Under the Big Umbrella with Matt Zaffino

Matt Zaffino recently went on a backpacking trip and started feeling guilty about some of the necessary evils that his group had to deal with (due to COVID-19) while heading out on a 7-hour drive. Matt dishes on why you should NOT have climate guilt during these unprecedented times.

The North Cascades of Washington has been described as some of the best wilderness in the lower 48. It can be hard to access because the valleys are deep, the mountains are high, remote, and steep. All of this makes it one of my favorite places to find solitude and deep wilderness experience. I’ve seen wolverine in the North Cascades. I’ve gone days without seeing anyone but my backpacking or climbing partner. I’ve fought through devils club and nettles so thick I’d wished I’d had a machete. The weather can be, ok let’s be honest, the weather can be and often is, absolutely miserable. 

So, this is not a mountain range where you want to leave your sleeping bag IN THE CAR. Which is exactly what I did on this trip.

Matt Zaffino talks about all of the great celestial events we will be able to see this summer in Oregon and riffs on some new info on ski slopes in the PNW. Yes. Matt is talking about skiing in the summer. 

Matt Zaffino has a look at the hot year we have been having and then breaks down why the name change of a hockey team will bring attention to climate change.

Get schooled on those beautiful noctilucent clouds that we get to see this time of year.

SPOILER ALERT: Those are tenuous cloud-like phenomena in the upper atmosphere of Earth. They consist of ice crystals and are only visible during astronomical twilight. 

Matt also has all you need to know about the Perseid meteor showers and when you will be able to see them best and has info on when you can look up and see the Starlink satellite (you'll hear why this is so cool, especially if you have internet access of any kind). 

Meteorologist Matt Zaffino offers tips and thoughts on camping in Oregon and the PNW during the coronavirus pandemic.

May 18th, 2020 will mark 40 years since the Mount St. Helens eruption that rocked the PNW. Matt Zaffino shares his special memories and favorite moments of climbing, biking, and simply enjoying the majestic beast known as Mount St. Helens.

Let's chat about time, and survival in time, because a lot of us feel like we're just surviving this time of the coronavirus. I thought it'd be fun to look back at some other examples of survival and periods of long time where people have been left to their own devices. It's been two months since many of us began this new reality of life in quarantine, work from home, home school, not seeing friends and family, and all the other restrictions on life as we used to know it, and honestly, it's getting a little old, right? I mean, cabin fever, the urge to socialize and connect, are becoming stronger and stronger the longer this lasts. I mean, a person can only persevere on video chats and Netflix for so long, right?

Matt Zaffino is a little miffed by an article that has been circulating around his circle of science friends that says that the Oregon lockdown is what is hurting our economy, not the coronavirus. Find out how data prediction models are like buying a house.

Matt Zaffino has a peek into your 2020 spring/summer forecast. Find out if the temps in April dictate the temps in the summer.