WeatherBrains 308: Lost in the Yucatan

WeatherBrains Episode 308 is now online (December 19, 2011). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE netcast audio program for you!

It’s a double barrel episode with two guest Weather Brains. Kicking things off after the normal chaotic banter of the crew, will be Charlie Woodrum. Charlie is a forecaster at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Pittsburgh, PA. He was promoted there in 2009, and at that time, he was one of the youngest forecasters in the NWS. He is a graduate of Florida State University – Go Noles!

Up next as our second guest is John Ferree. John is the National Weather Service’s Severe Storms Services Leader. In this role, John leads efforts to improve severe weather forecasting and warning performance, facilitates promising research into operations, and identifies emerging concepts and techniques to disseminate throughout all NWS operational units. John was the co-chair of the NOAA/NSF sponsored Tornado Symposium in Norman, Oklahoma last week, and also served as program chair for the American Meteorological Society’s Warnings and Communications Conference this past summer. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, John has worked for the National Weather Service for over thirty-three years. Prior to his current position, he worked as a forecaster in Arkansas, Nevada, Kansas, and Missouri, and then as an instructor on the NEXRAD Doppler radar and on warning decision making.

Other discussions in this weekly podcast include topics like:

Our Email Officer, Captain, I think, continues to bring you the latest mail from the bag, but his ever persistent search for a replacement does distract him some.

From The Weather Center:

WeatherBrains 101: Exciting day for cloud watchers in Central Alabama last Friday when Kelvin-Helmholtz wave clouds occurred over the Magic City. This made it a natural for the 101 segment this week with a brief rundown on what brings about these rare but fascinating clouds.

TWIWH: Bill Murray looks back at the week of December 20th. Weather history takes us down under for a big event from this week.

Listener Surveys: Okay, we continue to drive this topic into the ground, but we really do like to hear from you. Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to fill out the Listener Survey. The survey takes just a minute or two to complete and provides us with an opportunity to learn where you are and hear your thoughts and comments on the show. Click here to take the survey.

Web Sites from Episode 308:

Lightning Safety at NWS

NWS Pittsburgh, PA

Billion Dollar Disasters

April 27, 2011, Service Assessment from NWS

Picks of the Week:

JB Elliott – Winter Weather Awareness from NWS

Bill Murray – SPC MARS Forecast Loop

Brian Peters – Snow Toys to Make Snow Fun

Kevin Selle – Boston Globe Big Picture

James Spann – Kelvin-Helmholtz wave clouds

The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like JB Elliott, Kevin Selle, Bill Murray, and Brian Peters. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating netcast about weather.

Category: WeatherBrains