Carolina Weather Group

Jim Cantore is best known for his hurricane chases on the Weather Channel and (we hope) increasingly known for his year-in-review conversations with the Carolina Weather Group.

Jim is back with our full Carolina Weather Group panel for a special episode talking about all the weather that was 2021, including a look back at the deep freeze in Texas, Hurricane Ida, flash flooding, and more. He also provides a candid perspective into the field of broadcast meteorology, an industry where he has worked for more than 30 years at The Weather Channel.

Jim also answers some of your questions submitted by our Carolina Weather Group audience.

BONUS: For a touching insight into Jim's favorite holiday memory, join him for our Carolina Weather Group Holiday Panelist Playlist on Spotify.

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A special episode of the Carolina Weather Group: The latest on the tornado outbreak across five states, an inside look at those stories of those impacted, and ways for you to help this holiday season.

The tornadoes collapsed an occupied candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, an Amazon warehouse near Edwardsville, Illinois, and a nursing home in Monette, Arkansas.

The people of Kentucky, Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri need our help.

A strong storm system moving across the central and southern United States resulted in widespread severe weather across the region on December 10 and 11. The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed 61 tornadoes as of Dec. 20, and several long-track tornadoes. Chief among them was the Quad State Tornado, which lasted over 350 miles and over 8 hours.

Overall, the storms traveled from Arkansas towards the Great Lakes. The most significant damage occurred in Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, and Kentucky. Eight states reported tornadoes during the event. The NWS received nearly 400 reports of large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes across the area.

ABC News reports at least 93 people were killed across five states: 78 in Kentucky; six in Illinois; five in Tennessee, after the Associated Press reported an additional death on Saturday; two in Arkansas; and two in Missouri.

HOW TO HELP TORNADO VICTIMS:

The Carolina Weather Group will be donating our December proceeds from you, our Patreon supporters, to the tornado relief efforts. Your support of our show helps to make these efforts possible. Thank you.

More from the Carolina Weather Group:

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After 33 years forecasting the weather for Charlotte viewers of WBTV-TV, Chief Meteorologist Eric Thomas is retiring.

In a special sitdown interview with the Carolina Weather Group's Scotty Powell, Eric revisits his 3-decade career, including historic coverage of Hurricane Hugo, tornadoes, and other severe weather events. Eric also outlines the evolution of his career - from television into the age of streaming technology and social media.

From our archive: Hurricane Hugo anniversary special

Starting in 1988, Eric would oversee the creation and growth of Channel 3's functioning weather center as the Queen City's first degreed meteorologist on TV.

As Eric explains, his degree and career track can be attributed to his father: Who encouraged him to seek the weather education ahead of a plan to go into the United States military and flight school. Eric, who had always dreamed of becoming a commercial airline pilot, studied the atmosphere and meteorology in college. A medical limitation that caused him to fail out of basic training, landed him into his storied career as a forecaster.

Eric shares his own personal story of being given up for adoption and the loving family who took him in as their own. Eric has been paying that forward through local efforts in the Charlotte community to help families and children be united through adoption and fostering. Eric is also currently involved in the Carolina Radar project, a cooperative public-private initiative meant to help Charlotte solve its radar coverage issues.

From our archive: The Carolina Radar Project

In this unique opportunity to sit down and talk at WBTV studios, the Carolina Weather Group's Scotty Powell explains how Eric mentored him into a life of weather. And stay tuned until the very end for surprise messages from Eric's fellow meteorologist - colleagues and competitors alike.

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This week, we're revisiting the 2021 hurricane season with North Carolina's own Mark Sudduth of hurricanetrack.com. Mark travels the hemisphere recording outstanding videos of hurricanes and tropical storms.

Mark shares incredible footage from storms such as Elsa, Ida, Henri, and more. Plus hear Mark's inside story about how they capture the videos you see on The Weather Channel or in his independently produced films about the weather.

We're so pleased when guests like Mark come back year after year. Here's a look back at our 2018, 2019, and 2020 conversations with Mark.

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This week, a special edition of the Carolina Weather Group covering the wildfires burning on Pilot Mountain in Surry County, North Carolina, and Pogue Mountain in McDowell County, North Carolina.

Dry weather conditions combined with low humidity and gusty winds have led fire officials to issue a statewide ban on outdoor fires across North Carolina.

Plus breaking news learned just today on the cause of the Grindstone Fire in Pilot Mountain State Park. The North Carolina Forest Service has determined the cause of the fire to be an escaped campfire in an undesignated area. The cause of the Sauratown Mountain Fire, also near Pilot Mountain State Park, was previously determined to be an escaped campfire.

The Carolina Weather Group's Dan Whittaker shares video of roaring flames at Pilot Mountain State Park. WFMY TV meteorologist Christian Morgan joins us to explain how the weather conditions made it prime conditions for this fire to spread so easily.

Plus the Carolina Weather Group's Scotty Powell visits another wildfire, this one burning on Pogue Mountain in McDowell County, NC.

We also visit our 2020 conversation with the North Carolina Forest Service, who shared with us that 98% of wildfires in North Carolina are caused by humans. We'll also revisit tips they shared on how you can protect your home against the threat of wildfire.

We examine the weather forecast for both North Carolina and South Carolina to see if and when rain could return, and how much of an impact it could have on our ongoing drought.

