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Jim Steenburgh

Professor

Office: 488 INSCC
Phone: (801) 581-8727
Fax: (801) 585-3681
Email: jim.steenburgh@utah.edu
Citations: Google Scholar

University of Utah
Department of Atmospheric Sciences
135 S 1460 E, Rm 819
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0110

Blog: Wasatch Weather Weenies

Education

1989 B.S. Meteorology, The Pennsylvania State University
1995 Ph.D. Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington

Research Interests

Mountain weather and climate, orographic and lake-effect precipitaiton, urban and arid-land meteorology, weather analysis and forecasting, numerical weather prediction

Teaching Interests

Atmos 5010: Weather Forecasting
Atmos 5110: Synoptic-Dynamic Meteorology I
Atmos 5120: Weather Discussion
Atmos 5210: Synoptic Meteorology II
Atmos 6250: Mountain Meteorology

Book Chapters

Steenburgh, W. J., K. Redmond, K. E. Kunkel, N. Doesken, R. Gillies, J. Horel, M. P. Hoerling, and T. H. Painter, 2013: Present Weather and Climate: Average Conditions. Assessment of Climate Change in the Southwest United States: A Report Prepared for the National Climate Assessment. G. Garfin, A. Jardine, R. Merideth, M. Black, and S. LeRoy, Eds., Island Press, 56-73.

Liverman, D., S. Moser, P. Weiland, L. Dilling, M. Boykoff, H. E. Brown, D. E. Busch, E. Gordon, C. Greene, E. Hothaus, D. Niemeier, S. Pincetl, W. J. Steenburgh, and V. Tidwell, 2013: Climate choices for a sustainable Southwest. Assessment of Climate Change in the Southwest United States: A Report Prepared for the National Climate Assessment. G. Garfin, A. Jardine, R. Merideth, M. Black, and S. LeRoy, Eds., Island Press, 405-435.

Meyers, M., and W. J. Steenburgh, 2012: Mountain weather prediction: Phenomenological challenges and forecast methodology. Mountain Weather Research and Forecasting: Recent Progress and Current Challenges. T. Chow, S. de Wekker, and B. Snyder, Eds., Springer, 1-34.

Steenburgh, W. J., D. M. Schultz, B. Snyder, and M. Meyers, 2012: Bridging the gap between operations and research to improve weather prediction in mountainous regions. Mountain Weather Research and Forecasting: Recent Progress and Current Challenges. T. Chow, S. de Wekker, and B. Snyder, Eds., Springer, 693-716.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Rutz, J. J., W. J. Steenburgh, and F. M. Ralph, 2013: Climatological characteristics of atmospheric rivers and their inland penetration over the western United States. Mon. Wea. Rev., in review.

Alcott, T. I., and W. J. Steenburgh, 2013: Orographic influences on a Great Salt Lake-effect snowstorm. Mon. Wea. Rev., in press.

Yeager, K. N., W. J. Steenburgh, and T. I. Alcott, 2013: Contributions of lake-effect periods to the cool-season hydroclimate of the Great Salt Lake Basin. J. Appl. Meteor. Clim., 52, 341-362.

Rutz, J. J., and W. J. Steenburgh, 2012: Quantifying the role of atmospheric rivers in the interior western United States. Atmos. Sci. Lett., 13, 257-261.

Steenburgh, W. J., J. D. Massey, and T. H. Painter, 2012: Episodic dust events of Utah's Wasatch Front and adjoining region. J. Appl. Meteor. Clim., 51, 1654-1669.

Alcott, T. I., W. J. Steenburgh, and N. F. Laird, 2012: Great Salt Lake-effect precipitation: Observed frequency, characteristics, and environmental factors. Wea. Forecasting, 27, 954-971.

West, G. L., and W. J. Steenburgh, 2011: Influences of the Sierra Nevada on Intermountain cold-front evolution. Mon. Wea. Rev., 139, 3184-3207.

