Retirement after 36 years of forecasting the weather doesn't mean Dean N. Jackman has lost interest in a field that affects everyone.
But it does mean not having to meet daily schedules at work, not having to fight commuter traffic from his home in South Jordan and more time for his family and other activities.Jackman was deputy meteorologist in charge at the Salt Lake office of the National Weather Service from 1982 to 1993.
William J. Alder, meteorologist in charge, said he has worked since the mid-1960s with Jackman. "My whole career has been spent working with Dean. You couldn't find a nicer guy. He is a very competent meteorologist and knows every little trick about Utah weather. We all miss him at the office."
Since beginning active duty in 1956 as a U.S. Air Force weather officer at Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois and on through his years at the weather service, Jackman has seen lots of changes in weather forecasting.
"At the beginning of my career, it was necessary to do much hand plotting and analyzing of weather charts. The first primitive numerical models of the atmosphere to produce weather forecast maps by computer from a centralized location in Washington, D.C., began in 1955," said Jackman, who turned 60 years of age last Sept. 4.
"By 1956, the numerical models were just beginning to be utilized extensively by local weather forecast offices, which received them via telephone facsimile. The hand plotting and analyzing of weather maps continued to decrease as more powerful computers were developed," he said.
Jackman recalled that the first weather satellite was launched April 1, 1960. The early pictures from space, along with the numerical models laid a foundation that began a dramatic transformation in the way weather forecasts were made and in the way weather reports were presented to the public, especially on television, he said.
To be useful, early pictures had to be hand gridded, but technology gradually allowed improvement. Today, forecasters are able to pick the type of elements (temperatures, clouds and water vapor) to be observed as well as produce animation, he said.
"In my opinion, weather forecasting in my early days was about 25 percent science and 75 percent art. The situation is now reversed. That, of course, still leaves lots of room for error - as the public and the forecasters have to shovel 4 inches of `partly cloudy,' " Jackman said, smiling.
Jackman said current weather service modernization efforts promise exciting improvements by the end of the century. NEXRAD (doppler) radars will allow detection and warning of local severe storms as they develop, he said. ASOS (automated surface observations system) will provide observational coverage along with better weather satellites.
And the AWIPS (advanced weather interactive processing system) will provide a method to organize and get information to the news media and the public in a timely and improved manner, Jackman explained.