COLUMBUS -- Tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and forecasting are topics of the Fourth Annual Ohio Severe Weather Symposium at Ohio State. The conference will be held 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Friday (4/28) in the Ohio Union Conference Theatre, 1739 N. High St.

"Weather Issues at the Millennium: Where We Are, Where We're Going" features speakers from a wide range of meteorologic specialties discussing severe weather research, forecasting and presentation. The symposium is open to the public, and will be attended by researchers, broadcast meteorologists, government personnel and students. A complete schedule and other information is available at http://twister.sbs.ohio-state.edu

Among the conference highlights:

9:20-10:20 a.m. Professors W. Steven Lewellen & David Lewellen, West Virginia University, will discuss Modeling the Strongest Winds in a Tornado.

10:20-10:45 a.m. Christopher Hennon, Ohio State graduate student, will present Using the OSU Weather Website for Severe Weather Monitoring and Forecasting.

11-11:30 a.m. Melissa Barrington, meteorologist at The Weather Channel (formerly with WCMH-TV, Columbus) will discuss Severe Weather Operations at The Weather Channel.

1-1:50 p.m. Bob Davis, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh will discuss The Ohio Floods of 26-28 June 1998: An Amber Perspective.

2:30-3:30 p.m. Dan McCarthy of the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., will discuss What Was Learned from the May 3rd Tornado Outbreak and What's New at the Storm Prediction Center.

3:30-4:30 p.m. Hugh Willoughby, director of the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA/AOML, Miami, Fla., will present Hurricanes in the Millennium: Getting Ready for the Big One.

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