WeatherBrains Episode 925 is now online (October 9th, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Tonight’s Guest WeatherBrain reports the weather on Good Morning Kansas and Good Morning KAKEland.  He attended the University of Kansas.  Before joining KAKE-TV in 2013, he worked across Indiana and Kansas with a lot of forecasting experience with lake effect snow and tornadoes.  He holds a CBM from the AMS and an NWA seal-holder.   Frank Waugh, welcome to the show tonight.

Also joining the show tonight is WAKE-TV Multimedia Producer Lester Rowe.  He’s also a filmmaker and has participated in numerous film festivals.

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.

• June 10th 1958 “Backwards tornado”
• Difference between continuous wave and today’s Doppler radar (16:00)
• Powerful survivor stories from 1958 tornado (44:00)
• Where is broadcast meteorology going?  (01:11:00)
• TornadoTalk.com (01:31:25)
• Upcoming annular eclipse (01:33:55)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (No segment this week)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:29:45)
• National Weather Round-Up (01:43:50)
• E-Mail Segment (01:40:50)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 925:

Dawn of Doppler – KAKE

Frank Waugh KAKE on X

Arowe Films on X

Picks of the Week:

James Aydelott – Bryan Passifiume on X: Tent on road video during storm

Jen Narramore – Moerdijk, South Holland, Netherlands Tornado – October 6, 1981

Rick Smith – Out

Neil Jacobs – Out

Troy Kimmel – Out

Kim Klockow-McClain – Eclipse Cereal Box Viewer

Bill Murray – Rob Strecker Sun Pillar photo

James Spann – LSU receives $5M funding to build high frequency radar systems on the coast

The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like Troy Kimmel, Bill Murray, Rick Smith, James Aydelott, Jen Narramore, Dr. Neil Jacobs, and Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating podcast about weather.

WeatherBrains Episode 924 is now online (October 2nd, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Tonight’s Guest WeatherBrain is the Director of the Indiana State Climate Office in the Midwestern Regional Climate Center as well as the Operations Manager of the Purdue Mesonet.  With over 25 years of climate service experience, she’s dedicated her efforts toward identifying opportunities for climate data to be transformed into decision support tools and resources.

Her research interests throughout her career have focused on climate applications and operational climate tools for stakeholders and decision support needs.  Dr. Beth Hall, welcome to WeatherBrains.

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.

• Upcoming eclipse (06:00)
• What is climatology?  (08:45)
• Details/focus of DRI (21:45)
• Cloud climatology concerns (42:00)
• What is a mesonet? (48:00)
• Getting started/cost/maintenance of a mesonet (01:06:00)
• Computer programming and AI in the future (01:21:30)
• Current flash drought in Alabama and overall increasing threats (01:23:30)
• Climate Prediction Center US Hazards Outlook showing rapid onset drought for SE US/Analysis/Origin (01:25:45)
• Urban Heat Islands/long-term climate records (01:30:30)
• NYC Flooding/Media misinformation (01:32:30)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:37:30)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:40:25)
• National Weather Round-Up
• E-Mail Segment (No segment this week)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 924:

NOAA Climate Prediction Center

Midwestern Regional Climate Center

Dr. Beth Hall LinkedIn

Picks of the Week:

Dr. Beth Hall – Freeze Date Tool/Univ of Purdue

James Aydelott – Grant Tosterud on X: Las Vegas, New Mexico hail photo

Jen Narramore – Out

Rick Smith – Alex Spahn on X: Storm photo

Neil Jacobs – Out

Troy Kimmel – Aviation Weather Center BETA

Kim Klockow-McClain – New York deluge triggers flash floods, brings chaos to subways

Bill Murray – Foghorn

James Spann – Darin Brooks on X: Utah snow photo

The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like Troy Kimmel, Bill Murray, Rick Smith, James Aydelott, Jen Narramore, Dr. Neil Jacobs, and Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating podcast about weather.

WeatherBrains Episode 923 is now online (September 25th, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Tonight’s is a homegrown show that’s all about numerical weather prediction, led by our very own Dr. Neil Jacobs.

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.

