Weather Geeks

Guest:  Ada Monzón

Introduction:

The 2017 Hurricane Season was a memorable one for many in the Atlantic basin with 17 named storms, 10 hurricanes, and 6 major hurricanes. But, for Puerto Rico, it was especially memorable because of Hurricane Maria. The category 4 hurricane with winds of 155 mph pushed ashore near Yabucoa, Puerto Rico and became the deadliest and costliest hurricane in Puerto Rico’s history. Chief Meteorologist Ada Monzon covered the storm’s progression, landfall, and the lasting aftermath. Today we’ll explore the communication challenges she and others faced during and after the storm.

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Guest: Neil Sahota

Introduction:

When we think about artificial intelligence, or A.I., what comes to mind for many folks are robots or even IBM’s Watson, which went head to head with some of Jeopardy’s greatest contestants on television among other things.. But what might not come to mind is how this branch of science and technology is being used to study weather and climate, and how these affect the global population. Our guest today is Neil Sahota, an IBM Master Inventor and United Nations Artificial Intelligence subject matter expert and we’re going to talk about how A.I. is being used to help study and better our planet.

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Guest: Mike Chesterfield

Introduction:

Watch.. Warning… Advisory.. Special Weather Statement. For a lot of folks, especially the general public, weather alerts can get a bit confusing. In fact, an “Advisory” is cited as causing the most confusion among the public with a good portion thinking that an “advisory” is a downgrade from a “watch”, which isn’t the case. Our guest today is The Weather Channel’s own Senior Director of Weather Presentation, Mike Chesterfield. Mike’s been on the podcast before to discuss Immersive Realty and Weather Presentation at the Weather Channel, but today we’re going to dive into these changes that will be occurring with the National Weather Service’s alert system. 

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Guest: Dr. Susan Jasko

The purpose of a weather alert, whether it be a watch or warning is to reach the most people and save the most lives; but what if the message of those alerts isn't clear or causes confusion? That has been a concern of Meteorologists and Communication experts, and what sparked the reason for updating our current system. Our guest today is Dr. Susan Jasko, Senior Research Scientist at The University of Alabama . Today Dr. Jasko is here to talk about the importance of the communication side of the changes to the National Weather Service’s alert system.

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Guest: Mark Torregrossa

Introduction:

    The Great Lakes account for 84% of North America’s surface freshwater, and millions of people across the region depend on these Lakes for water supplies, industry, travel, and recreation.  In recent years, these Lakes have seen a wide range of extremes from record high water levels to sudden, sharp declines, and it has been concerning local residents and officials.  Mark Terragrossa serves as the Chief Meteorologist for MLive.com in Michigan, and he’s been closely following the water levels in recent years.  We’ll discuss what factors may be at play here and how these changes could impact local communities and ecosystems.  

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Guest: Manuel De La Torre Juarez

On February 18, 2021, the world watched in amazement as the next generation of Mars Rovers set foot on the Red Planet.  Mars Perseverance is the vehicle that will venture out into the Martian desert to help create “the first weather network on another planet.” To explore the mission details of NASA’s latest rover, we’re sitting down with one of the experts, Dr. Manuel De La Torre Juarez of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We’ll break down the suite of instruments on board that will help determine the day-today weather conditions and how those conditions may affect the future of human exploration. Get ready for an “out of this world” geek-out... 

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Guest: Chris Vagasky

Introduction: The joy that fills sports fans' hearts as they loudly sing, “Take me out to the ballgame…” is almost palpable, but one thing that may not come to their mind is the threat lightning poses. We’ve seen the images of lighting bolts racing across the sky as fans hunker down in their seats, and this reminds us how deadly this phenomenon can be. Meteorologist Chris Vagasky, who is the Lightning Applications Manager at Vaisala, has dug through the data and found some shocking statistics for some of the league’s most popular stadiums. We’ll break down who’s most at risk for lighting and discuss how his research is being used to improve MLB’s weather safety policies. Get your peanuts & join us for the discussion...

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Guest: Dr. Kerry Emanuel

Climate science and threats from climate change have been hot topics of conversation among the public as well as business and political leaders. But there seems to be a disparity in how climate scientists view what’s causing this change and how the public understands and feels about the issue. This ultimately hampers efforts to improve the scientific field around climate and to develop effective solutions and policies to mitigate risks. Our guest today is working to bridge that gap in understanding. Kerry Emanual is the author of Climate Science and Climate Risk: A Primer. We’ll discuss what the motivation was for authoring this book on climate science as well as what he learned from the process and how we can help promote understanding on climate science and how it’s affecting our world.

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Guest: Brian McNoldy, University of Miami

A lot of us have grown accustomed to extreme weather events after watching them occur year after year, like tornadoes and hurricanes. But underneath it all, we know our earth is changing. Our hurricanes may look and feel the same way they did 100 years ago, but our rising sea levels are making the impacts to human life and property much worse. Senior Research Associate at the University of Miami Brian McNoldy has been studying this relationship and how it will affect one of the country’s largest population centers in Miami, Florida.

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