WeatherBrains Episode 935 is now online (December 18th, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Tonight’s show is our annual year-ender with show veteran and weather legend and WPC/NOAA boss Greg Carbin.  He’s now a 31 year veteran with NOAA, and it’s always an honor to have you join us.

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

• Difficult flooding event on Atlantic coast 12/15-17(05:45)
• La Niña winter/Pacific NW snowfall (10:30)
• Ft. Lauderdale April flash flooding event (18:00)
• Summer Canadian wildfires/ridge anomaly (22:30)
• Extreme summertime Gulf Coast heat/records broken (26:00)
• July Vermont flooding (32:15)
• Hawaii/Maui fires (38:45)
• Hurricane Hilary (40:30)
• Rolling Fork MS tornado (45:55)
• Mid-June MS hailstorm (50:15)
• 2023 Atlantic hurricane season analysis (01:13:45)
• January 12th Selma tornado (01:18:45)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:32:00)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:34:17)
• National Weather Round-Up
• E-Mail Segment (No segment this week)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 935:

Subseasonal Forecasts Columbia University

Greg Carbin on X

Picks of the Week:

Greg Carbin – U.S. Streaks

James Aydelott – Irish woman whose forecast saved D-Day dies at 100

Jen Narramore – WX History on X: 12/18/18 Washington State tornado

Rick Smith – Out

Neil Jacobs – Out

Troy Kimmel – SERCC

Kim Klockow-McClain – Out

Bill Murray – Foghorn

James Spann – Geology Professor Shawn Willsey’s Iceland Eruption Livestream

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 934 is now online (December 11th, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Tonight’s show is heading across the pond to talk tornadoes in Great Britain and Ireland.  Also a hot topic is the severe weather event on 12/9 across the Southern U. S.

Our first Guest WeatherBrain is a damage site investigator for TORRO.  She’s been an active member of that organization for 17 years. TORRO’s most productive area of research involves members conducting tornado damage site investigations. Originally a satellite design engineer, she is an enthusiastic amateur meteorologist who tutors students in math for a living. Obsessed with both hiking and tornadoes, tornado site investigations provide an ideal opportunity to combine her interests. Although she lived in Ohio for 18 months as a teenager, she is yet to witness a tornado, though she did have practice in taking shelter in the basement when the tornado sirens went off.  She lives in Hampshire with her husband.  Sarah Horton, it’s an honor to have you on the show!

Tonight’s Second Guest WeatherBrain is a Senior Weather Risk Manager at DTN. He has worked in the organisation (formally MeteoGroup in Europe) for over 23 years, as both a shift forecaster and a line manager. Paul has been a member of both TORRO and the Royal Meteorological Society since the early 1990s, having been interested in weather since an early age. Paul is currently Head of TORRO – the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation. He has been storm chasing in the USA 19 times and has witnessed many severe storms and tornadoes. He lives in Reading with his partner Helen (also a meteorologist), and their young daughter, Alana. Paul is a Chartered Meteorologist, as awarded by the Royal Meteorological Society.  Paul Knightley, thanks so much for dropping by tonight.

Also joining us as Guest Panelist is show regular SOO Kevin Laws from the NWS Birmingham.  He’s been busy doing storm surveys the last couple of days after the weekend’s severe weather across the South.  It’s always a pleasure to have you stop by, Kevin.

Last but certainly not least, joining us tonight as Guest WeatherBrain No.3 is the long team lead forecaster at the NWS Nashville TN.  He’s warned there since 2011 and next year marks 20 years of service in the NWS.  He received his Bachelors Degree in Meteorology at Texas A&M and his Master’s Degree from Mississippi State.  He specializes in radar and warning operations.  Sam Shamburger, it’s an honor to have you on tonight!