• Difference between numerical models (05:00)
• What is a CAM?  (06:45)
• Models and resolution (19:00)
• Difference between predictability and accuracy (29:30)
• Government shutdowns and modeling (38:00)
• UFS (Unified Forecast System) explained (45:45)
• STP composite index and it’s uses (54:00)
• Geopolitics (01:01:00)
• Tropical/hurricane models and the HAFS (01:11:00)
• Models/mesonet data relationship (01:14:30)
• Climate Forecast System and it’s value (01:17:45)
• Dealing with summertime airmass thunderstorms (01:19:30)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:28:00)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:29:10)
• National Weather Round-Up (01:30:15)
• E-Mail Segment (01:
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 923:

Picks of the Week:

James Aydelott – Alex Spahn on X: Supercell photo near Ada, Oklahoma

Jen Narramore – Foghorn

Rick Smith – Out

Neil Jacobs – Foghorn

Troy Kimmel – Out

Kim Klockow-McClain – Dave Matthews Band “Satellite” Official Video

Bill Murray – Out

James Spann – Trends in U.S. Tornado Damage and Incidence

The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like Troy Kimmel, Bill Murray, Rick Smith, James Aydelott, Jen Narramore, Dr. Neil Jacobs, and Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating podcast about weather.

WeatherBrains Episode 922 is now online (September 18th, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Tonight’s Guest WeatherBrain earned his Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado-Boulder.  He is the Chief Hydrologist of the NWS Southeast River Forecast Center.  John Schmidt, welcome to the show!

Our Guest Panelist is astronomy guru and Astronomy Outlook host Tony Rice who talks eclipses.

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.

• Forecasting challenges in hydrology (13:00)
• Dealing with stalling hurricanes on East Coast and utilization of satellite data (25:00)
• Recent significant/complex flooding events (31:00)
• Forecast assimilation process (38:00)
• Ice jam impacts (53:30)
• Emerging technological innovations/preparation (01:00:00)
• Improvements in river flooding forecasting in recent decades (01:10:00)
• POD/FAR verification in hydrology (01:11:30)
• Types of eclipses (01:26:00)
• Tropical vs Extratropical cyclone (01:39:00)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:13:30)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:16:15)
• National Weather Round-Up (01:41:00)
• E-Mail Segment (01:17:45)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 922:

Tony Rice on X

John Schmidt LinkedIn

Southeast RFC

Picks of the Week:

John Schmidt – Alabama Water Resources Conference 2023

Tony Rice – Peak solar activity is arriving sooner than expected, reaching levels not seen in 20 years

James Aydelott – Tulsa drops below 60F for first time since May Tweet

Jen Narramore – Distillery spill floods streets of Portuguese town with wine

Rick Smith – FEMA and FCC Plan Nationwide Emergency Alert Test for Oct. 4, 2023

Neil Jacobs – Out

Troy Kimmel – Foghorn

Kim Klockow-McClain – Director outlines proposed weather museum part of $1 billion entertainment district

Bill Murray – Rare footage of El Dorado Tornado (1958)

James Spann – Josh Morgerman Tweet on Hurricane Lee overreactions

The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like Troy Kimmel, Bill Murray, Rick Smith, James Aydelott, Jen Narramore, Dr. Neil Jacobs, and Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating podcast about weather.

WeatherBrains Episode 921 is now online (September 11th, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Tonight’s podcast comes to you live from the NWA Annual Meeting 2023 in Kansas City.

Stopping by to chat includes the MIC at the NWS in Louisville John Gordon, Milwaukee’s WISN-12 Chief Met Mark Baden, NWS Norman’s Vivek Mahale, SPC’s and friend of the show Greg Carbin, Chief Meteorologist for KMBC-TV Kansas City Bryan Busby, MIC for NWS Houston Jeffry Evans, KAIT-TV’s Ryan Vaughan, NWS Director Ken Graham, NWS Deputy Director Michelle Mainelli and meteorologist Todd Yakoubian.  Thanks so much for visiting with us tonight.

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.

• Challenges of warning/rating QLCS tornadoes (07:30)
• Timing issues with radar and streaming/evolution of technology (19:00)
• Conflicting messages between tornado safety and flood safety (43:00)
• NWS Chat 2.0 implementation (53:00)
• March 2023 Little Rock tornado coverage/Todd Yakoubian (01:17:00)
• Hurricane Lee/model analysis (01:32:30)
• HAFS-A/HAFS-B analysis and differences (01:33:30)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:28:35)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:30:30)
• National Weather Round-Up (01:
• E-Mail Segment (01:
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 921:

2023 NWA Annual Meeting Kansas City, MO

Picks of the Week:

James Aydelott – NWA Bathroom photo

Jen Narramore – May 2013 Granbury, TX EF4 Tornado

Rick Smith – Foghorn

Neil Jacobs – National Data Buoy Center

Troy Kimmel – Out

Kim Klockow-McClain – Foghorn

Bill Murray – Foghorn

James Spann – Gary Hershorn on X – Tribute in Light/Lightning Photo

The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like Troy Kimmel, Bill Murray, Rick Smith, James Aydelott, Jen Narramore, Dr. Neil Jacobs, and Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating podcast about weather.

