Staff from the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Lake Charles, Louisiana was a major presence at Operation Tectonic Fury, the 2011
presentation by the JASON Alliance of Southeast Texas. The JASON Project is an annual educational event sponsored by Lamar University in
Beaumont, Texas. The program is geared towards getting students involved in science through hands-on training and real world discovery. The two-
week event (January 21st – February 8th ) provided excellent instructional information to students in the fourth through eighth grades. This year’s topic
was geology, which included training on tectonic plates, volcanoes and general applied earth sciences. Approximately 10,000 students from across all
of Southeast Texas attended this year’s event.
The Jason Alliance of Southeast Texas showed a one hour film produced by Lamar University starring area middle and high school students involved
in geologic studies of pre-historic sites located in and around the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast regions. NWS Lake Charles was once again the
primary auditorium presenter, featuring a detailed discussion of how volcanic eruptions impact weather and climate on a global scale. NWS staff
performed daily demonstrations of a volcano eruption, utilizing a six-foot functioning volcano model.
Following the volcano presentation, the NWS Lake Charles team presented a detailed classroom presentation on flooding, and ways to mitigate it,
utilizing a storm water runoff model on loan from the Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center (LMRFC). Additional flash and river flooding videos and a
Q&A session wrapped up the classroom portion of the training.
To see a PowerPoint slide show of the NWS Lake Charles' presentation, click here.
For more information on the Jason Project go to: https://www.jason.org.
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