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

• 12/9/23 Middle TN tornadoes/analysis (08:45)
• Components/comparison of a damage survey in US vs UK (21:00)
• 12/10/21 vs 12/9/23 (27:00)
• Why doesn’t the general public take Severe Thunderstorm Warnings seriously?  (38:00)
• What is TORRO?  (01:01:00)
• Differences in European tornadoes vs North America (01:02:00)
• Waterspout events in UK (01:14:45)
• Scale for tornadoes developed by TORRO/T-scale (01:20:00)
• Notable Great Britain/Ireland tornado events (01:23:00)
• What is the RMS and how can you get involved?  (01:39:30)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:43:58)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:46:16)
• National Weather Round-Up
• E-Mail Segment (No segment this week)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 934:

TORRO

Picks of the Week:

Paul Knightley – Archive – The International Journal of Meteorology

Sarah Horton – “Extreme Weather: Forty Years of the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO)” by Robert K Doe

James Aydelott – Kyle Gillett on X: ACARS profile from BNA in Nashville on X

Jen Narramore – Roger Edwards on X: Tennessee tornado fireball videos/commentary

Rick Smith – 16 different videos of Hendersonville, TN EF2 tornado on X

Neil Jacobs – I Told him There Were GIANTS in This Canal! (Fly Fishing for Tarpon) – On YouTube

Troy Kimmel – Out

Kim Klockow-McClain – A Daily Cloud on Instagram

Bill Murray – Royal Meteorological Society

James Spann – Probability of a white Christmas in the Continental US (1991-2020)

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 933 is now online (December 4th, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Tonight’s show is all about fire warnings and wildfire forecasting.

Our first Guest WeatherBrain is the Science and Operations Officer with the NWS Norman.  He’s previously worked in Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland and Tulsa NWS.  He recently received the Charles L Mitchell Award for his years of work in fire weather forecasting.  Todd Lindley, thanks for joining us tonight.

Second Guest WeatherBrain is the Deputy Fire Management Chief of the Oklahoma Forestry Services.  He’s responsible for both fighting fires on the ground as well as prescribed fire management.  He’s also part of the Northern Rockies Incident Management Team One.  Drew Daily, thanks for being a part of 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 Deputy Fire Management Chief?  (09:10)
• NWS Fire Weather Program (13:30)
•  Current state of fire prediction (17:45)
• What are fuels and how do we acquire that information and account for it?  (23:00)
• Red Flag Thread Index (27:00)
• Role of media in wildfire preparation and awareness (36:00)
• Invasive species/Red Cedar and fire threat (40:00)
• Outside variables for controlled burns (45:30)
• Diurnal range of energy release component (58:00)
• Satellites and wildfire detection (01:02:00)
• What is column collapse?  (01:30:00)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:41:27)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:43:30)
• National Weather Round-Up (01:49:30)
• E-Mail Segment (01:45:30)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 933:

Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 1

Picks of the Week:

Drew Daily – Oklahoma Wildfire Situation Report

Todd Lindley – NOAA GSL Fire Weather Testbed

James Aydelott – Fire Mike Tomlin on X

Jen Narramore – The Immeasurable Cost of the December 10-11th 2021 Tornado Outbreak

Rick Smith – Wildfire Weather Safety

Neil Jacobs – Octopus tornado on YouTube

Troy Kimmel – NTSB Docket open on Feb 2023 FedEx/Southwest Airlines Near Miss at KAUS

Troy Kimmel – NYT Investigation of Air Traffic Controllers Pushed to the Brink

Kim Klockow-McClain – Mesonet OK-FIRE

Bill Murray – Foghorn

James Spann – National Reflectivity Mosaic

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 932 is now online (November 27th, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Tonight’s first WeatherBrain is the suggestion of listener Edward Shaw and is a previous alumni of the show.  He’s a professor in the Department of Geography at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg.  He is a native of Roanoke Virginia and studied environmental science as an undergraduate before completing his graduate work through the Department of Geosciences at Mississippi State. Connections to Virginia Tech spread through his family as five other family members completed either undergraduate or graduate degrees at the university. Before joining the Department of Geography’s new meteorology degree program, Dave spent several years teaching a dual-enrollment Applied Meteorology course for accelerated high school students and undergraduates through Virginia Tech’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dave Carroll, welcome to the show.

Our second Guest WeatherBrain is an associate professor of geography and meteorology at Ball State University in Muncie.  He received his meteorology degree with honors from Penn State and an advanced degree in geography from Syracuse University.  David Call, welcome to the show.

Also stopping by as our Guest Panelist is Stephanie Zick, an assistant professor and core faculty member for Virginia Tech’s B. S. meteorology program.  She’s a tropical weather expert as well as numerical weather prediction and model forecast verification expert who joined Virginia Tech University in 2016.  Thanks for joining us!

