NSSL researcher is awarded DOC Silver Medal

Harold Brooks is a 2002 recipient of the Department of Commerce Silver Medal for developing the first ever, highly-accurate and accessible estimates of long-term threats from tornadoes, thunderstorm winds and large hail on any day anywhere in the contiguous USA.

Brooks took raw reports put onto a regularly-spaced grid by Mike Kay (CIMMS), and applied statistical techniques to provide estimates of the occurrence of severe thunderstorms for any location in the contiguous United States on any day of the year. Working with Daphne Zaras (CIMMS), Brooks also developed applications to make interactive animations of the probability of severe thunderstorms around the country through the year.

The severe weather hazard estimates Brooks developed are available in user-friendly formats at: http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/hazard.