Weather Geeks

Guest:  Manuel De La Torre Juarez On February 18, 2021, the world watched in amazement as the next generation of Mars Rovers set foot on the Red Planet.  Mars Perseverance is the vehicle that will venture out into the Martian desert to help create “the first weather network on another planet.” To explore the mission details of NASA’s latest rover, we’re sitting down with one of the exper...

Guest:  Chris Vagasky Introduction: The joy that fills sports fans' hearts as they loudly sing, “Take me out to the ballgame…” is almost palpable, but one thing that may not come to their mind is the threat lightning poses. We’ve seen the images of lighting bolts racing across the sky as fans hunker down in their seats, and this reminds us how deadly this phenomenon can be. Meteorologist Chri...

Guest:  Dr. Kerry Emanuel Climate science and threats from climate change have been hot topics of conversation among the public as well as business and political leaders. But there seems to be a disparity in how climate scientists view what’s causing this change and how the public understands and feels about the issue. This ultimately hampers efforts to improve the scientific field around cli...

Guest:  Brian McNoldy, University of Miami A lot of us have grown accustomed to extreme weather events after watching them occur year after year, like tornadoes and hurricanes. But underneath it all, we know our earth is changing. Our hurricanes may look and feel the same way they did 100 years ago, but our rising sea levels are making the impacts to human life and property much worse.&n...

Guest: Sean Potter Every big idea or organization has to get its start somewhere and the National Weather Service is no exception! More than 150 years ago, Congress established the U.S Weather Bureau in 1870, which would go on to eventually become the National Weather Service we know today. Our guest today dug into the life of the man who would become known as the Father of the National Weather Se...

Guest:  Matt Lanza Introduction:  Texas just experienced one of the worst weather disasters in its history as temperatures plunged into a deep freeze. All-time cold temperature records were broken, sub-freezing streaks set new records, and the energy industry learned some very hard lessons. Houston is no stranger to extreme weather, and they were hit particularly hard with this even...

Guest:  Valerie Trouet Forests can offer us picturesque views, but did you know they also offer us a look at the past? Why is that important? To better understand our climate, we need to study the past, and inspecting tree rings is a great way to do that! We’re ringing in the new year by talking to Valerie Trouet from the University of Arizona. She uses tree rings to study past clim...

Guest: Dr. Genevieve Guenther Introduction:  Climate change and its impacts are becoming a regular part of conversations among scientists and even the general public at large, but are we giving it the true attention it deserves? Should the media be doing a complete overhaul of how they tackle this issue? Today we’re talking with Dr. Genevieve Guenther, founder of End Climate Silence, who...

Guest:  Jim Coker, EMA Director Today’s guest has spent his life serving the Alabama community through multiple branches of law enforcement, and now, he’s taking that experience to the office of emergency management. Jim Coker is the Emergency Management Agency Director for Jefferson County, Alabama, and we’re sitting down with him to discuss the effectiveness of outdoor sirens when seve...

Guest: Zack Labe Remember when you were anxiously awaiting your report card? It’s very likely that these events were met with mixed emotions as you awaited the results. Well when it comes to grading the health of the Arctic, we should be nervous. This region of the world is seeing some of the worst impacts from climate change, and today, we’re chatting with one of the report’s authors, C...

Guest: David Pogue One of the major topics when discussing meteorology is climate change, and we’ve certainly heard a great deal about it over the past decade. With destructive Western wildfires and stronger hurricanes, it seems climate change manages to become a major part of the conversation, and rightly so. Today we are talking with author David Pogue, who wants us to know how to prepare for th...

Guest:   Deanna Apps, Detroit District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Introduction: When you hear people discussing rising water levels, you probably only think of SEA-level rise. But what about LAKE-level rise? Today’s guest is Deanna Apps, a Physical Scientist with the Detroit District of the U.S Army Corps of Engineers. She analyzes and forecasts water levels in th...

Guest:  Dr. Ashton Robinson Cook Weather forecasting has made leaps and bounds in recent decades, and it’s hard to remember a time when we couldn’t get the latest forecast update with just a swipe of the finger on our phone.  But wouldn’t it be great if we could get an idea of what to expect MONTHS in advance? Well, you’re in luck because today we’re talking with Dr. Ashton Robinson Cook...

