Randall Cerveny
President's Professor,
School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
Other ASU affiliations
Water Institute
Water Institute
Urban Climate Research Center
Distinguished Global Futures Scientist,
Global Futures Scientists and Scholars
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Phone: 480-965-7533
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COOR 5584 TEMPE, AZ 85287-5302
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Mail code: 5302Campus: Tempe
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Long Bio
Randall Cerveny is a professor of geographical sciences at ASU, where he has taught since 1986. He serves as Rapporteur on Extreme Records for the United Nations/World Meteorological Organization, and in this connection is responsible for researching and verifying global weather records. At ASU, he directs the meteorology program, and was awarded the title of President's Professor in recognition of his contributions to undergraduate education. He is contributing editor for the magazine Weatherwise, and is the author of numerous journal articles as well as two books, "Freaks of the Storm," Thunder's Mouth Press, 2006, and "Weather's Greatest Mysteries Solved!", Prometheus Books, 2009.
Education
- Ph.D. Geography, University of Nebraska 1986
- M.A. Geography, University of Nebraska 1983
- B.S. Geography, University of Nebraska 1981
Research Interests
Climatology
Publications
- Bohumil M. Svoma, Kimberbly DeBiasse, Jessica Nolte, Bradley Busby, Carolyn Beeson and Randall S. Cerveny. Evaluation of the Environmental Protection Agency / National Weather Service Ultraviolet Index Forecast against independent UV measurements: Phoenix Arizona (2000-2006). International Journal of Climatology (2010).
- Merlin P. Lawson, Randy Cerveny, Cary Mock. Zebulon Pike: Great American Explorer or Climate Spy?. Weatherwise (2010).
- Randall S. Cerveny, Bohumil M. Svoma, and Russel S. Vose. The lunar tidal influence on inland river streamflow across the conterminous United States. Geophysical Research Letters (2010).
- Randy Cerveny. Hedging your Weather Bets: the Science of 'weather futures' trading. Weatherwise (2010).
- Jennifer M. Besel (with Randall S. Cerveny, consultant). The Coldest Places in the World. (2010).
- Jennifer M. Besel (with Randall S. Cerveny, consultant). The Hottest Places on Earth. (2010).
- Martha E.H. Rustad (with Randall S. Cerveny, consultant). The Driest Places on Earth. (2010).
- Martha E.H. Rustand with R.S. Cerveny (Consultant) as listed on title page. The Wettest Places on the Earth. (2010).
- Colleen M. Garrity, Randall S. Cerveny, Elizabeth A. Wentz. Vertical moisture profile characteristics of severe surface drought and surface wetness in the western United States: 1973-2002. International Journal of Climatology (2009).
- Hubert Quetelard, Pierre Bessemoulin, Randall S. Cerveny, Thomas C. Pterson, Andrew Burton, and Yadowsun Boodhoo. World-Record Rainfalls During Tropical Cyclone Gamede. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (2009).
- Randy Cerveny. Noah Webster: Lexicographer. Weatherwise (2009).
- Randy Cerveny. The Mystery of the Crashing Plane and the A-Bomb. Weatherwise (2009).
- Randy Cerveny. Weather's Greatest Mysteries Solved!. (2009).
- R. Cerveny and R. Holle. Irving P. Krick: Weather Fraud or Weather Genius. Weatherwise (2008).
- R.S. Cerveny, B.M. Svoma, R.C. Balling, R.S. Vose. Gregorian calendar bias in monthly temperature database. Geophysical Research Letters (2008).
- S.W. Myint, M. Yuan, R.S. Cerveny and C. Giri. Categorizing natural disaster damage assessment using satellite-based geospatial techniques. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (2008).
- S.W. Myint, M. Yuan, R.S. Cerveny and C.P. Giri. Comparison of remote sensing image processing techniques to identify tornado damage from LANDSAT TM data. Sensors (2008).
- Randy Cerveny. Wielkie Katastrofy i anomalia Klimatyczne w dziejach (Great Disasters and Climate Anomalies in the History of the World). (2008).
- . . Review of: Coast Lines: How Mapmakers Frame the World and Chart Environmental Change (2008).
- . . Review of: Hurricanes and the Middle Atlantic States (2008).
- Randall S. Cerveny. El Nino / Southern Oscillation and other climatic teleconnections. Climate Change and Variations: A Primer for Teachers (2008).
