Weather Geeks

Guest:  Keith Stellman, Meteorologist-in-Charge NWS AtlantaIntro: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 issuing local public, marine, aviation, fire, and hydrology forecasts 24/7! The NWS never sleeps because the weather itself never sleeps, and I’m sure my next guest can attest to many sleepless nights on the job. Keith Stellman is the Meteorologist-in-Charge for NWS Atlanta/Peachtree City, and as I know personally, this area rarely has a dull weather day! 

Guest: Dr. David Peterson, NASA/Naval Research LabAs 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! Today’s guest is Dr. David Peterson from the Naval Research Lab, and his research focuses on the far-reaching impacts these monster clouds can have, including how they generate their own weather! We’ll discuss what techniques he uses to observe these events and whether or not we can expect more events in a warming climate. 

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 and also serves as a Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy at Texas Southern University. We’ll discuss how his work aims to bring attention to such humanitarian crises and how we can work together to secure the environmental health and resilience of all communities being affected by extreme weather.

Guest: Chris Fisher, Archaeologist Colorado State UniversityIntro: 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, there is a group of scientists who are taking the initiative on this! My guest today is archaeologist Chris Fisher, who is the co-owner of the Earth Archive Project. This project will use LIDAR technology to take high-quality imagery of the most vulnerable places on our planet and help preserve them for future generations.  

Guest: Dr. Marshall ShepherdIntro: 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 logistics of organizing this wonderful meeting with some of the greatest weather and climate minds in the country, I wanted to make a quick episode to highlight all that AMS has to offer those in the Meteorology field!

Guest: Dr. Wenyuan FanIntro: “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 strong as a 3.5 magnitude earthquake. He coined the term, stormquakes.

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 National Weather Service and forecasting community!

Guest: Heather Zons2019 was a wild year of weather. From record-breaking spring floodingin the Midwest to another devastating hurricane season, all while theglobal temperature keeps ticking up and up. And we had over 80episodes of Weather Geeks talking to scientists from all corners ofthe country to cover those topics and many, many more! We are usingthis last episode of the year to look back on our favorite episodesand answer your weather, science, and podcast-related questions to puta bow on Weather Geeks for 2019.

Guest: Russ Schumacher, Asst. Professor & State ClimatologistIntro: 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 record books! Today we welcome Russ Schumacher, State Climatologist and Director of the Colorado Climate Center, and we’re going to revisit some of those extreme events.  We’ll also get a preview of Russ’s latest research endeavors at Colorado State University, and we’ll end the episode with an interesting fact about him that may have you asking all kinds of questions.

Guest: Dr. Thomas L. Mote, Distinguished Research Professor, UGAIntroduction: 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 landscape, but his work also uses remote sensing to measure the changing continent. Today we’ll discuss the science behind this incredible melting and how these changes are altering global sea-levels, water currents, and even weather patterns. 

Guest: Tony Knap, Director of Geochemical & Environmental Research Group (GERG) at Texas A&MIntro:  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. Today, we welcome Dr. Anthony Knap, Director of the Geochemical & Environmental Research Group at Texas A&M University and Member of the Board of Directors for the Gulf Research Program.  We’ll explore current research being done to improve our understanding and predictive skill of the Loop Current System and its eddies.  Dr. Knap will also discuss how his team at Texas A&M plans to increase observations of the loop current to aid in regional forecasting capabilities.    

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 communicate these forecasts to help you safely arrive at your holiday destinations. 

Guest: Dr. Dalia KirschbaumIntro: 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 focuses on rainfall-triggered landslides, with some being seen in the Caribbean and Central America during the hurricane season which we are RIGHT in the middle of!

Guest: Luke Peffers, ClimaCellIntro: “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 of ClimaCell, a Boston-based company with a big vision: to map all of the weather data in the world to provide precise global coverage. They call it Microweather, and it can be a total game changer...

Guest: Dave Malkoff, Weather Channel CorrespondentIntro: 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 to our changing climate.  Are we too late to save some of these ice sheets, or is there still hope for our Poles? 

Guest: Deke Arndt, Chief of Climate Monitoring Branch, NOAA's NCEIIntro: 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 represent weather; their effect on humanity is shaped by our climate. Today we are joined by Deke Ardnt, editor of the State of the Climate Report and Chief at NOAA’s Climate Monitoring Branch.

Guest: Lucas McDonald, Walmart Director of Emergency OperationsIntro: 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 for more than a decade. We’ll get an inside look at how they help prepare communities for impending disasters and how their disaster response teams spring into action to help those in need after the storm.

Guest: Rick Smith, WCM at NWS Norman, OKIntro: 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 trusted voices. He is widely known for his tireless efforts in using social media to inform and educate the public to further our goal of becoming a Weather-Ready Nation. We’ll discuss some of the advantages and challenges meteorologists face in the social media landscape and how we can ALL improve as communicators going forward!

Guest: Dr. Phillip ChilsonIntroduction:  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 Chilson from the University of Oklahoma, has been working hard to harness the full potential of drones.

Guest: Dr. Howard Kunreuther, Wharton Risk Management & Decision Processes CenterIntro: 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. Howard Kunreuther who has spent years of his career trying to answer this question. We’ll discuss the inherent biases many of us have when it comes to disaster preparedness, and we’ll outline strategies he recommends to ensure we are prepared for the next catastrophe.