Charlotte Finishes Top Ten In WxChallenge National Forecasting Competition
During the 2023-34 academic year, UNC Charlotte participated in the national forecasting competition known as the WxChallenge (Weather Challenge).
The WxChallenge is a collegiate focused meteorological forecast competition. Forecasters from higher education institutions from across the United States and Canada predict the high and low temperature, maximum sustained wind speed, and total precipitation from select locations across the United States. The competition runs for 10 weeks in the Fall semester and 10 weeks in the Spring semester. During this time, there are a total of 10 locations in which forecasts are made. There is an additional three week tournament following the end of the Spring semester for the top 64 overall best forecasters.
This year, three students and one faculty member from EEGS won national awards:
Daniella Kear, meteorology junior, 2nd place for Traverse City, MI
Caroline Page, meteorology junior, 2nd place for Baltimore, MD
Jared Caylor, meteorology senior/early entry MS graduate, 1st place for Watertown, NY
Terry Shirley, meteorology faculty, 1st place for Raleigh-Durham, NC and 1st place overall for all 10 cities for faculty
As a forecasting team (21 forecasters), UNC Charlotte finished 10th overall among over 60 universities participating. The top 5 forecasters finished 4th overall behind Penn State, MIT, and Univ. of Illinois.