Weather Geeks

Guest: Stewart Williams, DTN/PGA Meteorologist Intro:  Fore!!!  From the skies above to the finely-manicured blades of grass beneath their feet, today’s guest knows how important it is to get it right when forecasting for the PGA Tour.  We’re sitting down with DTN’s Lead Senior Meteorologist, Stewart Williams, who has spent more than 20 years providing forecasts for the Tour and its world-renowned golfers. While the players have their own game plan, Mother Nature doesn’t always play nicely.  We’ll discover how a simple wind shift or a wilted blade of grass can make a huge impact on course conditions. Plus, when severe weather threatens, we’ll get an inside look into the decision-making process that helps keep people safe. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Guest: John Ross Intro: On June 6th, 1944, more than 160,000 allied forces stormed the beaches of France during WWII. This day would be etched into the pillars of history as D-day. This year, as we remember the 75th Anniversary of landing on the beaches of Normandy, we look back at the forecast behind the mission and how weather prompted one of the biggest scheduling changes in modern history. Today we’re joined by John Ross author of The Forecast for D-Day, And the Weatherman behind Ike’s Greatest Gamble. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Guest: Dr. Louis Uccellini Intro: Today’s guest needs no introduction… We’re sitting down with Dr. Louis Uccellini, Director of the National Weather Service and NOAA Assistant Administrator for Weather Services.  Dr. Uccellini has been making major contributions to the meteorological field for more than 40 years and has been a driving force in positioning the U.S. to be a Weather-Ready Nation.  He recently announced his candidacy to become the next President of the World Meteorological Organization, and we’ll discuss his future goals for the organization and its Members across the globe.  Finally, as NOAA prepares for the upcoming U.S. GFS Model upgrade, we’ll explore what this means for our country’s forecasting capabilities and its position within the numerical modeling community. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Guest: Jenni Evans, AMS President Intro: The American Meteorology Society is very close to my heart, as I was its president back in 2013.  During that time, I had to learn about what it takes to lead an organization with thousands of people from different backgrounds and ages, but all with one common passion...the weather!  My next guest knows EXACTLY what I’m talking about, as she is the CURRENT AMS president! Jenni Evans is a professor at Penn State University and director of PSU’s Institute for CyberScience, where she leads over 200 faculty members...but leading AMS is an entirely different ballgame, especially when you are leading the organization through its 100th year! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Guest: Dr. Adam Houston, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Intro: If you are a Weather Geek, odds are you have seen the movie Twister, where two storm chasers are fighting to research strong tornadoes in the heart of Tornado Alley.  To conduct the research, they are using a device called DOROTHY, which was revolutionary in the movie. Now, what if I told you that my next guest is also using revolutionary technology to study tornadoes...but it is utilized more commonly than you think?  Adam Houston from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln and his team are using drones as a pivotal tool in their study of supercells, which is aiming to aid forecasters in predicting tornado formation. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Guest: Dr. Karen Kosiba, Atmospheric Scientist at CSWR Introduction:  From lake-effect snow bands to destructive tornadoes, today’s guest has studied them all!  Dr. Karen Kosiba’s research is focused on unraveling the intricate dynamics behind some of nature’s most dangerous weather.  She believes that taking her work into the field is key to helping us better understand and predict severe weather. We’ll get an inside look on what it’s like to experience a storm from inside a mobile radar, plus we’ll discuss one of her latest research endeavors which took her south of the equator to chase some of the world’s most intense storms. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For some of you listeners that may or may not know, Weather Geeks used to be a television show on The Weather Channel. However, one year ago this week, we re-launched the program on this podcast format. This gave us the ability to have more in-depth discussions and really geek out with our favorite guests. For our one year anniversary, we are going to count down our Top 10 favorite episodes of the podcast so far. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

