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Michael French @stonybrookram.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Come by my talk at 9 AM in this morning’s tornadogenesis session at #AMSMadisonSummit. I’ll be talking about so-called Immense ZDR columns. So-called because I call them that!

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Reposted by Michael French

Erik Creighton @ecreightonwx.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Super excited to present my work on vertical supercell mesocyclone alignment this WEDNESDAY at the #AMSMadisonSummit! If you’re attending and want to check it out, this will be part of Session 11A - Supercell Dynamics and Hazards II at 2:45 pm 🌪️ (Previous post said Tuesday)

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Michael French @stonybrookram.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

That makes sense because the area was 83 square km when we ran it with the 1 SD cutoff...

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Michael French @stonybrookram.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

They all use the elevation angle in which the column was closest to 1 km above the 0˚C level, but since we don't grid the data, it could be as much as a few hundred meters above or below that level.

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Michael French @stonybrookram.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

The Enid, OK EF4 tornadic supercell had a ZDR column area of 70 square km (from our algorithm) ~1 km above the 0˚ C level just prior to tornado formation, consistent with the violent tornadoes from our 2021 paper and others we've looked at since (annotated in updated box plots). 🤔

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Michael French @stonybrookram.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Quite under the weather but still excited to give my talk in the next session of #ECSS2025 (and then leave so I don’t get anyone sick).

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Michael French @stonybrookram.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

He also adjusted from his planned projects for me & fostered my desired focus on spending more time reading and thinking in terms of “Big Ideas.” That comes at the cost of fewer papers/grants, but it allowed me to form my own identity in this field to this day. A much deserved retirement to Howie!

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Michael French @stonybrookram.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

That includes work ethic, demeanor, personal communication, and scientific writing (yuck). I was objectively terrible at all of these and now I’m functional. Not an easy task!

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Michael French @stonybrookram.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

I would congratulate Howie on his retirement, but he’d never read this post!🤣 The lessons I learned working for Howie are only tangentially related to supercells & tornadoes. The most important things he taught me were about everything else it takes to succeed in what you care about.

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Michael French @stonybrookram.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

The latest edition (October) of BAMS highlights our presentation at #AMS41Radar on the relationship between "Immense" supercell updrafts and tornadoes (attached). Working on a more complete paper to submit soon (or in 2026 or in 2027 🤥). Anyway, check it out!

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Michael French @stonybrookram.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

Congratulations to @ecreightonwx.bsky.social for passing his Ph.D. proposal defense on observing the vertical alignment of supercell mesocyclones. One (big) step to go!

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Michael French @stonybrookram.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

And my talk on Immense ZDR columns for tornadogenesis prediction is in the next session starting at 4 PM! #AMS41Radar

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Michael French @stonybrookram.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

For those of you at #AMS41Radar, check out poster 109 at 2:30 PM today led by @ecreightonwx.bsky.social who is looking at vertical alignment of mesocyclones in supercells. I promise exhilarating conversation!

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Reposted by Michael French

VTSU Lyndon AMS & NWA @lyndonamsnwa.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

We are happy to announce that the 51st NESC is coming back to Burlington VT! Dates: March 13-15 More info coming soon!

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Reposted by Michael French

European Severe Storms Laboratory @essl-ecss.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

To submit your abstract for the upcoming European Conference on Severe Storms, visit: ecss.eu

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Reposted by Michael French

European Severe Storms Laboratory @essl-ecss.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

Do not forget the Abstract submission deadline of the upcoming European Conference on Severe Storms ⛈️🌪️⚡next Friday 6 June! We hope to welcome all researchers and forecasters with an interest in severe storms to Utrecht 🇳🇱 this November 🙂! Sponsored by @eumetsat.int @eumetsat-users.bsky.social.

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Michael French @stonybrookram.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

New group paper out about ZDR column detection, but really about the appropriate way to evaluate algorithms designed by others (run the actual algorithm 😀) and how that wasn't done in a recent paper. Also some commentary about the difficulty in evaluating column algorithms: doi.org/10.1175/WAF-...

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Michael French @stonybrookram.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

Regional conferences are a formative experience for many undergrads and I hope they continue to get the support they deserve. (I may have enjoyed the socializing aspect too.)

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Michael French @stonybrookram.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

Very happy to fill in at #NESC25 this weekend under unfortunate (and ridiculous) circumstances. NESC was my first conference when I went as an undergraduate in 2002 & 2003, and it was the first time I realized research could be a career path for me. Prior to that, I had no idea what I wanted to do.

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Michael French @stonybrookram.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Was hardly ever on Twitter anymore and tweeted about a visit from a colleague at Albany and realized there was like nobody left to read it. So here we are. I expect great things out of all of you.

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Michael French @stonybrookram.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

What a time to be alive and back on social media.

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