Forecasting

    April 23, 2025: Use of CAMS for severe weather forecasting

    April 25, 2025: Forecasting Psychology

    Textbooks:

    None required. 

    Recommended: Markowski, P. and Y. Richardson: Mesoscale Meteorology in Midlatitudes. Wiley-Blackwell, 430pp

    Web Resources:

    A video lecture series created for this class is available online at the following website: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/spcousom/. These videos contain nearly all of the material covered in this course and will serve as a valuable student resource.