A team of UGA students in the atmospheric sciences program placed third overall in an online weather forecasting competition for students, faculty and alumni of collegiate atmospheric science programs.
The finish at the 2014 WxChallenge competition-behind first- and second-place winners Penn State University and the University of Albany, State University of New York-makes this the fourth time in six years that UGA placed in the top five.
The competition and the team’s placement speak volumes for UGA’s atmospheric sciences program, a new program in comparison to some of the top scoring teams from other longstanding programs, said John Knox, associate geography professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.
The competition featured nearly 2,000 participants representing more than 50 institutions in the U.S. and Canada.
To compete, participants prepared forecasts four times a week for high temperature, low temperature, maximum sustained wind speed and total precipitation for a rotating list of U.S. cities.
