Alli Kelly

I was only a couple weeks old when Hurricane Andrew made landfall, causing significant damage to Southeast Florida -- my home. Growing up, I would always hear people refer to that monster storm and the possibility of having another catastrophic hurricane. I became intrigued by what caused those systems and how we can predict them. I marveled at the frequent afternoon thunderstorms in the summer and hoped for temperatures to drop below freezing each winter. In 2010, I combined my passion for weather and enjoyment of math and the physical sciences to study meteorology at the Florida State University. I experienced many wonderful opportunities during my undergraduate career that included interning at the Florida Department of Emergency Management and conducting research at the Center for Multiscale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes and the Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies. A few months after graduating with my B.S. degree in Spring 2014, I began working toward my M.S. in Atmospheric Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) as a Research Assistant investigating the influence of assimilating targeted observations upon ensemble forecasts of convection initiation. In October 2014, I began interning at Innovative Weather (IW) where I am enjoying applying my meteorological background while also gaining forecasting experience. When I graduate from UWM, I hope to apply the skills obtained from working at IW by continuing my career in operational meteorology.