Shawn Murdzek

Shawn Murdzek

  • Ph.D. Graduate Student
406 Walker Building
University Park, PA 16802
Email: sfm5282@psu.edu

Websites:

Education:

  1. Ph.D., Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences - The Pennsylvania State University, 2019 - present
  2. M.S., Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences - The Pennsylvania State University, 2016 - 2019
  3. B.S., Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences - The Pennsylvania State University, 2015 - 2019

Research Specialties:

Clouds and Cloud Physics:

Bulk Microphysics Parameterizations

Mesoscale Meteorology:

Convection

Supercell Dynamics

Tornadogenesis

Remote Sensing:

Dual-Doppler Wind Synthesis

Biography:

I study the sensitivities of convective storms to microphysical processes using idealized numerical simulations. The primary goal of my work is to find environmental conditions that decrease (or increase) the sensitivity of storms (especially tornadic storms) to microphysical processes that are parameterized within numerical models.

When I have time, I also study tornadogenesis (or tornadogenesis failure) from an observational perspective using dual-Doppler wind syntheses and surface thermodynamic and kinematic observations from mobile mesonets.

Publications:

Murdzek, S. S., P. M. Markowski, Y. P. Richardson, and R. L. Tanamachi, 2020: Processes Preventing the Development of a Significant Tornado in a Colorado Supercell on 26 May 2010. Mon. Wea. Rev., 148, 1753–1778, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-19-0288.1.