- Randall S. Cerveny. Weather Extremes Records. Climate Change and Variations: A Primer for Teachers (2008).
- Randy Cerveny. Lightning Curiosities. Weather: The Ultimate Book of Meteorological Events (2008).
- David Brommer, Randall Cerveny, Robert Balling. Characteristics of long-duration precipitation events across the United States. GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS (2007).
- Randall Cerveny. Weather and the Mongols: How the Forces of Nature Helped Shape an Empire. Weatherwise (2007).
- Randall Cerveny, Jay Lawrimore, Roger Edwards, Chris Landsea. Extreme Weather Records: Compilation, Adjudication and Publication. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (2007).
- Randall Cerveny, V. Belitskaya, P. Bessemoulin, M. Cortez, C. Landsea, T. Peterson. A new western hemisphere 24-hour rainfall record. WMO Bulletin - journal of the World Meteorological Organization (2007).
- . . Review of: Lewis&Clark: Weather and Climate Data from the Expedition Jouranls (2007).
- Randall Cerveny. Eye of the Tiger. Orion (2006).
- Randall Cerveny, Niccole Cerveny. Egypt and Water: The Lifeline of a Civilization. Weatherwise (2006).
- Robert Balling, Randall Cerveny. Analysis of Tropical Cyclone Intensification Trends and Variability in the North Atlantic Basin over the Period 1970-2003. Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics (2006).
- Cerveny, Randall Scott. Freaks of the Storm From Flying Cows to Stealing Thunder, the World's Stangest True Weather Stories. (2006).
- Cerveny, Randall Scott. Freaks of the Storm, From Flying Cows to Stealing Thunder, the World's Strangest Weather Stories. (2006).
- . . Review of: Railroads and Weather: Rom Fogs to Floods and Heat to Hurricanes, the Impacts of Weather and Climate on American Railroads (2006).
- . . Review of: Twilight of the Mammoths: Ice Age Extinctions and the Rewilding of America (2006).
- Cerveny, Randall Scott (Author) . The Quasi-biennial Oscillation and tropical climate variations. The Global Climate System, Pattern, Processes and Teleconnections (2006).
- Balling, Robert C, Cerveny, Randall Scott. Winds and Wind Systems. The Encyclopedia of World Climatology (2005).
- Cerveny, Randall Scott. Atmospheric Nomenclature. The Encyclopedia of World Climatology (2005).
- Cerveny, Randall Scott. Folklore, Myths and Climate. The Encyclopedia of World Climatology (2005).
- P Dixon, D Brommer, B Hedquist, A Kalkstein, G Goodrich, J Walter, C Dickerson, S Penny, Randall Cerveny. Heat Mortality Versus Cold Mortality: A Study of Conflicting Databases in the United States. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (2005).
- Randall Cerveny. Lightning Curiosities. Weather Guide Calendar with Phenomenal Weather Events (Accord Publishing Ltd) (2005).
- Randall Cerveny. The Meteorological Observations of Charles Darwin aboard the H.M.S. Beagle. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (2005).
- Randall Cerveny, Charles Knight, Nancy Knight. Strange Tails of Hail. Weatherwise (2005).
- Randall Cerveny, Robert Balling. Variations in the Diurnal Character of Tropical Cyclone Wind Speeds. Geophysical Research Letters (2005).
- Robert Balling, Randall Cerveny. Analysis of Tropical Cyclone Intensification Trends and Variability in the North Atlantic Basin over the Period 1970-2003. Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics (2005).
- . . Review of: FitzRoy: The remarkable story of Darwin's captain and the invention of the weather forecast (2005).
- . . Review of: The Weather in the Imagination (2005).
- . . Global Warming: Forecasts vs. Reality (2005).
- Cerveny, Randall Scott (Author) . Severe Weather, Natural Disasters & Global Change. Shattered Concensus: The True State of Global Warming (2005).
- J Triggs, A Matthias, S Leavitt, Randall Cerveny, B Kimble, P Pinter, G Wall, M Conley, T Brooks, R LaMorte, N Adam, M Ottman. Free-Air CO2 Enrichment Effects on the Energy Balance and Evapotranspiration of Sorghum. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology (2004).
- John Shaffer, Randall Cerveny. Long-Term (250,000 B.P. to 50,000 A.P.) Variations in Ultraviolet and Visible Radiation (0.175 µm - 0.690 µm). Earth and Planetary Science (2004).
