Kyle J Gillett
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GRA Atmoshp & Space, Atmospheric Sciences
- Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Mesoscale Meteorology, Storm Interactions
Contact Info
- Email: kyle.gillett@UND.edu
Office Address
Atmospheric Sciences
Clifford Hall Room 400
4149 University Avenue Stop 9006
Grand Forks, ND 58202-9006
Biography
Hi! My name is Kyle Gillett; I'm a PhD student of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of North Dakota. I'm an avid "chaser & photographer of the sky" (storms, aurora, astro, etc.), a root beer snob, and a general enjoyer of all things outdoors. Other hobbies include programming and attempting to teach myself guitar.
My interests in meteorology primarily include severe convective storm dynamics (particularly storm interactions, tornadogenesis, and supercell behavior). I also have interests in developing data visualization tools for meteorology and weather's impact of Great Lakes maritime disasters. My Master's thesis and PhD research here at UND involves high-resolution numerical experiments of storm interactions that result in tornadogenesis.
See you at the Ralph!
M.S. thesis: “Effects of a Rear Flank Storm Interaction on Storm Behavior and Tornado-Like Vortex Development in Idealized Simulations”.
Outsanding Master's Student - UND College of Aerospace, Department of Atmospheric Science (2026)
Outsanding Graduate Teaching Assistant - UND College of Aerospace, Department of Atmospheric Science (2025)
Best Graduate Teaching Assistant - UND Student Chapter of the American Meteorological Society (2025)
Department Service Award - Central Michigan University Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science (2024)
PhD Atmospheric Science; University of North Dakota, (expected May 2030)
M.S. Atmospheric Science; University of North Dakota, August 2026
B.S. Meteorology, Mathematics minor; Central Michigan University, May 2024
University of North Dakota
- ATSC270 - Computer Concepts for Meteorology - Spring 2026
- ATSC411 - Synoptic Meteorology - Fall 2025
- ATSC405 - Numerical Methods in Meteorology - Fall 2025
- ATSC110 - Introduction to Meteorology - Fall 2025
- ATSC270 - Computer Concepts for Meteorology - Spring 2025
- ATSC110 - Introduction to Meteorology - Spring 2025
- ATSC411 - Synoptic Meteorology - Fall 2024
- ATSC405 - Numerical Methods in Meteorology - Fall 2024
- Gillett, K. J., 2025: SounderPy: An atmospheric sounding visualization and analysis tool for Python. J. Open Source Software, 10 (112), 8087, https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.08087
- Gillett, K., J., March 2026: A Numerical Investigation into the Impacts of a Rear Flank Storm Interaction on Storm Behavior and Tornadogenesis, 2026 Graduate Research Achievement Day (GRAD), University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota
- Belzer, B. W., Gillett, K. J., Carstens, J., D., January 2026: Convective Environments Preceding Landfall in Tornadic Tropical Cyclones: An Analysis of Airborne Observations, 106th AMS Annual Meeting, Houston, TX, https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.29219.11047
- Gillett, K. J., March 2024: SounderPy: A Sounding Visualization Tool for Severe-Weather Analysis and Forecasting, 27 Annual Central Iowa National Weather Association Severe Storms and Doppler Radar Conference, Ames Iowa, https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.15823.29600
- *Gillett, K., J., May 2026: SounderPy: A Sounding Analysis and Visualization Platform for Severe Weather Forecasting., Environment Canada Storm Prediction Centre Spring Change of Seasons Workshop, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
- *Gillett, K., J., May 2026: Storm Interactions: Their Relationship with Storm Behavior and Tornadogenesis., Environment Canada Storm Prediction Centre Spring Change of Seasons Workshop, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
- *Gillett, K., J., May 2026: SounderPy: A Sounding Analysis and Visualization Platform for Severe Weather Forecasting., Environment Canada Storm Prediction Centre Winnipeg Spring Change of Seasons Workshop, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- *Gillett, K., J., May 2026: Storm Interactions: Their Relationship with Storm Behavior and Tornadogenesis., Environment Canada Storm Prediction Centre Winnipeg Spring Change of Seasons Workshop, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- Gillett, K., J., April 2026: A Theory on the Relationship Between Rear Flank Storm Interactions, Storm Behavior, and Tornadogenesis., Symposium on Local Atmospheric Research, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota
- *Gillett, K., J., April 2026: Storm Interactions: Their Relationship with Storm Behavior and Tornadogenesis., Grand Forks National Weather Service Change of Seasons Workshop, Grand Forks, North Dakota
- Gillett, K., J., March 2026: A Theory on the Relationship Between Rear Flank Storm Interactions, Storm Behavior, and Tornadogenesis., 29th Annual Central Iowa National Weather Association Severe Storms and Doppler Radar Conference, Ames, Iowa
- Nixon, C., Gillett, K., Tang, J., Fowkes, H., February 2025: Chase Archive: Introducing the biggest collection of storm chases on the web. For chasers, by Chasers., National Storm Chaser Summit.
- Gillett, K., May 2025: A Simple Guide to Forecasting the Northern Lights: Auroral Substorms, Seminar for Local Atmospheric Research.
- Space Weather Forecasting, University of North Dakota, April 2025
- Gillett, K. J., 2025: SounderPy: An atmospheric sounding visualization and analysis tool for Python (v 3.0.9). Zenodo, hosted by CERN, DOI:10.5281/zenodo.16927959.
- Synoptic Analysis and Forecasting: An Introductory Toolkit, 2nd Edition, Shawn Milrad, 2025
Graduate Research Assistant - Severe Convective Storm Interactions - University of North Dakota, Department of Atmospheric Science (2026-)
Software Developer - MPAS Modeling Environment Development - University of North Dakota, Department of Atmsopheric Science (2026)
Graduate Teaching Assistant - University of North Dakota, Department of Atmospheric Science (2024-2026)
Graduate Research Assistant - Tropical Cyclone Tornado Environments - University of North Dakota, Department of Atmospheric Science (2025-)
On-Air Meteorologist - WNEM TV5, Gray Media, Saginaw, Michigan (2022-2024)
Undergraduate Research Assistant - Variability of Large Hail Environments - Central Michigan University, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science (2023)
Fill-in Meterologist, Storm Chaser - KSNB Local4, Gray Media, Hastings, Nebraska, (2022)
Freelance On-Air Meteorologist - WLNS TV6, Nexstar Broadcasting, Lansing, Michigan (2020-2021)