SEE OUR 2020 CONVERSATION WITH THE NORTH CAROLINA FOREST SERVICE

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This week never-before-seen moments of our interview with James Spann from earlier this year. 

Spann, the chief meteorologist at ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, Alabama, and the host of the WeatherBrains podcast, joined us in March to discuss the tenth anniversary of the April 27, 2011 tornado outbreak in Alabama. WATCH THAT EPISODE: https://youtu.be/OkJFCWnxTSc

This week, you'll hear new moments with Spann as we talk about broadcasting during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how Spann has managed to become so ingrained in the community he loves to serve.

Then join CWG for a special live edition of the Carolina Weather Group featuring the latest on wildfires and a statewide burn ban in North Carolina. We'll discuss how the weather conditions are prime for fires. Plus we'll explore the possibility of rain in the forecast and what impact it'll have on our ongoing drought. SEE IT NOW: https://youtu.be/vuF3QqPyPRc

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A large, wind-driven fire is burning on Pilot Mountain, located northwest of Winston-Salem in North Carolina.

200 to 300 acres have burned, according to local reports, and what you're seeing here is new imagery from the Carolina Weather Group's Dan Whittaker, who spent the day on the ground there Sunday.

By nightfall Sunday, the fire was climbing up and towards the knob. You can see that here in this new post from Dan.

Dan will continue to send back photos and videos just as firefighters continue to try and get this fire under control.

The weather is not making things easier for firefighters.

Dry, windy conditions have allowed the fire to grow to this size and things don't get immediately better. A cold front means winds gusty around 20 mph Monday will continue to make fire containment a challenge.

You'll remember, we're dramatically behind on rain. Here's a look at the drought monitor. Combine that with low humidity, and you have prime conditions for fires.

You'll notice all of our video is recorded from the ground. That's because a no-fly zone has been issued by the FAA. Please, don't fly any drones in the area. Firefighters are using aircraft to aid in the firefighting efforts.

This same fire danger exists across much of the Carolinas. Now is not the time to be burning leaves or starting a campfire.

Matter of fact, I'm holding the latest adversary here from the National Weather Service and they warn, in no uncertain terms, "There is an increased threat of fires growing out of control on Monday due to a combination of low humidity around 30 percent or lower during the afternoon, northwest winds gusting above 30 mph, and dry fuels" - meaning leaves, brush, grasses and more.

The cause of the Pilot Mountain fire is not yet known. Luckily the Pilot Mountain State Park campground was safely evacuated without any injuries. The park remains closed for the immediate future.

We'll get to provide updates here on the Carolina Weather Group YouTube channel. You'll also be notified of a new episode for our weekly Wednesday night show. Our guest this week: James Spann, host of Weather Brains and chief meteorologist at ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, Alabama.

For now, from Charlotte, I'm James Brierton.

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Dr. Greg Postel is the hurricane and storm specialist at The Weather Channel. You'll often see his expert analysis and insight from the network's Lab during severe weather coverage.

Born in Philadelphia and raised in Princeton, New Jersey, Postel fell in love with the weather at an early age. His childhood of snow in the winter and coastal hazards in the summer, created a lifelong passion for atmospheric science.

He earned an M.S. and Ph.D from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Postel's strong interest in tropical weather led him to a post-doctoral scientist position in Wisconsin, where he studied the development of tropical cyclones from African wave disturbances, according to his Weather Channel bio. A decade-long stint in the weather derivatives sector-led Greg and his family to Kansas City, where he helped direct weather-risk management operations, focusing on weather predictability and forecast uncertainty.

On this week's episode of the Carolina Weather Group, Postel talks about tropical trends seen throughout our recent seasons, including the increasingly common rapid intensification of storms right before landfall. He also discusses whether the Saharian air layer helps or hurts tropical development.

Postel also shares his first counter with legendary Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore, who Postel first met hurricane chasing in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina years before the two would become cable colleagues.

This episode was available early to Carolina Weather Group supporters on Patreon. Join us today for just $1.

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This week, we're happy to welcome back Dr. Tracy Fanara. We're discussing oceanic dead zones and red tide. Plus, Dr. Tracy talks about her possible opportunities to visit space. She's in the running for projects involving both SpaceX and NASA.

And if that wasn't enough, we contemplate the big question: How do you go to the bathroom in space? ️

It's an episode of the Carolina Weather Group you won't want to miss. We had such a blast talking with Dr. Tracy that we couldn't fit it all into this half-hour. Join us at https://patreon.com/carolinaweathergroup to unlock even more for JUST a $1.

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The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale was developed in 1969 by Herbert Saffir and Bob Simpson and introduced to the public in 1973. Saffir developed the initial scale when he realized there was no simple scale for describing the effects of hurricanes. He devised a 1-5 scale based on the wind speeds of a storm and the expected damage to structures. Simpson collaborated and added on storm surge and pressure. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) eliminated the components of pressure and storm surge in 2009, transforming it into a pure wind scale known as the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. 

Athena Masson and William Gough think they have a better way to classify hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean and they call it the Masson-Gough Hurricane Scale. Their method combines previous components such as wind, barometric pressure, and storm surge as well as new potential elements that will measure an approaching tropical cyclone: size, precipitation, forward speed, and extratropical transition. 

READ MORE THEIR FINDINGS

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