West, G. L., and W. J. Steenburgh, 2010: Life cycle and mesoscale frontal structure of an Intermountain cyclone. Mon. Wea. Rev., 138, 2528-2545.

Jeglum, M. E., W. J. Steenburgh, T. P. Lee, and L. F. Bosart, 2010: Multi-reanalysis climatology of Intermountain cyclones. Mon. Wea. Rev., 138, 4035-4053.

Alcott, T. I., and W. J. Steenburgh, 2010: Snow-to-liquid ratio variability and prediction at a high elevation site in Utah's Wasatch Mountains. Wea. Forecasting, 25, 323-337.

Steenburgh, W. J., C. R. Neuman, G. L. West, and L. F. Bosart, 2009: Discrete frontal propagation over the Sierra-Cascade Mountains and Intermountain West. Mon. Wea. Rev., 137, 2000-2020.

Steenburgh, W. J., and T. I. Alcott, 2008: Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 89, 1285-1293.

Shafer, J. C., and W. J. Steenburgh, 2008: Climatology of strong Intermountain cold fronts. Mon. Wea. Rev., 136, 784-807.

Cheng, W. Y. Y., and W. J. Steenburgh, 2007: Strengths and weaknesses of MOS, running-mean bias removal, and Kalman filter techniques for improving model forecasts over the western U. S. Wea. Forecasting, 22, 1304-1318.

Orf, L., G. Lackman, C. Herbster, A. Krueger, E. Cutrim, T. Whitaker, J. Steenburgh, and M. Voss, 2007: Models as educational tools. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 88, 1101-1104.

West, G. L., W. J. Steenburgh, and W. Y.-Y. Cheng, 2007: Spurious grid-scale precipitation in the North American Regional Reanalysis. Mon. Wea. Rev., 135, 2168-2184.

Shafer, J. C., W. J. Steenburgh, J. A. W. Cox, and J. P. Monteverdi, 2006: Terrain influences on synoptic storm structure and mesoscale precipitation distribution during IPEX IOP3. Mon. Wea. Rev., 134, 478-497.

Cheng, W. Y. Y., and W. J. Steenburgh, 2005: Evaluation of surface sensible weather forecasts by the WRF and Eta models over the western United States. Wea. Forecasting, 20, 812-821.

Colle, B. A., J. B. Wolfe, W. J. Steenburgh, D. E. Kingsmill, J. A. W. Cox, and J. C. Shafer, 2005: High resolution simulations and microphysical validation of an orographic precipitation event over the Wasatch Mountains during IPEX IOP3. Mon. Wea. Rev., 133, 2947-2971.

Hart, K. A., W. J. Steenburgh, and D. J. Onton, 2005: Model forecast improvements with decreased horizontal grid spacing over fine-scale Intermountain orography during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Wea. Forecasting, 20, 558-576.

Cox, J. A. W., W. J. Steenburgh, D. E. Kingsmill, J. C. Shafer, B. A. Colle, O. Bousquet, B. F. Smull, and H. Cai, 2005: The kinematic structure of a Wasatch Mountain winter storm during IPEX IOP3. Mon. Wea. Rev., 133, 521-542.

Pataki, D. E., B. J. Tyler, R. E. Peterson, A. P. Nair, W. J. Steenburgh, and E. R. Pardyjak, 2005: Can carbon dioxide be used as a tracer of urban atmospheric transport? J. Geophys. Res., 110, D15, D15102.

Steenburgh, W. J., 2004: One hundred inches in one hundred hours - the complex evolution of an Intermountain winter storm cycle. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 85, 16-20.

Steenburgh, J., and E. Greene, 2004: Intermountain winter storm evolution during a 100-inch storm cycle. The Avalanche Review, 22(4), 13-16.

Hart, K. A., W. J. Steenburgh, D. J. Onton, and A. J. Siffert, 2004: An evaluation of mesoscale-model based model output statistics (MOS) during the 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Wea. Forecasting, 19, 200-218.

