Charles F. Chappell

Charles Franklin Chappell of Boulder, weatherman, died of cholangeocarcinoma July 6 at HospiceCare in Louisville, CO, surrounded and loved by his family, just as he wanted. He was born December 7, 1927, to Hubert Guy Chappell and Wilma Halle Lindsey in St. Louis, Missouri, baby brother to Margaret (Collins). He graduated from Desloge High School in 1943. Joined the Navy in 1945 as a Seaman 1st. Class and attended Navy radio and radar schools until he was honorably discharged in August 1946. In 1949, he graduated with a b.s. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington in St. Louis, where he also played on the basketball team.

He found and married the love of his life, Doris Mae Kennedy, on August 4, 1951, in an intimate ceremony at her family’s home in Jennings, Missouri. They honeymooned in Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, then returned to work at McDonnell Aircraft Company in St. Louis -- Charlie as a Flight Test Data Engineer and Doris as a typist. Charlie finally decided to pursue his dream of becoming a meteorologist by enrolling at St. Louis University. He remained at McDonnell Aircraft, both working and going to school from 1952-54. He went to work as a forecaster for the U.S. Weather Bureau in various locations, but in 1957 he landed at the office in Kansas City, Missouri. While there, he served a brief stint conducting research for the National Severe Storms Project involved in TRAP (Tornado Research Aircraft Project). In 1958, he was awarded the Department of Commerce Silver Medal for outstanding contributions to the Advancement of Tornado Forecasting. He worked as SELS (Severe Local Storms) analyst and district forecaster. He loved forecasting. During this time, he and Doris had three daughters, Christa Chappell (1954), Susan King (1955), and Deborah Rice (1957).

Charlie was offered a U.S. Weather Bureau University Scholarship and decided on the Atmospheric Science Program at Colorado State University in 1965, moving, along with his growing family, to Fort Collins, Colorado. He was ecstatic to move west, something he had wanted since he spent two summers working in Yellowstone National Park in 1947- 48. So he went on to obtain his Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science (1971) at the age of 43. During those years at CSU he became fully immersed in the burgeoning field of weather modification and cloud seeding, and he was part of a multi-year research cloud-seeding study conducted in Climax Colorado, the subject of his doctoral dissertation.

After graduating from CSU, He became an Associate Professor of Meteorology at Utah State University, as well as the Wasatch Weather Modification Project (Snowbird) Leader. Concluding that university life was not for him, he joined NOAA in Boulder, Colorado, first as a research meteorologist in the Weather Modification Program and later becoming Program Manager of Mesoscale Meteorology.

At NOAA he headed a small group of outstanding research scientists which Charles Doswell describes in his article “Historical Overview of Severe Convective Storms Research” this way -- “The seminal work on MCCs (mesoscale convective complexes) and MCSs (mesoscale convective systems) began in what was then known as the Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry Laboratory (APCL) in Boulder, CO, headed by Charles F. Chappell (formerly a SELS forecaster). This research group also included Lee Ray Hoxit, Robert A. Maddox, J. Michael Fritsch, and Fernando Caracena, among others. The APCL scientists were stimulated by the 1976 flash flood in nearby Big Thompson Canyon” to uncover the association of MCSs with flash floods and thereby define and recognize characteristics of mesoscale systems. “This has not only transformed our understanding of flash floods but has created the opportunity to apply that knowledge to forecasting them.” This was the work of which Charlie was most proud and these days in this incredible group were his most exciting. He succeeded in his desire to make a lasting contribution to the body of knowledge of forecasting severe storms.

In 1979 he became the Director of OWRM (Office of Weather Research and Modification) at NOAA and in 1981 received a NOAA Award in recognition of exemplary scientific leadership in Meso-meteorology research and program direction. He retired from NOAA in 1987 at 60 and went to NCAR where he helped develop COMET (Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology Education and Training).

He is survived by his wife, Doris, his three daughters, 16 grandchildren, and 3 great grandsons. In 1988 he bought a small cabin on the Elk River north of Steamboat Springs for his family to enjoy. His grandchildren grew up spending summers at the cabin and it became a magical spot for adventure and togetherness. He loved to fish and hike there and sit by the roar of the river. He was a gentle humble man with big passions. He loved the mountains, snow, and clouds. He enjoyed playing the stock market, as well as blackjack in Las Vegas, especially with his friend, Lud. Passionate about music, he played the trombone, the piano by ear, and was a wonderful singer. Painting, photography, and creative writing were also among his hobbies. He grew up playing baseball and basketball, coached his grandchildren’s basketball teams, and was a rabid St. Louis Cardinals and Missouri Tigers sports fan. We will miss his humor, his animal imitations, his enthusiasm for storms, the geography pop quizzes he liked to give his grandchildren, and the way he filled up the house.

Visitation will be Monday, July 11, from 4-7 pm at Crist Mortuary in Boulder, located at 3395 Penrose Place. A memorial service will follow Tuesday, July 12 at 1:00 pm, also at Crist Mortuary, with Tom Shirk from Calvary Bible Church speaking. Burial will be at Green Mountain Cemetery immediately following. A reception will be held at Calvary Bible Church at 3:30 pm.

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