Sep 16, 2024
3 min
Since 2017, Dr. Jase Bernhardt, Hofstra associate professor of geology, environment, and sustainability, has been using virtual reality technology to teach the public about the dangers of rip currents, hurricanes, and flash flooding. His most recent award, a $100,000 Road to Zero Community Traffic Safety Grant from the National Safety Council, is enabling him to tackle another seasonal weather worry: driving in snow squalls.
The National Safety Council received funding for this grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Bernhardt’s project aims to share information about the onset of snow squalls, the importance of heeding emergency weather advisories, and what drivers should do if they are on the road when a snow squall occurs.
Although squalls are infrequent, they are extreme and frightening winter weather events that can result in a rapid onset of heavy snow, low visibility, icy roadways, and frigid temperatures.
“Snow squalls are a very specific type of weather phenomenon. They often occur on a clear, calm day, with no warning of precipitation,” Bernhardt said. “Seemingly out of nowhere, you’ll see clouds, followed by a quick burst of very heavy snow. For a short time, perhaps only 10, 15 minutes, there are whiteout conditions where drivers can barely see the road ahead of them.”
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation website, 24% of weather-related vehicle crashes occur on snowy, slushy, or icy pavement, and 15% happen during snowfall or sleet. More than 1,300 people are killed and nearly 117,000 people are injured in vehicle crashes on snowy, slushy, or icy pavement annually.
Because winters in the New York metropolitan area have been mild for the last few years, Bernhardt worries that people have been lulled into a false sense of security about driving during winter storms or squalls.
“We’re not used to being in that kind of severe weather anymore,” he said. “Snow squalls can be deadly in terms of massive collisions and multi-vehicle chain collisions. The key thing to remember is that they come in rapidly, catching people by surprise.”
Bernhardt is collaborating on the software for the snow squall VR simulation with Frank Martin ’22, ’23, who earned both a BS and an MS in Computer Science from Hofstra University. Users will wear a headset and hold a device – like a video game controller – in each hand to replicate the movements of a steering wheel.
In this way, users will experience what it is like to drive from clear, pleasant conditions into a brutal wall of snow. Bernhardt said that if a warning for a snow squall is issued via emergency broadcast, he hopes people who have used the simulation will understand the urgency of getting off the road or pulling onto the shoulder and remaining in their vehicle.
“We want people to have an experience that is as close to reality as possible. The idea is to simulate how sudden and terrifying snow squalls can be and give people an opportunity to learn what they should and should not do if they are caught in one,” Bernhardt said.
In conjunction with the VR simulation, Bernhardt is developing a survey to determine people’s reactions to emergency messaging and how effective it is. He will work with the National Weather Service to have the simulation and surveys available by fall 2025 for use at training and outreach events throughout the Northeast.
Like Bernhardt’s rip current project, there are plans to have a version of the snow squall simulation and corresponding literature available in Spanish. Dr. Sasha Pesci, Hofstra assistant professor of geology, environment, and sustainability, is co-principal investigator on the grant and is helping with the translation of materials.
“More and more, the National Weather Service, state and federal governments, and other agencies recognize the importance of having this information available in other languages,” Bernhardt said. “There are a lot of drivers whose primary language is Spanish, and they include cab and Uber drivers, and truckers.”
Jase Bernhardt is available to speak with media about this topic - simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
Dr. Bernhardt has had a lifelong passion for studying weather and climate. His current research focuses hurricane preparedness.
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Professor of Constitutional Law James Sample was interviewed by Courthouse News Service and WCBS-TV about President-elect Donald Trump receiving an unconditional discharge as a symbolic sentence in his “hush money” case in New York City.
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A national day of mourning for Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, was held on January 9. Professor of Education Alan Singer talked to Newsday about the history of national days of mourning and how they are observed. Dr. Singer said, “There are no official criteria” for what constitutes a nationwide time to mourn or another symbolic nationwide pause. He also noted that a handful have been declared in modern American history for incidents besides the death of a president. President George W. Bush declared a national day of mourning for 9/11. In 1968, Dr. Singer said, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared national days of mourning for both Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy because “they were national leaders who were assassinated.”
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Following the death of Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, Dr. Meena Bose was featured in a Newsday article about his legacy. Dr. Bose is a Hofstra University professor of political science, executive dean of the Public Policy and Public Service program, and director of the Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency. She noted that Carter served under difficult economic and political times. “But then, of course, he went on to have a highly successful post-presidency winning the Nobel Peace Prize, being highly active in public housing policy, voting rights … and really was quite active on the public scene until just a few years ago,” she said. The article also referenced the Hofstra Cultural Center’s 1990 three-day presidential conference on the Carter administration, which President Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter attended.
