Virginia Tech Department of Geography

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The Blue Ridge Chapter of the American Meteorological Society won the award for Chapter Poster of the Year at the society’s annual convention, held last month in Houston. Posters reflect the work the chapters have done in the region they represent, and their chapters goals in a visually appealing way. Most of the membership of the Blue Ridge chapter are Virginia Tech students, along with a few alumni and meteorology professionals.

Holding the ribbon for Poster of the Year are its designers, Kenzie)Tate (primary designer and Meteorology Club Social Chair), and Molly Busbice. Also pictures (from left): Hunter Dunn (Meteorology Club vice president), Logan McKay (Meteorology Club Tteasurer), Xavier Burns (Meteorology Club secretary, Blue Ridge Chapter chair, and Forecasting Club president), Jamie Morrow (alumnus and deputy director in NWS Management Change Unit), David Stensrud (AMS president and fellow), and Nicholas Albers (Local Chapter Committee chair)

Congratulations to Caroline Metheny for getting a jump start on her career by joining the staff at WDBJ7 Weather during her senior year.

Proving that storm chasing can get into your blood, meteorology alumnus Alex Thornton '16 sets out for several weeks each summer in a specially designed chase truck designed by his late friend Travis Cruz. In 2025, he encountered the Hokie Storm Chase in Oklahoma. Read about his passion for chasing storms here.

Alumnus Alex Thornton carries Hokie storm chasing history forward Thornton ’16, a veteran of Hokie Storm Chase, continues to share his time and expertise with student storm chasers. He also leads guided tours for others across the Great Plains in the StormCruzzer, a custom-built chase truck and the passion project of the late Travis Cruz ’16.

Kayleigh Addington saw one of her dreams come true Sunday when she flew her first mission into a hurricane. A 2021 graduate with a double major of meteorology and geography who went on to earn a masters degree from the Department of Geography in 2023, Kayleigh hopes many more missions into storms are on the horizon.

“It was everything I could have imagined.” Lexington woman joins NOAA in Imelda flight mission Kayleigh Addington, who's been studying all things weather-related for years, got a call from the NOAA on Saturday morning that would fulfill a lifelong dream.

The weather station operated by the Department of Geography located on the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge has recorded a string of national minimum temperatures in late August and early September, including a frosty 21.9F this morning.