WeatherBrains Episode 920 is now online (September 5th, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Our Guest WeatherBrain No. 1 this week is the Chief of Science Support at the Storm Prediction Center. Patrick Marsh, welcome back to the podcast!

Guest WeatherBrain No. 2 is the Lead Forecaster/Operations Branch at the Storm Prediction Center and has been with the agency for 23 years.  Rich Thompson, thanks for joining us!

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.

• Severe weather climatology vs previous years (08:00)
• Hurricane Idalia experience at SPC (17:00)
• SPC Impacts statistical model (28:15)
• Discussion of areal outline of SPC watches (01:08:30)
• NWS Chat 2.0 (01:20:00)
• Tropical Storm Lee analysis (01:48:30)
• Are categorical outlooks working?  (01:32:30)
• Upcoming tornado season analysis (01:52:00)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:40:35)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:42:41)
• National Weather Round-Up (01:48:00)
• E-Mail Segment (01:44:10)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 920:

SPC Staff Profile – Patrick Marsh

SPC Staff Profile – Rich Thompson

Picks of the Week:

Rich Thompson – Estimating Tornado Intensity in Real Time

James Aydelott – James Aydelott Tweet concerning remarkable NHC accuracy of track of Idalia

Jen Narramore – Mark Sudduth Tweet Horseshoe Beach camera underwater

Rick Smith – Winds and Hail Scar the Great Plains

Neil Jacobs – Ocean in Motion: Ekman Transport Background

Troy Kimmel – Foghorn

Kim Klockow-McClain – 2023 Annual Meeting

Bill Murray – Tomer Burg – Real Time Tropical Cyclones

James Spann – John Homenuk Tweet: Surge of weather misinformation on TikTok

The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like Troy Kimmel, Bill Murray, Rick Smith, James Aydelott, Jen Narramore, Dr. Neil Jacobs, and Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating podcast about weather.

WeatherBrains Episode 919 is now online (August 28th, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Our Guest WeatherBrain this week is an Emmy-award winning CBS morning meteorologist for WLNS-TV in Lansing, Michigan.  She’s a prolific TikToker and YouTuber, and recently became CBM # 918.  Katie Nickolaou, welcome to WeatherBrains.

Also stopping by later in the show is storm chaser and show regular Mark Sudduth live from the Florida coast ahead of the landfall of Idalia.

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.

• More discussion on issues with social media harassment in the meteorological community (18:50)
• Waning influence of linear television for broadcast meteorologists (26:00)
• NWS budget cuts (52:45)
• TV station management and appearance demands (01:04:00)
• Reaching younger demographic in the weather field (01:10:00)
• Tropical discussion/Idalia in the GOM and impacts (01:17:45)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:27:58)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:30:33)
• National Weather Round-Up (01:34:50)
• E-Mail Segment (01:31:30)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 919:

Weather Katie X Page

Mark Sudduth X Page

Picks of the Week:

James Aydelott – NWS Southern Region Tropical Webpage

Jen Narramore – Weather Katie TikTok

Rick Smith – Winds and Hail Scar the Great Plains

Neil Jacobs – Out

Troy Kimmel –  Foghorn

Kim Klockow-McClain – FY2024 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Bill Murray – Out

James Spann – Daryl Herzmann Tweet

The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like Troy Kimmel, Bill Murray, Rick Smith, James Aydelott, Jen Narramore, Dr. Neil Jacobs, and Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating podcast about weather.

WeatherBrains Episode 918 is now online (August 21st, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Tonight’s Guest WeatherBrain is a social scientist senior Hazard and Risk Management Researcher at GNS Science in New Zealand.  Dr. Sally Potter, welcome to the podcast.

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.

