Weather Wise

Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek is back this week with Meteorologist Erich Ahlf as they count down the final days of summer, recapping the recent trend of comfortable weather and looking ahead to the potential development of a coastal storm to usher in the Fall season. With the recent brush from Hurricane Lee there was plenty of misinformation about the storm that circulated online for weeks. Ric...

Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Jake Grant are back this week to talk about a brief tornado that touched in Dagsboro on Monday afternoon, and why this occurred despite a low risk for severe weather. They also take a look at Hurricane Lee as it continues to churn in the Atlantic and talk about the expected impacts the East Coast and Delmarva can expect later this week.

Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Erich Ahlf are back this week to talk about an increasingly active situation in the tropics, recapping Idalia and focusing on a new storm in the Atlantic. In the meantime, a late-summer heat wave is expected to last through the week across all of Delmarva as dry conditions persist in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Jake Grant are back this week to talk about the explosive development in the tropics. With hurricane Franklin moving away from the coast, the attention has shifted to the rapidly developing and dangerous Idalia which is expected to bring devastation to parts of Florida. They discuss the expected impact to the east coast, including Delmarva, as Ida...

On this week's episode, Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Jake Grant discuss the rapid increase in tropical activity in the Atlantic. Also, they talk about the Pacific where Tropical Storm Hilary made the rare trek into southern California where a first ever tropical storm warning was issued. In Hawaii, many variables created unprecedented conditions that fueled the catastrop...

In this week's episode, WMDT's newest Meteorologist Erich Ahlf joins Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek for the first time on Weather Wise! Get to know Erich as he talks about his passion for meteorology and his story that brought him to Delmarva. You can catch Erich's forecasts every weekend on 47abc WMDT.

Monday brought a significant outbreak of severe weather to the mid-Atlantic region, resulting in numerous severe thunderstorms that moved across Delmarva late in the evening. Rotating supercells triggered tornado warnings across the lower shore of Maryland, while torrential rains triggered a rare Flash Flood Emergency to be issued by the National Weather Service for the city of Cambridge. Chief Me...

Weather Wise returns after a week break for the Delaware State Fair! Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Jake Grant recap their time broadcasting at the fair and the long awaited break from the excessive heat. Severe thunderstorms ushered in the change in weather pattern on Sunday with wildfire smoke returning with the cooler northwesterly winds. They also check in the tropics as th...

Fresh off of a deluge on Sunday where parts of Delaware received 5-7 inches of rain, smoke has again drifted into the region as Canadian wildfires continue to burn. The heat and humidity has been on par for July standards across Delmarva, but on the other side of the country record heat continues to sear many locations in the desert southwest.

Summer temperatures and high humidity have quickly become the norm across Delmarva since the start of July. Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Jake Grant talk about the issue of acclimation and how a cooler June has made typical July heat a bit more difficult to handle. 

The lead up to the 4th of July was increasingly hot and humid, which set the stage for severe weather on the evening of the 3rd. A large supercell thunderstorm cut across Talbot, Caroline, and Sussex counties, bringing wind damage and flooding to some areas and even prompting a brief tornado warning. Meteorologist Jake Grant joins Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek to recap the event while taking a...

In this week's episode we welcome our newest Meteorologist, Jake Grant, to the WMDT weather team! Jake chats with Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek about his local ties to the region and what fueled his passion for all things weather. Jake joined us at the beginning of June and will be serving as our morning and noon meteorologist, Monday-Friday on 47abc. 

After more than 5 years of service forecasting for the Delmarva Peninsula, Meteorologist Ulises Garcia signs off for the final time on the Weather Wise Podcast. As he prepares to embark on the next step of his career, Ulises reminisces with Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek about his time at WMDT and reveals the details of his new endeavors in the Midwest!

Delmarva had an array of air quality in the past week, spanning thick wildfire smoke from fires in eastern Canada, abnormally dry air for this time off the year, and a surge of summer-like humidity. Meteorologist Ulises Garcia and Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek talk about what caused the wildfire smoke to move south along the east coast and how the weather pattern is shifting into a more typical...

Kicking off the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season, the first named storm - Arlene - is already in the books! In eastern Canada, the lack of rain and warm temperatures have created long-lived wildfires with thick smoke inundating areas along the east coast. Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Ulises Garcia discuss the impact of the smoke and air quality concerns for Del...

Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek & Meteorologist Ulises Garcia discuss how the coastal low that impacted the Carolinas; played a role to the weather on Delmarva too for Memorial Day. Rich & Ulises mention what NOAA is forecasting this season in their Atlantic hurricane outlook. 

May has been a much cooler (and wetter) month compared to April across the Mid-Atlantic. Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Ulises Garcia look at the current patterns as we close in on the Holiday Weekend. Wildfire smoke from western Canada has been making for some nice sunrises and sunsets along the east coast, plus a dangerous Typhoon closes in on Guam.

Meteorologists Rich Wirdzek and Ulises Garcia recap the rain from this past Saturday; along with talking about the tropics, snowfall & a special weather event that occurs in the Great Lakes. 

After a very warm and drought stricken April, May has thus far been a much more typical weather setup with a back and forth between cool, wet days and nice, sunny days. Meteorologist Ulises Garcia and Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek discuss the current pattern and how recent rains have allowed much of Delmarva to recover from drought conditions while other parts of the Mid-Atlantic remain abnorma...

This past weekend brought several inches of much needed rain to Delmarva, reversing the course of moderate drought that had taken over much of the Peninsula. Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Ulises Garcia discuss rain totals and explore how a snowfall deficit in the winter months enhanced drought conditions into early Spring. Plus, with the weekend rains came severe weather in th...

A major shift in the overall temperature and precipitation pattern is occurring across the Mid-Atlantic after several weeks of above normal temperatures and dry conditions. Cool and wet days lie ahead as we round out the final days of the month as Meteorologist Ulises Garcia and Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek discuss what to expect heading into May. They also talk about a rare glimpse of the Nor...

April is typically known for its increasing occurrences of thunderstorms. And although the month started with a severe weather outbreak that spawned the Sussex county tornado, much of the month has featured stretches of sunny days and abnormally warm temperatures. Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Ulises Garcia discuss the worsening drought conditions across Delmarva and how other...

The recent weather pattern has brought sunny days and late Spring and Summer-like temperatures to much of Delmarva, with the exception of the coast - where cold waters have dramatically cooled the air a few miles inland. Meteorologist Ulises Garcia and Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek recap the big temperature differences on Delmarva that are common this time of the year, including nights that can...

On Saturday (4/1/23), a supercell thunderstorm produced a violent EF-3 tornado carving a 14.3 mile path across parts of northern Sussex county in Delaware. The tornado became the 2nd strongest and 2nd fatal tornado on record in the state of Delaware, claiming one life and leaving behind a trail of destruction. Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Ulises Garcia discuss the unique atmo...

Meteorologist Ulises Garcia and Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek discuss an increasing rainfall deficit that is prompting early stages of drought conditions across parts of Delmarva. While the Mid-Atlantic weather pattern has been fairly quiet, areas in the deep south are coming off of a deadly tornado outbreak.