Penn State Team Wins Weather Forecasting Competition for 6th Straight Year

A team of Penn State students recently won the national WxChallenge, a 20-week weather forecasting competition, marking the sixth consecutive year a Penn State team has claimed the top spot.

University teams compete throughout the academic year. Every two weeks, they are given a location and spend eight nights forecasting temperatures, maximum wind speed and precipitation for a 24-hour period.

“Winning any national competition six times in a row is extremely hard,” said Jon Nese, senior lecturer in meteorology and associate head of the meteorology and atmospheric science program, in a release. “Any time you’re in a competition that’s spread over 20 weeks, there’s a lot of room for error. It’s remarkable. I’m happy to make six layups in a row in basketball, let alone win a 20-week contest.”

Team members mostly come from the Meteorology 215 Weather Forecast Preparation Laboratory in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. While the team challenge takes place throughout the year, individual members can compete in a tournament-style challenge at the end of the year.

Penn State team member Karl Schneider, a first-year meteorology student, took first place in the individual tournament.

“Winning the competition sends a message that we are definitely one of the best meteorology and atmospheric science programs out there,” Schneider said. “It shows that Penn State students start their real-world experience early and are well-equipped to jump right into a career. Our success also shows that human forecasters are still relevant in the age of technology. As long as we can continue to beat computer guidance by a huge margin, Penn State meteorologists will always have a job.”

Joining Schneider among Penn State’s top five forecasters this year were Zak Aronson, James Enlow, Madison Littin, and former coach Michael Goss, who earned his doctorate in meteorology in the spring. Their names will be engraved on the trophy that will join the others in the Joel N. Myers Weather Center in the Walker Building at University Park