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

• Bringing the community into a University meteorology program (06:45)
• Superstorm of Thanksgiving 1950 (09:30)
• Ball State storm chasing program (24:25)
• Deeper look at geography program at Virginia Tech (50:00)
• AMS/NWA chapters (01:07:30)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:47:50)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:49:40)
• National Weather Round-Up
• E-Mail Segment (No segment this week)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 932:

“Superstorm 1950: The Greatest Simultaneous Blizzard, Ice Storm, Windstorm, and Cold Outbreak of the Twentieth Century” by David A Call

Picks of the Week:

David Call – “Buckeye Blizzard: Ohio and the 1950 Thanksgiving storm” by Roger Pickenpaugh

David Call – “White Hurricane: A Great Lakes November Gale and America’s Deadliest Maritime Disaster” by David G Brown

James Aydelott – Early season NW Oklahoma snow preliminary totals

Jen Narramore – Out

Rick Smith – Out

Neil Jacobs – Out

Troy Kimmel – The Tornado Project Online

Kim Klockow-McClain – Out

Bill Murray – Foghorn

James Spann – Fallstreak hole over Alabama photos on X

James Spann – Chris Elick on X announcement about his research on perceptions of weather-based pain forecasts

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 931 is now online (November 20th, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Tonight will be a Thanksgiving week homegrown show with the regular panelists.

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

• Weather podcast fundraiser/telethon benefitting the Red Cross (06:00)
• Severe weather across southern Mississippi (24:00)
• NWS Chat 2.0 (28:00)
• Disconnect between forecasters and general public during active weather events (46:15)
• Outdated concept of local TV market DMAs (55:45)
• Looking ahead to future planned WeatherBrains guests (58:00)
• AI and the future of weather forecasting (01:30:00)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (No segment this week)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:20:17)
• National Weather Round-Up (01:21:50)
• E-Mail Segment
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 931:

National Storm Chaser Summit 2024

Weather Pods Disaster Relief Telethon supporting the American Red Cross Part 1

Weather Pods Disaster Relief Telethon supporting the American Red Cross Part 2

Picks of the Week:

James Aydelott – Out

Jen Narramore – The Tornado Project

Rick Smith – IDSS Forecast Points

Neil Jacobs – Out

Troy Kimmel – Out

Kim Klockow-McClain – Out

Bill Murray – Foghorn

James Spann – Understanding GraphCast, Google’s AI weather forecasting tool

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 930 is now online (November 13th, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Tonight we will be discussing the Weather Pods Disaster Relief Telethon being held this Saturday, November 18th benefitting the American Red Cross.

Tonight’s Guest WeatherBrain is a former broadcast meteorologist for Birmingham’s CBS 42 and now works in higher education at Auburn University.  It’s an honor to have you on the show tonight.  Ashley Gann, welcome to WeatherBrains.

Also stopping by as Guest Panelist is the proprietor of the Chaser Chat weather podcast.  Gabe Harber, welcome to the show.

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

• Weather Pods Disaster Relief Telethon (07:00)
• March 2019 tornado outbreak analysis (45:00)
• Looking back at April 27, 2011 (49:00)
• International Association of Emergency Managers event discussion (01:18:30)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:35:00)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:37:02)
• National Weather Round-Up (01:42:45)
• E-Mail Segment (01:40:00)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 930:

Weather Pods Disaster Relief Telethon

Chaser Chat Podcast on X

Ashley Gann on X

Picks of the Week:

Ashley Gann – 1983 Iron Bowl receives over 9 inches of rain

James Aydelott – Michael Lowry on X: Total Time in NHC Forecast Cones in 2023

Jen Narramore – Iowa Helicopter survey of Stratford Iowa tornado

Rick Smith – Out

Neil Jacobs – Full Committee Markup of H.R. 6093

Troy Kimmel – Foghorn

Kim Klockow-McClain – NOAA forecasts quicker, stronger peak of solar activity

Bill Murray – Weather Channel Morning Brief Newsletter

James Spann – Professor Aims to Improve Emergency Alerts for Deaf Community

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.