Weird Texas Weather Feature Topic

Migration Celebration 2014 Kickoff Fundraiser, Friday, April 4th at RiverPlace, Freeport.

“What makes Texas Weather Weird?” is a question that will be addressed by Dr. John Nielson-Gammon, our Texas State Climatologist, at this year’s Migration Celebration kickoff event. Floods, droughts, tornadoes, hailstorms, hurricanes…Texas gets more than its share of unusual weather. In some respects, the weather in Texas is almost never normal. This talk will discuss the geography of Texas and its surroundings and explain how geography, wind patterns, and ocean currents combine to make Texas weather notoriously unreliable and dangerous.

In addition to being the Texas State Climatologist, Dr. Nielson-Gammon is a Regents Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at TexasA&MUniversity. His weather-related work involves jet streams, extreme rainfall events, and land and sea breezes. Dr. Nielsen-Gammon has also worked on drought monitoring and forecasting, air pollution climatology, and improvements to the climate data record. He teaches courses in weather analysis, weather forecasting, climatology, and atmospheric dynamics.

Dr. Nielsen-Gammon received a Presidential Faculty Fellow award (now known as PECASE) from the National Science Foundation and the White House in 1996, a Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching at TexasA&MUniversity from the Association of Former Students in 1996, and was named a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in 2011. He is Past President of the International Commission for Dynamical Meteorology and is past chair of the AMS Board on Higher Education. Dr. Nielson-Gammon received B.S. (1984), M.S. (1987), and PhD (1990) degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In his “spare time”, Dr. Nielson-Gammon writes a blog, Climate Abyss, for the Houston Chronicle, and he travels the state to engage the citizens of Texas in discussions on weather and climate.

The 20th annual Migration Celebration will start with kickoff activities at Freeport's River Place on Friday, April 4th starting at 5:30 pm and features our photo contest submissions. Our traditional sage-rubbed roasted pork dinner will be served at 6:15, and will be followed by the keynote speech by Dr. John Nielson-Gammon

Members of the Planning Committee will be pleased to supply you with tickets for this year's kickoff events. $25 per adult and $10 for children under 13. Checks should be made out to "Friends of Brazoria Wildlife Refuges" with a note "MC14 Kickoff".

Since 2006, our kickoff events have netted over $52,000 that has been invested in refuge environmental education and facilities development. With your help, we can build on this legacy. The MC14 Planning Committee thank you for your support.

― The Planning Committee: Ed Barrios, Ron Bisbee, Marty Cornell, Mickey Dufilho, Phil Huxford, Donna Jablecki, Shane Kasson, Jeanne Manry, Neal McLain, Denis Mudderman, David Plunkett, Krissy Plunkett, Dick Schaffhausen, Tom Schneider, Ravi Singhania, Ed Suazo, Tom Taroni, and Torry Tvedt,
2014 Migration Celebration Kickoff Fundraiser

Friday, April 4, 2014, RiverPlace Freeport

Our Traditional Sage-rubbed Smoked Pork Dinner

Serving Beer & Wine

Nature Photography Contest

Raffle Items

Keynote address: “What Makes Texas Weather Weird?”

Proceeds enhance the outdoor experience for over 3,000 students each year. Purchases include nets to catch shrimp, crabs, and insects; binoculars, microscopes, fishing poles, cameras, shelter enclosures, boardwalks, trails, signs, reference books, and butterflies.