I am an observational atmospheric scientist, specializing in radar analysis of precipitation and severe weather, with an emphasis in tornadoes and supercell thunderstorms. I focus on field work using mobile weather radar instruments and have led several recent campaigns to collect multi-faceted data in and around tornadoes. I am currently funded by the National Science Foundation to study the interactions between tornadoes and physical ground properties including terrain, land cover type, and built structures; as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to study characteristics of land falling heavy precipitation regimes and atmospheric rivers in southern California, including drop size distributions, physical processes involved in precipitation generation, and quantitative precipitation estimation. I have authored many peer-reviewed papers published by the American Meteorological Society, and several other outlets. I recently received an OSU Good to Great grant that will be used to build a state-of-the-art mobile, phased array, polarimetric radar, coming online in winter 2027. I am the recipient of numerous teaching, research and service awards over her career. Most recently, I was awarded an American Meteorological Society's Editors Award (2026), the Department of Geography's Martha Corry Fellowship (2024), and The Ohio State University College of Engineering's Building Bridges Award (2024)

Current CV:

Interests: I am primarily interested in the structure and evolution of tornadoes over the full breadth of their life cycle, with particular emphasis on the tornado formation process.  I am especially interested in observing the near-ground winds of tornadoes and correlating observations and measurements of these winds to the damage that is produced on physical structures and natural objects. I also investigate the role that variations in terrain and land cover play in tornado evolution path, and intensity. Fundamental questions I am seeking to answer include: What is the source of ground-level rotating air that provides the initial rotation for tornado formation?  How fast are the winds of tornadoes at ground level? How are ground-level winds related to winds measured by radars (which are collected above the ground)? How does terrain and variations in surface roughness (via changes in land cover characteristics) affect the strength, intensity, and structure of tornadoes? Are there clues in the wind fields of the environment and/or the parent thunderstorm itself that can be used predictively to improve tornado warning lead time and reduce false alarms? Furthermore, I am investigating how understanding and predictability of precipitation patterns and accumulation amounts can be improved with better observation of rainfall using mobile radar in the southern California region.

Courses Taught:

Recent Publications:

Dang, J.*, J. Houser, and G. Yan 2026: Investigating the Influence of Land Cover on Tornadoes using a Coupled DES and CM1 simulation. Monthly Weather Review

Bartlet, S., J. Cordeira, J. Houser, C. Davis, 2026: Atmospheric Rivers are a Frequent Source of Moisture Transport in Severe Convective Storm Environments. Geophysical Research Letters. 53, 8.

Dang, J.*, J. B. Houser, G. Yan, 2026: Investigating the influence of terrain on tornadoes by coupling an engineering LES with CM1. Mon. Wea, Rev. 154, 561-583.

Zinnbauer, J.*, and J. B. Houser, 2026: An Analysis of Radar Distance in TVS Detection and Tornado Warning Efficiency. Journal of Operational Met. 42-71. https://doi.org/10.15191/nwajom.2026.1405

Fischer, J., Dahl, J.M., Coffer, B.E., Houser, J. L., Markowski, P.M., Parker, M.D., Weiss, C.C. and Schueth, A., 2024. Supercell Tornadogenesis: Recent Progress in our State of Understanding. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

Houser, J. B., H. B. Bluestein, K. Thiem*, J. Snyder, Z. Wienhoff*, and D. Reif*, 2022: Additional evaluation of the spatiotemporal evolution of rotation during tornadogenesis using rapid-scan mobile radar observations. Mon. Wea. Rev. 150, 1639-1666.

P. Kollias, R. D. Palmer, D. Bodine, T. Adachi; H. Bluestin, J. Y. N. Cho; C. Griffin; J. Houser, P. E. Kirstetter, M. R. Kumjian, J. M. Kurdzo, W. C. Lee, E. P. Luke, S. Nesbitt, M. Oue, A. Shapiro, A. Rowe, J. Salazar, R. Tanamachi, K. Tuftedal, X. Wang, D. Zrnic, B. P. Treserras. 2022: Science Applications of Phased Array Radars; Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 103, 2370-2390.