How different is America's weather today from the world the founding fathers knew 250 years ago?

On July 4, 1776, as 56 men gathered to declare independence. That same day, Thomas Jefferson bought a brand-new thermometer, and started taking meticulous notes. Those very readings marked the birth of an American climate record that stretches all the way to the present day.

In this episode of Atmosphere, host Emily Gracey sits down with Kaitlyn Trudeau, an applied climate scientist at Climate Central, to unpack two and a half centuries of American weather data. Together, they explore how our climate has shifted from the brutal winters of the Little Ice Age to the rapid warming of the modern era... and what the data tells us to expect by the time the nation turns 300.

• The Weather of 1776: What it was really like in that Philadelphia room (think wool coats, horseflies, and no AC), and how Jefferson became America's original "weather nerd."
• Nature’s Time Capsules: How scientists use paleoclimate proxies—like tree rings, ice cores, and coral—to unlock millions of years of climate history.
• The Rate of Change: Why the dramatic shift in global carbon emissions over the last 50 to 75 years is the real cause for concern.
• Climate Controls: Why the climate is warming differently in places like the Southwest compared to the Great Lakes.
• A Story We Are Still Writing: Why the next 50 years aren't predetermined, and how collective action today dictates our future.

Articles referenced in this episode:

https://www.monticello.org/encyclopedia/thermometer

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/02-01-02-0010

https://jefferson-weather-records.org/node/41019

https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/84/1/bams-84-1-57.pdf

https://www.amrevmuseum.org/john-adams-and-revolutionary-philadelphia-s-summer-heat

https://emergingrevolutionarywar.org/2016/01/23/the-hard-winter-of-1779-1780/

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What does it actually take to safely chase a tornado, and how does that extreme proximity save lives on the ground?

In this episode of Atmosphere, we’re going inside the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) in Norman, Oklahoma - the epicenter of severe weather research. Dr. Pam Heinselman, Deputy Director of Science at NSSL, joins us to break down the cutting-edge tech behind today's storm chasing and why humanizing the forecast is the next frontier in science.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The New Mobile Radar Fleet: The next generation of mobile radars and the surprising places they're deploying.
• Project LIFT: What scientists are learning from getting up close and personal with tornadoes.
• The Hail Cam: High-speed cameras capturing hailstones mid-fall to study ice dynamics.
• Closing the Warning Gap: How NSSL is buying you more time when severe weather strikes.
• The Human Element: Why social scientists are now riding shotgun with meteorologists to improve crisis communication.

This is severe weather research at its most scrappy, creative, and human.

🔗 Connect with NSSL: Learn more about their current research at nssl.noaa.gov.

The ground under our feet feels completely solid, but deep beneath the surface, rocks are under constant stress until they hit a breaking point. What actually happens when the earth snaps?

In this episode of Atmosphere, meteorologist Emily Gracey steps away from the sky and digs into the subsurface for a masterclass on seismic activity. Joined by geologist and educator Sean Willsey, this comprehensive conversation strips away complex jargon to deliver the ground truth about earthquakes - making it the perfect, accessible listen for professional scientists and curious minds alike.

We cover everything you ever wanted to know about earthquakes, including:

• Prediction vs. Forecasting: Why we can model long-term regional risks but can't predict an exact date or time.
• The Energy Scale: How the Richter scale actually works and the difference between magnitude and intensity.
• Human-Induced Quakes: The data behind how wastewater injection from oil and gas recovery triggers modern tremors.
• East vs. West Coast: Why a magnitude 7.0 earthquake on the East Coast travels hundreds of miles farther than one on the West Coast.
• Survival Protocols: Why traditional "doorframe safety" is an outdated myth and what modern safety guidelines actually say.

Whether you're a scientist looking for a clinic in hazard communication or just want to understand the real facts behind the headlines, this episode uncovers the world beneath us.

Connect with us:

• Check out Sean Willsey's YouTube channel: Geology Explained
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• Instagram: @AtmospherePodcast
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Looking for even more weather content? Check out Weekly Weather Brief, a quick rundown of the week's biggest weather and science stories hosted by Emily Gracey and fellow meteorologist Kerrin Jeromin. New episodes drop every Friday morning on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts!

Why are we still getting hurricane safety wrong? National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Jamie Rhome joins Atmosphere to expose the hidden communication failures, widespread education gaps, and the lesser-known storm indicators that coastal residents consistently miss until it’s too late.

As the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season begins, most headlines focus entirely on the forecast models. But in the second episode of Atmosphere, host Emily Gracey sits down with Rhome to tackle a much bigger problem: why predicting the weather is only half the battle if the public doesn't understand the threat. Rhome shares a candid look at the dangerous communication gaps that still exist between meteorologists and the public, and why standard warning systems often fail to convey the real danger.

From the psychology of evacuation fatigue to the subtle, overlooked indicators that a storm is turning catastrophic, this conversation pulls back the curtain on the high-stakes reality of public messaging when millions of lives are on the line.

In June 1944, the fate of World War II didn't just rest with a general. It rested with a meteorologist.

On the first episode of Atmosphere, meteorologist Emily Gracey digs into the science and human drama behind PRESSURE, the new film about the real weather forecasters who had to find a window for the Allied invasion of Normandy. No satellites. No radar. Everything on the line.

Weather historian Sean Potter breaks down what the atmosphere was actually doing that week, the fractured forecasting teams, and why Captain James Stagg's call remains one of the most consequential in the history of meteorology.

Then director Anthony Maras, who brought the same unflinching, ground-level storytelling to Hotel Mumbai, joins to talk about how he turned this forecast into a film, and why getting the science right meant bringing real meteorologists into the room.

Because sometimes the most powerful force in the room isn't a weapon. It's a weather map.

Welcome to Atmosphere with meteorologist Emily Gracey, a podcast where science becomes conversation. Each week, Emily sits down with leading experts in weather, climate, earth science, and beyond to explore not just the science shaping our world, but the human stories behind it.