Caitlin Dirkes
Caitlin received her Bachelor’s in Meteorology in May 2019 from FSU and continued on to the Master’s program the following semester to work with Dr. Wing. Caitlin's project for her MS thesis involved using specific processes to diagnose the simulation of tropical cyclones in models. During her time in school, she also volunteered at two National Weather Service forecast offices, Key West and Tallahassee. Caitlin quickly realized that that was the career path she wanted to take. Shortly after completing her Master's in Meteorology in August 2021, Caitlin started her first forecasting job at NWS Memphis.
Though Caitlin has always been interested in meteorology, it has not always been her chosen field of study. Before transferring to FSU in the fall of 2017, she spent two years as a mathematics major at the University of Central Florida, in her hometown of Orlando, FL. When Hurricane Matthew impacted her area in 2016, Caitlin realized she wanted to apply her love for math and weather full time and make a career out of it. The following year, she transferred to Florida State, changed her major to meteorology, and two degrees later is working at her dream job.
M.S. Thesis: Process Oriented Diagnostics of Tropical Cyclones in Reanalyses Using Moist Static Energy Budgets
Current Position: Meteorologist, NWS Memphis
Caitlin Dirkes
M.S. 2021
M.S. Thesis: Process Oriented Diagnostics of Tropical Cyclones in Reanalyses Using Moist Static Energy Budgets
Publications
Dirkes, C.A., A.A. Wing, S.J. Camargo, and D. Kim (2023): Process-oriented diagnosis of tropical cyclones in reanalyses using a moist static energy variance budget, J. Climate, 36, 5293-5317, doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0384.1.