Biggs places second in National weather forecasting competition

[June 22, 2015]  LINCOLN - Recently Devin Biggs of Lincoln, who will be a junior at Western Illinois University this fall, participated in The Weather Challenge, a nationwide competition hosted by the University of Oklahoma.

Biggs placed second in the weather forecasting freshman-sophomore category. The competition challenge is to forecast the high, low, maximum wind in knots and the maximum precipitation to the one-hundredth in rain units for a specific city over a two-week period. This year the city was Phoenix, Arizona.

"I was surprised to receive the award this year," Biggs stated. "This was the first time I had done forecasting, and I found it very interesting. "

Biggs' second place trophy will be displayed at WIU in Tillman Hall along with other past winners.

The competition is held according to experience level. Those levels are:

• Category 0: Professional - Includes alumni, military personnel, and NOAA employees.
• Category 1: Faculty/Staff/Post-Doctorate forecasters
• Category 2: All graduate student (M.S. or Ph.D.) forecasters
• Category 3: Junior and senior level forecasters
• Category 4: Freshman and sophomore level forecasters

Biggs said he was excited about doing so well his first time in the competition, and he plans to continue competing in future years.

[Text received, Devin Biggs]