Guest:  Dr. Phil Klotzbach, Colorado State University If you are a purveyor of weather twitter, this man needs no introduction! Odds are you have seen at least one of his incredible and easily digestible hurricane stats during this past hurricane season as well. Today’s episode is with Dr. Phil Klotzbach from Colorado State University! We are going to discuss this monumental hu...

Guest: Mike Bettes 2020 was, to put it lightly, an insane year.  Mother Nature didn’t care about a global pandemic either, as she lashed out during every single season.  From deadly tornadoes in the Spring, to raging wildfires in the summer, to a record number of tropical cyclones, to finally ending the year with a bonafide nor’easter!  Phew…  Well, I’ve got someone with me tod...

Guest:  Brian Cizek, Launch Weather Officer, 45th Weather Squadron With new frontiers developing in spaceflight, it’s more important than ever to make sure we get the forecast right. There are many variables meteorologists have to monitor: cloud cover, precipitation chances, even cloud height and electric potential! To make sure every launch goes off without a hitch, you need a team...

Guest:  Dr. Juliane Gross, Rutgers Like searching for needles in a haystack, searching for meteorites on Earth is not an easy feat! How about searching for those meteorites while in the frigid wasteland of Antarctica? Well that is what my guest today did this past winter! Dr. Juliane Gross is an associate professor at Rutgers University and she studies the formation and evoluti...

Guest: Paul Pisano Introduction: Ground transportation is something we all deal with on a daily basis, whether it’s in our cars, on a bus, or the subway. Navigating poor road conditions during inclement weather can be very treacherous, but new technologies and innovating thinking are working to keep people safe. Today we’re joined by Paul Pisano from the Road Weather Committee of the Transportatio...

Guest:  Mike Nelson Introduction: Have you been struggling to understand climate change and what it means for you and your family?  What if I told you that in just 10 easy steps, YOU would be able to understand our Earth's changing climate?  Well today, we’re talking to meteorologist and author Mike Nelson who has written the book that answers those questions.  Mike Nelson has...

Guest:  Mike Eilts Introduction: When you hear the name, Mike Eilts, a few words may come to mind: storm chaser, atmospheric scientist, journal author, entrepreneur, pioneer of weather radar...and they’re all right! Today, we’re pleased to welcome Mike Eilts who currently serves as the Vice President of the Weather Business Unit at the Data Transmission Network, or DTN. His impressive career...

Guest: Eric Jay Dolin, Ph. D. Introduction:  Over the past several decades, the way we consume weather information and receive our latest forecasts has been revolutionized.  Millions of people can tune in to watch The Weather Channel during an impending tornado outbreak or approaching hurricane. With all this information so readily at our fingertips, it’s easy to forget how far we’ve com...

Guest:  Dr. Craig Clements, SJSU Fire Weather Research Laboratory Introduction: We’ve seen a record number of acres of beautiful countryside go up in flames in 2020, and we’re not done yet. In recent years, many across the West have seen some of the deadliest & most destructive wildfires that our country has ever experienced. Whether they have been accelerated by climate change...

Guest:  Margaret Crane, Child Psychologist Introduction:  I have had many Meteorologists come on this show and when I ask them how they got a passion for weather, a good number of them were scared of Mother Nature’s wrath at a young age. But that fear catapulted them into a passion for learning about the science behind what is happening in the sky. However, for some people, tha...

Guest:   Dr. Jamese Sims, NOAA Senior Physical Scientist Artificial Intelligence…or AI... When you hear that term, it’s likely that your mind is flooded with images from the latest Sci-Fi flick you’ve seen, or maybe you have visions of robots taking over the world!  Well fear not, because the AI we’re focusing on today revolves around its applications to meteorology and earth scienc...

Guest:  John Lanier Introduction: As geeks, we can do a lot to help out our environment by doing little things like using less water while brushing our teeth or using reusable bags instead of plastic bags while at the grocery store.  But as individuals, it is hard for us to make a large impact on the well-being of the entire globe!  That is where businesses and corporations can step...