WeatherBrains 80: “Crying Wolf”

Howdy, folks! Look out — we’ve turned another Episode loose … check it out!

WeatherBrains Episode 80 is now online (August 6, 2007). The netcast audio program for people who
love weather can be found at www.weatherbrains.com.

In this week’s Episode:

Is it really Breaking News? Is there too much hype in the weather business, and is it likely to affect
how people will respond when a genuine weather threat exists? It’s nothing new for the media to
sensationalize what’s happening, but the tendency to blow some news and weather topics out of
proportion seems to be growing all the time;

Prepare for the Perseids! This weekend marks the annual Perseid meteor shower,
and according to scientists, it should be a very good show. Bill Cook with NASA’s Meteroid Environments
Office shares details about this annual display, as well as your best chances of seeing it.

People on the Move: Max Mayfield, former director of the National Hurricane Center and a guest on
previous WeatherBrains Episodes, is in the news once again. And you probably won’t be too surprised
to hear that he is in a rather select group.

People on the Move 2: Another former guest on WeatherBrains is headed to a new job. Dan McCarthy,
Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, OK, will be headed
east to a new job where there may be a few less tornadoes to deal with.

Proenza Fights Back: Bill Proenza, removed July 9th as Director of the National Hurricane Center,
files an appeal to get his job back. Lawyers for Proenza, who was a guest on WeatherBrains Episodes
69 and 70, described NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr.’s decision to remove him as “simply
unacceptable for a career, nonpolitical appointee to have been treated with such disrespect.”

Categorizing Ninos and Ninas: We talk about a proposal to assign ratings to El Ninos and La Ninas —
good idea, or recipe for public confusion?

Flooded out: What part of the country has seen more than 500 Flash Flood Warnings from January
through July of 2007? Tune in and find out…

From The Weather Center:

* WeatherBrains 101: When is a Hurricane not a Hurricane? Tropical weather systems occur in the
various oceans around the world. But, as we see with Professor Peters in this edition of WeatherBrains 101,
they don’t all go by the same name, even though these storms share common traits.
* This Week In Weather History: Bill Murray recounts two tragic weather-related bridge collapses
that happened during this week in 1904 and 1997 … The profound discovery a meteorologist
made during this week in 1968 … The cyclone that transported butterflies more than 600 miles …
And the day it didn’t rain cats and dogs, but rained fish!

Join James Spann, Kevin Selle, Brian Peters, and David Black for the latest episode.

We would love to hear from you! To leave a recorded message, call 1-888-247-8627. Some calls may be
used in future episodes. Also, feel free to post comments to the site and send us an email at
question@weatherbrains.com.

Happy listening!

Category: Pre-November 2010 Posts