• New Zealand Meteorological Agency (15:15)
• Probabilities relating to volcanoes/eruptions (22:00)
• 2011 Christchurch earthquake (27:45)
• Impact-based forecasts/warnings (31:00)
• Informed decision-making in the context of behavior (47:00)
• Maui tragedy/discussion about sirens (01:00:00)
• Excessive hyperbole in media (01:17:00)
• Warning fatigue (01:25:00)
• Tropical issues in Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean (01:37:00)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:29:55)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:31:20)
• National Weather Round-Up (01:33:25)
• E-Mail Segment (No segment this week)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 918:

Dr. Sally Potter on X

Picks of the Week:

Dr. Sally Potter – “Towards the Perfect Weather Warning: Bridging Disciplinary Gaps Through Partnership and Communication” by Brian Golding

James Aydelott – Early Hurricane Hilary NHC Track Forecast

Jen Narramore – Out

Rick Smith – Today’s Maximum Wet Bulb Globe Temperature Risk

Neil Jacobs – Parker Solar Probe Encounters

Troy Kimmel – Out

Kim Klockow-McClain – Indonesia Impact Based Forecast Program

Bill Murray – Foghorn

James Spann – Former Hurricane Hilary brought Southern California its first-ever tropical storm watch

The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like Troy Kimmel, Bill Murray, Rick Smith, James Aydelott, Jen Narramore, Dr. Neil Jacobs, and Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating podcast about weather.

WeatherBrains Episode 917 is now online (August 14th, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Tonight’s Guest WeatherBrain is a meteorologist for Xcel Energy in Denver, CO.  He’s also a graduate of Penn State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in meteorology.  Andrew Markowitz, thanks for joining us tonight!

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.

• Energy meteorology vs traditional meteorology (09:45)
• Maui catastrophe and aftermath  (12:00)
• Wind energy short range/near term forecasting (32:00)
• AI/smart grids and the future of the energy sector (35:00)
• Critical sales/knowledge skills in the energy field (41:30)
• Social media and weather communication (47:25)
• Monetization process on TikTok and other social apps (59:30)
• AMS digital meteorologist certification proposal (01:23:10)
• Hurricane season outlook (01:46:20)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:35:00)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:36:51)
• National Weather Round-Up (01:44:40)
• E-Mail Segment (01:38:45)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 917:

Andrew Markowitz Twitter

Andrew Markowitz TikTok

Andrew Markowitz Instagram

Picks of the Week:

Andrew Markowitz – Jaw-dropping Midwest MCV radar loop

James Aydelott – As death toll of Maui wildfires rises to 80, a timeline of failed communications emerges

Jen Narramore – Foghorn

Rick Smith – Out

Neil Jacobs – JCSDA JEDI Skylab 5.0 release

Troy Kimmel – Mariner’s Tropical Cyclone Guide

Kim Klockow-McClain – The death toll from the Maui wildfires has climbed to 99. Here’s what we know about the deadliest US fire in over a century

Bill Murray – Foghorn

James Spann – Amazing capture of full rainbow/lightning strike in Sylvania

The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like Troy Kimmel, Bill Murray, Rick Smith, James Aydelott, Jen Narramore, Dr. Neil Jacobs, and Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating podcast about weather.

WeatherBrains Episode 916 is now online (August 7th, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Tonight’s Guest WeatherBrain is the Senior Forecaster at the NWS in Tulsa, OK.  She earned her Master’s Degree at OU specializing on heat bursts.  Karen Hatfield, welcome to the show!

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.

• What is a heat burst?  (15:20)
• Heat burst extremes in the U. S. (25:30)
• Role of heat bursts in NWS area forecast discussions (28:00)
• February 2023 Oklahoma Emergency Management Conference experiences (49:30)
• NWS chat 2.0 (01:07:00)
• When did MCC become MCS?  (01:29:50)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:21:03)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:22:48)
• National Weather Round-Up (01:24:03)
• E-Mail Segment (No segment this week)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 916:

Karen Hatfield Twitter

Picks of the Week:

Karen Hatfield – Dr. Robin Tanamachi Tweet

James Aydelott – DixieFire 2021 photos

Jen Narramore – Out

Rick Smith – Tropical cyclone names

Neil Jacobs – Out

Troy Kimmel – How to Find the Most Accurate Weather Forecasting App

Kim Klockow-McClain – Tomer Burg Tweet of impressive mesoscale convective vortex over Missouri

Bill Murray – NHC Forecast Verification Report

James Spann – UW-Madison CIMSS Tweet on Tropical Cyclone Group product summary

The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like Troy Kimmel, Bill Murray, Rick Smith, James Aydelott, Jen Narramore, Dr. Neil Jacobs, and Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating podcast about weather.