Weather Geeks

Guest:   Keith Stellman, Meteorologist-in-Charge NWS Atlanta Intro: The National Weather Service is a lot more than the blaring alerts on your TV when there is a tornado warning in your area or the notifications on your phone about the severe thunderstorm watch issued for your state. The NWS operates over 120 weather forecast offices across the country and each office is constantly...

Guest:  Dr. David Peterson, NASA/Naval Research Lab As millions of acres have been ablaze across Australia in recent weeks, those wildfires have formed incredible smoke plumes that tower thousands of feet into the atmosphere. These “pyrocumulonimbus clouds” can transport massive amounts of smoke and ash into the sky, and some of that smoke has even been found to have circled the globe! T...

Intro:  With the increasing number of climate change impacts being seen across the globe, it is becoming apparent that not all communities are affected equally. Today’s guest has dedicated his career to being a champion for at-risk populations facing environmental challenges, and has even been lauded as the Father of Environmental Justice. Dr. Robert Bullard is an award-winning author an...

Guest:  Chris Fisher, Archaeologist Colorado State University Intro: It is no secret that our Earth is changing, but it may be faster than you’d think! What if we had the ability to see what parts of the Earth were changing day-by-day? How much of the Southeast U.S. coast is shrinking due to sea level rise? Or how raging wildfires in California are changing our landscapes? Well, the...

Guest:  Dr. Marshall Shepherd Intro: As you are listening to this episode, the American Meteorological Society’s annual meeting will be going on in Boston. These large gatherings only happen once a year...but this year is something special! It is the 100th meeting of the AMS, commonly called the Centennial. As I was the former president of the AMS and had to work through the logisti...

Guest:  Dr. Wenyuan Fan Intro: “Stormquakes!” The word that has captured the attention of both the scientific community and public alike. Dr. Wenyuan Fan, a professor at Florida State University has discovered this remarkable way that the atmosphere can actually transfer energy deep into the earth! Something like a hurricane or other strong storm can spark seismic events in the ocean as stron...

Guest: Dr. Louis Uccellini   Intro:  Today on Weather Geeks, it’s all about the National Weather Service turning 150 years old!  We’ll take a look back at 2019, and who better to do it with than with Dr. Louis Uccellini, Director of the National Weather Service! We’ll recap the 2019 Hurricane Season, the forecast advancements we made, and look ahead to the 2020 year for the Nat...

Guest: Heather Zons 2019 was a wild year of weather. From record-breaking spring flooding in the Midwest to another devastating hurricane season, all while the global temperature keeps ticking up and up. And we had over 80 episodes of Weather Geeks talking to scientists from all corners of the country to cover those topics and many, many more! We are using this last episode of the year t...

Guest:  Russ Schumacher, Asst. Professor & State Climatologist Intro: The Centennial State is known for its diverse landscapes. From the snow-covered, Rocky Mountain peaks towering above the High Plains, to the river canyons and deserts below, Colorado has much to offer for any outdoor enthusiast.  But this state also offers up a variety of weather, and 2019 proved to be one for the...

Guest: Dr. Thomas L. Mote, Distinguished Research Professor, UGA Introduction: The Greenland ice sheet has become a hotbed of climate change research in recent decades. The alarming rate of warming being observed has garnered attention from scientists across the globe, including today’s guest, Dr. Tom Mote. He has ventured to the ice sheet himself to observe and measure the rapidly changing landsc...

Guest:  Tony Knap, Director of Geochemical & Environmental Research Group (GERG) at Texas A&M Intro:   The effects of the Gulf Loop Current on tropical cyclone development and intensification is often a major focus of forecasters.  However, this current has much broader impacts beyond tropical cyclones, such as extra-tropical cyclone development and even tornadoes. Toda...

In the middle of one of the busiest travel weeks of the year, two major winter storms are impacting millions of people with snow, wind, and even severe storms. Today we welcome back meteorologist Stephanie Abrams to discuss how these massive storm systems are causing delays and making for dangerous driving conditions. She’ll also provide an inside look at how we’re working behind the scenes to com...

Guest:  Dr. Dalia Kirschbaum Intro: When you think of NASA, odds are you’re thinking of launching rockets into space and landing men on the moon. Well, they do a LOT more than that! My next guest is not a rocket scientist or an astronaut, but she is a valuable member of the Goddard Space Flight Center as a landslide researcher and disaster response coordinator. Dr. Dalia Kirschbaum...

