The Reserch Labs Component of the National Weather Service Flash Flood Forecasters Training Course (~1978-1997): A Memorial to Chuck Doswell

In the mid-1970s, 3 flash floods that resulted in more than 400 deaths in the US led to the creation of a Flash Flood Forecasting Course. Two days of the two  week course were led by researchers from the predcessor of NOAA's Office of Atmospheric Research, initially developed by Bob Maddox, Charlie Chappell, and Ray Hoxit. Soon, other scientists were added to the teaching and development group, notably Chuck Doswell. While the rest of the two week course focused on rules of thumb and the mechaniscs of issuing warnings in the system, the lab portion focused on scientific understanding and the dundamnetal idea that forecasting is hard.

In the early 1990s, Doswell modernized much of the course, dragging Harold Brooks into the teaching duties, until the in-person course was eliminated several years later and replaced by a distance learning module .The course led to the 1995 papter, "Flash Flood Forecating: An Ingredients-Based Approach." In January 2025, Chuck passed away. Since then, the 35 mm slides that covered the two days have been recovered. I'll use those slides to provide a flavor for the course and how it affected forecasting and research. It is anticipated that audience participation will be part of the presentation.