- Niccole Cerveny, Randall Cerveny. The Grand Canyon Spectre. Weatherwise (2004).
- Randall Cerveny. The Oddities of Lightning. Weatherwise (2004).
- . . Review of: Bolt of Fate-Benjamin Franklin and His Electric Kite Hoax (2004).
- . . Review of: Climate Into the 21st Century (2004).
- . . Review of: Defining the Wind: The Beaufort Scale, and How a Nineteenth-Century Admiral Turned Science into Poety (2004).
- David Brommer, Robert Balling, Randall Cerveny. Local and Regional Discriminators of Mesoscale Convective Vortex Development in Arizona. Monthly Weather Review (2003).
- R Balling, Randall Cerveny. Analysis of radiosonde-based lapse rates and the difference between near-surface and satellite-based lower-tropospheric air temperatures over the United States. Geophysical Research Letters (2003).
- R Balling, Randall Cerveny. Analysis of the duration, seasonal timing and location of North Atlantic tropical cyclones: 1950-2002. Geophysical Research Letters (2003).
- R Balling, Randall Cerveny. Compilation and Discussion of Trends in Severe Storms in the United States: Popular Preception v. Climate Reality. Natural Hazards (2003).
- R Balling, Randall Cerveny. Cosmic ray flux impact on clouds? An analysis of radiosonde, cloud cover and surface temperature records from the United States. Theoretical and Applied Climatology (2003).
- R Balling, Randall Cerveny. Vertical dimensions of seasonal trends in the diurnal temperature range across the United States. Geophysical Research Letters (2003).
- Randall Cerveny. What's in a Name. Weatherwise (2003).
- . . Review of: Floods, Droughts, and Climate Change (2003).
- . . Review of: Weather Rage (2003).
- Randall Cerveny. The Ten Strangest Oddities of the Tornado. Weatherwise (2002).
- Randall Cerveny, K Coakley. A weekly cycle in atmospheric carbon dioxide. Geophysical Research Letters (2002).
- . . Review of: El Niño in History (2002).
- . . Review of: The Coldest March: Scott's Fatal Antarctic Expedition (2002).
- Randall Cerveny, John Shaffer. The Moon and El Niño. Geophysical Research Letters (2001).
- Randy Cerveny, D Periconi, Randall Cerveny, S Baliunas. Between the Stars. Weatherwise (2001).
- Robert Balling, Randall Cerveny, Craig Idso. Does the Urban CO2 Dome of Phoenix, Arizona Contribute to Its Heat Island?. Geophysical Research Letters (2001).
- Randall Cerveny. The Rescue of the Lost Squadron Crewmen. Weatherwise (2000).
- Randall Cerveny, Lynn Newman. Climatological Relationships between Tropical Cyclones and Rainfall. Monthly Weather Review (2000).
- . . Review of: El Niño 1997-1998 (The Climate Event of the Century) (2000).
- . It's Raining Eels: A compendium of Weird Weather. (2000).
- . Lights, Camera, Weather. (2000).
Research Activity
- Cerveny,Randall Scott*. Establishment of Southwest Monsoonal & Winter Climate Change Baseline Values for Petrified Forest National Park. DOI-NPS(9/1/2010 - 3/31/2012).
- Cerveny,Randall Scott*, Balling,Robert C, Ellis,Andrew Walton. Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Climatological Variations in Isentropic Surfaces. NSF-SBE(7/1/2008 - 12/31/2010).
- Ellis,Andrew Walton*, Balling,Robert C, Cerveny,Randall Scott. Development of an Operational Model Series for Forecasting Runoff on the Salt, Tonto, and Verde Watersheds. SRP-SALT RIVER PROJECT(1/1/2005 - 8/31/2005).
- Cerveny,Randall Scott*, Selover,Nancy Joan. INFLUENCE OF LOCAL CIRCULATION PATTERNS ON CONVECTIVE PRECIP. UNIV CORP FOR ATMOSPHERIC RES(6/1/1995 - 9/1/1996).
- Cerveny,Randall Scott*. CARBON MONOXIDE MODELLING. AZ DEPT OF ENVIRONMNT QUALITY(7/1/1994 - 9/1/1994).
- Cerveny,Randall Scott*. ORBITALLY-INDUCED VARIA IN THE DIURNAL CYCLE OF RADIATION. NSF(3/15/1992 - 8/31/1994).