Guest:  Luke Peffers, ClimaCell Intro: “What time is it going to rain over my house?” Meteorologists get that type of question all the time, and since meteorology is such a tricky science, it is near impossible to answer that question for everyone that asks. However, my next guest is working on a weather engine that can answer that question automatically! Dr. Luke Peffers is the SVP...

Guest: Dave Malkoff, Weather Channel Correspondent Intro: Today’s guest has covered everything from major wildfires to devastating floods, but now he takes us to some of the northernmost regions of our planet to explore the world’s largest island...and it’s FROZEN! Weather Channel correspondent Dave Malkoff visited Greenland recently to highlight the dramatic changes that have been occurring due t...

Guest:  Deke Arndt, Chief of Climate Monitoring Branch, NOAA's NCEI Intro: The way we look at our world is fundamentally changing. Across the globe we’ve seen dramatic changes to our ecosystems as species adapt to the ever changing earth. Humanity now wages a battle to save the planet, whether they know it yet or not. While everyday occurrences like floods, hurricanes, drought, or fires repre...

Guest:  Lucas McDonald, Walmart Director of Emergency Operations Intro: Many of us know the familiar names of disaster response like the American Red Cross, FEMA, or the National Guard, but how about a name like WALMART? Today we welcome Lucas McDonald, Director of the Emergency Operations Center for Walmart, who has played key roles in organizing the company’s disaster relief efforts fo...

Guest:  Rick Smith, WCM at NWS Norman, OK Intro: Many of us use some form of social media every day, and when severe weather threatens your city, social media can play a vital role in sharing life-saving information. With so many voices out there, it’s important to know who to trust… Meteorologist Rick Smith, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the NWS in Norman, OK, is one of those truste...

Guest:  Dr. Phillip Chilson Introduction:  The future is here, and so is the rise of unmanned aerial systems, commonly known as drones. Picture this; an army of small drones sampling the lower atmosphere, instantly filling the gaps in our forecasting abilities! This new technology is starting to find a place in the field of atmospheric sciences and beyond. Our guest today, Dr. Phillip Ch...

Guest:  Dr. Howard Kunreuther, Wharton Risk Management & Decision Processes Center Intro:  We’ve heard the words before: “I didn’t think this would happen to me...” As meteorologists, our job is to communicate the weather forecasts and the risks that go along with them. But with all these warnings, why are people still unprepared when disaster strikes? Today, we welcome Dr....

Guest: Dr. Mark Powell Introduction: Our ability to see into a hurricane has been changed by technology at RMS HWind. Using data directly from hurricane reconnaissance, HWind creates an unparalleled visualization of a tropical cyclone’s wind field. Along with satellite observations, these images allow us to see hurricanes in 4K! This ability is what caught the attention of RMS, a risk management c...

Guest:  Levi Cowan Introduction: As hurricane season rolls along, meteorologists, emergency managers, and just plain weather geeks will turn to Tropical Tidbits for in depth tropical information. Tropical Tidbits dot com is arguably one of the most widely used meteorological websites in the community today. This week on Weather Geeks we’re joined by a familiar voice; creator and founder of Tr...

Guest:  Andrew Blum, author and journalist Intro:  Today, we can pick up our cell phone or turn on the TV and find out what the forecast will be a week from now! It is because of a vast global-network of people and technology that weather has gone from something we merely observe, to something we can predict. Today we are joined by Andrew Blum, the author of "The Weather Machine.” In the...

Guest: Dr. Catherine Edwards, Assistant Professor, UGA Department of Marine Sciences Intro:  Hurricane intensity forecasts have been a major focus within the meteorological community for decades.  Improvements in track forecasts have outpaced those in intensity, largely because our ability to sample these tropical monsters can be a difficult task.  Satellites high above the ocean su...

Guest:  Pete Gaynor, FEMA’s Acting Administrator Intro: In the new millennium, the United States has been struck by dozens of tropical cyclones, ranging from rain-soaked tropical storms to catastrophic Category 5 hurricanes.  Regardless of the intensity, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, more commonly known as FEMA, has been in place for every single event. Today, we have the curr...