Steenburgh, W. J., 2003: One hundred inches in one hundred hours - evolution of a Wasatch Mountain winter storm cycle. Wea. Forecasting, 18, 1018-1036.

Steenburgh, W. J., 2002: Using real-time mesoscale modeling in undergraduate education. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 83, 1447-1451.

Horel, J., T. Potter, L. Dunn, W. J. Steenburgh, M. Eubank, M. Splitt, and D. J. Onton, 2002: Weather support for the 2002 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 83, 227-240.

Schultz, D. M., W. J. Steenburgh, R. J. Trapp, J. Horel, D. E. Kingsmill, L. B. Dunn, W. D. Rust, L. Cheng, A. Bansemer, J. Cox, J. Daugherty, D. P. Jorgensen, J. Meitin, L. Showell, B. F. Smull, K. Tarp, and M. Trainor, 2002: Understanding Utah Winter Storms: The Intermountain Precipitation Experiment. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 83, 189-210.

Stewart, J. Q., C. D. Whiteman, W. J. Steenburgh, and X. Bian, 2002: A climatological study of thermally driven wind systems of the U. S. Intermountain West. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 83, 699-708.

Steenburgh, W. J., and T. R. Blazek, 2001: Topographic distortion of a cold front over the Snake River Plain and central Idaho Mountains. Wea. Forecasting, 16, 301-314.

Steenburgh, W. J., and D. J. Onton, 2001: Multiscale analysis of the 7 December 1998 Great Salt Lake-effect snowstorm. Mon. Wea. Rev., 129, 1296-1317.

Onton, D. J., and W. J. Steenburgh, 2001: Diagnostic and sensitivity studies of the 7 December 1998 Great Salt Lake-effect snowstorm. Mon. Wea. Rev., 129, 1318-1338.

Steenburgh, W. J., S. F. Halvorson, and D. J. Onton, 2000: Climatology of lake-effect snow-storms of the Great Salt Lake. Mon. Wea. Rev., 128, 709-727.

Mass, C. F., and W. J. Steenburgh, 2000: An observational and numerical study of an orograph-ically trapped wind reversal along the west coast of the U.S. Mon. Wea. Rev., 128, 2363-2396.

Schultz, D. M., and W. J. Steenburgh, 1999: The formation of a forward-tilting cold front with multiple cloud bands during Superstorm 1993. Mon. Wea. Rev., 127, 1108-1124.

White, B. G., J. Paegle, W. J. Steenburgh, J. D. Horel, R. T. Swanson, L. K. Cook, D. J. Onton, and J. G. Miles, 1999: Short-term forecast validation of six models. Wea. Forecasting, 14, 84-108.

Steenburgh, W. J., D. M. Schultz, and B. A. Colle, 1998: The structure and evolution of gap outflow over the Gulf of Tehuantepec, Mexico. Mon. Wea. Rev., 126, 2673-2691.

Steenburgh, W. J., C. F. Mass, and S. A. Ferguson, 1997: The influence of terrain-induced cir-culations on wintertime temperature and snow level in the Washington Cascades. Wea. Forecasting, 12, 208-227.

Steenburgh, W. J., and C. F. Mass, 1996: Interaction of an intense extratropical cyclone with the coastal orography of western North America. Mon. Wea. Rev., 124, 1329-1352.

Steenburgh, W. J., and C. F. Mass, 1994: The structure and evolution of a simulated Rocky Mountain lee trough. Mon. Wea. Rev., 122, 2740-2761.

Steenburgh, W. J., and J. R. Holton, 1993: On the interpretation of geopotential height tendency equations. Mon. Wea. Rev., 121, 2642-2645.

Mass, C. F., W. J. Steenburgh, and D. M. Schultz, 1991: Diurnal surface pressure variations over the continental U.S. and the influence of sea level reduction. Mon. Wea. Rev., 119, 2814-2830.

Favorite Quote

Do you ever wonder what it would be like if it started snowing and never stopped?

- Steve Casimiro, Editor, Powder Magazine, 1987-1998