Courses
2026 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| GPH 414 | Climate Change |
| GPH 414 | Climate Change |
| GPH 410 | Synoptic Meteorology II |
2025 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| GPH 414 | Climate Change |
| GPH 409 | Synoptic Meteorology I |
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| GPH 414 | Climate Change |
| GPH 414 | Climate Change |
| GPH 475 | Dynamic Meteorology II |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| GPH 414 | Climate Change |
| GPH 474 | Dynamic Meteorology I |
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| GPH 414 | Climate Change |
| GPH 414 | Climate Change |
| GPH 410 | Synoptic Meteorology II |
2023 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| GPH 414 | Climate Change |
| GPH 409 | Synoptic Meteorology I |
| GPH 598 | Special Topics |
| GPH 598 | Special Topics |
2023 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| GPH 414 | Climate Change |
| GPH 414 | Climate Change |
| GPH 475 | Dynamic Meteorology II |
| GPH 598 | Special Topics |
2022 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| GPH 474 | Dynamic Meteorology I |
| GPH 598 | Special Topics |
| GPH 414 | Climate Change |
2022 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| GPH 414 | Climate Change |
| GPH 414 | Climate Change |
| GPH 410 | Synoptic Meteorology II |
2021 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| GPH 409 | Synoptic Meteorology I |
| GPH 598 | Special Topics |
| GPH 598 | Special Topics |
2021 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| GPH 414 | Climate Change |
| GPH 414 | Climate Change |
| GPH 475 | Dynamic Meteorology II |
| GPH 598 | Special Topics |
Presentations
- Randy Cerveny. Freaks of the Storm: the Nebraska Edition. The Durham Museum's Opening of Midwest Severe Weather Exhibit (Apr 2010).
- Randall S. Cerveny. Freaks of the Storm: Medical Freaks. University of Nebraska - Omaha Medicial Center (Apr 2010).
- Randy Cerveny. Weather's Greatest Mysteries Solved!. Maricopa County Community Colleges Family Science Outrearch Day (Mar 2010).
- Randy Cerveny. Weather's Greatest Mysteries Solved!. Center for Inquiry: Hollywood California (Oct 2009).
- Randy Cerveny. Weather's Greatest Mysteries Solved. Center for Inquiry: Costa Mesa, California (Oct 2009).
- Randall S. Cerveny. Annual Progress Report on WMO World Weather and Climates Extremes Archive. World Meteorological Organization ET2.2 Meeting in Munich Germany (Oct 2009).
- Randy Cerveny. Weather's Greatest Mysteries Solved!. Arizona GeoEducation Symposium (Jul 2009).
- Randall S. Cerveny. Weather's Greatest Mysteries Solved!. Central Great Plains Severe Weather Symposium (Apr 2009).
- R.S. Cerveny, A.W. Ellis, M. Pace, K. Debiasse, and R.C.Balling. Drought/Flood Patterns using Climatological Isentropic Surfaces. 33rd annual climate diagnostics and prediction workshop/CIVAR Drought workshop (Oct 2008).
- D.M. Brommer, R.S. Cerveny, and R.C. Balling, Jr. Characteristics of long-duration Precipitation events for the Conterminous United States. AAG 2008 Annual Meeting (Boston) (Apr 2008).
- Cerveny, Randall. Nebraska's Weird Weather. Nebraska Agricultural Exposition (Dec 2007).
- Cerveny, Randall. World Weather Extremes Archive. AGU International Annual Meeting (May 2007).
- Cerveny, Randall. World Climate Extremes Archive. World Meteorological Organization Commission for Climatology (CCl) (Aug 2006).
- Cerveny, Randall. Future Climates of the Southwest. Red Bromegrass Symposium (May 2006).
- Cerveny, Randall. What Makes a World Weather Extreme Record?. Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting (Mar 2006).
- Cerveny, Randall. Oddities of Hail. Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting (Mar 2005).
- Cerveny, Randall. Future Climates of the Southwest. Drought Symposium (Apr 2003).
- Cerveny, Randall. Weekly Cycles in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide. Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting (Mar 2002).
- Cerveny, Randall. Being Multin Milankovitch. (Sep 2000).
- Cerveny, Randall. Weekly Cycles in Regional Pollution, Temperature, Precipitation and Tropical cyclone Activity. International Scientific Meeting on Detection and Modelling of Recent Climate Change and Its effects on a Regional Scale (May 2000).
