The Desert Sun

PGA Tour's meteorologist hopes for smooth week

LA QUINTA — The perpetual sunshine and gentle winds that make golfing so ideal in the desert also make Jeff Kendra's job easier this week.

Kendra is the on-site meteorologist providing forecasts for the Humana Challenge in partnership with the William J. Clinton Foundation. He doesn't have to worry about the snow socking the Pacific Northwest or rain that could fall at Sunday's NFC championship in San Francisco.

“Usually over the course of the year, this is one of the easier ones,” Kendra said. “Being in the desert helps.”

Weather has fascinated Kendra, 30, since he was a child, and he studied atmospheric s cience at the University at Albany (N.Y.). He travels from his home in Rhode Island to work at between 25 to 30 events on the PGA, LPGA and Champions tours every year. He is one of five meteorologists employed by Telvent DTN, which surveys the skies at pro golf tournaments.

Kendra pores over computer models, radar and other data to put together his forecasts. His information is vital for tournament organizers. He relays his wind forecasts to rules officials so they can place the tees and hole locations appropriately.

Thunderstorms are worrisome. A lightning detection system is set up at every tournament to monitor the electrical charge in the air, and the course must be evacuated if a major storm is bearing down on spectators and competitors.

It was nightmarish for Kendra last March at the Pacific Rubiales Bogota Open, a Nationwide Tour event in the Colombian capital. Rain pelted the course every day. Brenden Pappas earned an unofficial victory because only 36 holes were completed over four days.

Rainouts in the desert are rare. Only three days of tournament play have been canceled since its inception in 1960, including one day in 2010.

It hasn't rained in the desert since Dec. 17, but Kendra said that could change this weekend. In the forecast he posted Wednesday morning, he called for a 20

©2012 The Desert Sun. Original Article