GUEST: Gina McCarthy, former EPA Administrator DESCRIPTION: ACHOOO!!! It’s springtime for millions of Americans, and unfortunately, that IS something to sneeze at. Today we’re sitting down with former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy to find out how climate change could actually be making our allergy seasons worse. What could this mean for millions of allergy sufferers? We’re also counting down to April 22, 2020 when we’ll celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. We’ll talk about how this passionate global movement began and how it continues to bring international communities together to help protect and repair our amazing planet. Join us as this becomes the biggest global environmental movement in history! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Guests: Dr. Tanya-Brown Giammanco & Dr. Ian Giammanco Intro:  What if you could recreate a Great Plains hailstone in a laboratory? What could we learn from hurling dozens of these stones toward a building? Today’s guests hail from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety where a team of scientists is doing just that! This team, led by Dr. Tanya Brown-Giammanco and Dr. Ian Giammanco, is using 3D printers to replicate hailstones collected across the Plains and test how well structures can withstand an impact. Hail damage across the U.S. can total over $1 billion annually, and we’ll discuss how their research can be used to reduce costly property losses in the future. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Guest: Mike Chesterfield, Director of Weather Presentation, The Weather Channel Intro:  Weather affects all 5 senses. You can TASTE the snowflakes on your tongue during the first snowfall of the year. You can TOUCH the raindrops as they fall from the sky. You can HEAR the rumbles of thunder as a storm rolls your way. You can SMELL the rain when you step outside on a wet day. And finally, sight. You SEE weather EVERYWHERE. And my guest today, Mike Chesterfield, is bringing the weather to life THROUGH your television screen using The Weather Channel's Immersed Mixed Reality technology. It is something you have to see to believe...   See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Guest: Forbes Tompkins Intro: With the transition from winter to spring upon us, some may find themselves swapping snow shovels for sandbags. The right policies can help communities be better prepared before the next flood. Today’s guest, Forbes Tompkins, an officer for The Pew Charitable Trust’s flood-prepared communities initiative, leads work to modernize federal policies so the country’s infrastructure is more flood-ready. Today we’ll talk about solutions that can keep U.S. communities safe during the peak flood season of spring and beyond. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Guest: Rear Admiral David Titley Description: David Titley is a retired Rear Admiral and Chief Oceanographer of the US Navy, former NOAA Chief Operating Officer, Director of the Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk and professor of meteorology at Pennsylvania State University. It is an impressive resume for a well respected individual that is so involved with raising awareness on the challenges and opportunities climate change presents to the world. David shares with us some of his latest work, successes, and also discusses the greatest hurdles that remain in the policy arena when it comes to climate change action. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Guest: Jon Davis, Chief Meteorologist at RiskPulse Description: More than 20% of the US Economy is directly affected by the Weather.  The energy and agriculture sectors are particularly vulnerable to losses that can mount as a result of heat waves, droughts, flooding and cold. Just a couple of degrees can make or cost companies millions of dollars. There is a group of meteorologists who make it their jobs to connect the weather to these lucrative markets and their forecasts can ultimately give their clients that competitive edge.  Today we’ll talk with Jon Davis, Chief Meteorologist at RiskPulse, about the fascinating world of weather forecasting for the commodity markets. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Guest: Dr. Walker Ashley, professor & researcher at Northern Illinois University Dr. Walker Ashley is a professor at Northern Illinois University who focuses on examining the impacts of severe and hazardous weather on society. With more extreme weather events on the rise, we see an increasing number of vulnerabilities being exposed within communities, leading to wide spread loss of life and property. Improving the communication of risks imposed by severe weather is a major focus of scientists and some policy-makers. Today we’ll discuss how urban sprawl and development, local infrastructure, and even socioeconomic factors have been found to play a major role in how a disaster unfolds. We’ll also explore ways we can mitigate or prevent future disasters through preparedness and risk assessment. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Guest: Phil Magney, Founder & Principal Advisor for VSI Description: While we listened to our record collection years ago, some of us dreamed of a future with cars flying through the air...while that may not be where we are headed, self-driving vehicles are here and there are big businesses working on the challenges to bring this to fruition. Weather is perhaps the biggest challenge...how can technology handle changing road conditions while keeping everyone safe? We are joined by Phil Magney, founder of VSI, a leading researcher of active safety and automated vehicle technologies to discuss what is being done to make sure weather doesn’t put on the brakes to the future of automated vehicles. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.