- Cerveny, Randall. Strange Weather. Eva Coor's Community Enrichment Program Violent Earth Lecture Series
Honors / Awards
2006 - World Meteorological Organization Rapporteur for Climate Extremes
2005 - President's Professor, Arizona State University
2001 - Fairbury Ambassador, Germanfest
1998 - Arizona State University College of Liberal Arts & Science Excellence In Teaching Award
Service
- Earth Science Day (Held by SESE), Presenter (display booth for Geography) (2010 - Present)
- Preparing Future Faculty, Invited Speaker (2010 - Present)
- ASU Homecoming, Presenter (display booth for Geography) (2010 - Present)
- Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix, Invited Speaker (2010 - Present)
- ASU Homecoming, Presenter (display booth) (2009 - Present)
- Earth Science Day (Held by SESE), Presenter (display booth) (2009 - Present)
- CLAS Hall, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Residential College, Speaker (2009 - Present)
- of CLAS Hall, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Residential College, Invited Speaker (2009 - Present)
- Mountain Brook Village Retirement Village, Invited Speaker (2008 - Present)
- Preparing Future Faculty, Invited Speaker (2008 - Present)
- CLAS, College Representative (2008 - Present)
- ASU Homecoming, Presenter (Display Booth) (2008 - Present)
- Earth Science Day (Held by SESE), presenter (display booth) (2008 - Present)
- Phoenix Channel 10 News, Invited Speaker (2008 - Present)
- ASU Emeritus College, Invited Speaker (2008 - Present)
- ASU Retirees Association Speakers Program, Invited Speaker (2008 - Present)
- Media, Speaker (2007 - Present)
- Undergraduate Advising, Advisor (2006 - Present)
- Undergraduate Advising, Director (2006 - Present)
- Undergraduate Advising (Meteorology-Climatology), Advisor (2006 - Present)
- ASU Distinguished Teaching Academy, Member (2005 - Present)
- ASU Distinguished Teaching Academy, Member (2005 - Present)
- ASU Distinguished Teaching Academy, Member (2005 - Present)
- Geography Undergraduate Comittee, Member (2005 - Present)
- Weatherwise, Contributing Editor (1994 - Present)
- Weatherwise, Contributing Editor (1994 - Present)
- Weatherwise, Contributing Editor (1994 - Present)
- Media, Speaker/Interviewee (2010 - 2012)
- World Meteorological Organization, Rapporteur of Extreme Climate (adjunct member to the Commission for Climatology (CCl) (2009 - 2012)
- World Meteorological Organziation, Rapporteur of Extreme Climate (adjunct member to the Commission for Climatology (CCl)) (2009 - 2012)
- Media, Speaker/Interviewee (2009 - 2009)
- CLAS Curriculum Committee, Chair (2007 - 2008)
- ASU Homecoming, Presenter (display booth) (2007 - 2007)
- Coast to Coast AM Radio (with George Noory), (2007 - 2007)
- Earth Science Day (held by SES), presenter (display booth) (2007 - 2007)
- Weather Channel TV, guest and consultant (2007 - 2007)
- Fountain Hills AZ Kwianas Club, Speaker (2007 - 2007)
- Weather Channel, Consultant (2007 - 2007)
- Weather Channel TV, Consultant & Guest (2007 - 2007)
- SEE ASU - community education outreach event headed by Wilma Matthews, Speaker (display booth) (2007 - 2007)
- ASU Faculty Wives Organziation, Speaker (2007 - 2007)
- CLAS Curriculum Committee, Member (2006 - 2006)
- Retired Government Employees Association, Speaker (2006 - 2006)
- Media, Speaker (2006 - 2006)
- Student Learning Outcome Assessment Taskforce, Member (2005 - 2006)
- Classwithout Quizzes (ASU Homecoming), Presenter (2006 - 2006)
- Earth Science Day, Presenter (Display Booth) (2006 - 2006)
- Personnel Committee, Chair (2006 - 2006)
- CLAS Curriculum Committee, Chair (2005 - 2006)
- SEE ASU - community education outreach event headed by Wilma Matthews, Presenter (2006 - 2006)
- Undergraduate Committee, Chair (2003 - 2005)
- Environmental / Remote Sensing Geography Hiring Committee, Chair (2005 - 2005)
- 7-year Self-Study Committee, Chair (2003 - 2004)
- Environmental / Remote Sensing Geography Hiring Committee, Chair (2004)
- Geography Computer Committee, Member (2003)
- Scholarship Committee, Member (2003)