Weather Wise

In this week's episode we welcome our newest Meteorologist, Jake Grant, to the WMDT weather team! Jake chats with Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek about his local ties to the region and what fueled his passion for all things weather. Jake joined us at the beginning of June and will be serving as our morning and noon meteorologist, Monday-Friday on 47abc. 

After more than 5 years of service forecasting for the Delmarva Peninsula, Meteorologist Ulises Garcia signs off for the final time on the Weather Wise Podcast. As he prepares to embark on the next step of his career, Ulises reminisces with Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek about his time at WMDT and reveals the details of his new endeavors in the Midwest!

Delmarva had an array of air quality in the past week, spanning thick wildfire smoke from fires in eastern Canada, abnormally dry air for this time off the year, and a surge of summer-like humidity. Meteorologist Ulises Garcia and Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek talk about what caused the wildfire smoke to move south along the east coast and how the weather pattern is shifting into a more typical late spring setup.

Kicking off the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season, the first named storm - Arlene - is already in the books! In eastern Canada, the lack of rain and warm temperatures have created long-lived wildfires with thick smoke inundating areas along the east coast. Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Ulises Garcia discuss the impact of the smoke and air quality concerns for Delmarva.

Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek & Meteorologist Ulises Garcia discuss how the coastal low that impacted the Carolinas; played a role to the weather on Delmarva too for Memorial Day. Rich & Ulises mention what NOAA is forecasting this season in their Atlantic hurricane outlook. 

May has been a much cooler (and wetter) month compared to April across the Mid-Atlantic. Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Ulises Garcia look at the current patterns as we close in on the Holiday Weekend. Wildfire smoke from western Canada has been making for some nice sunrises and sunsets along the east coast, plus a dangerous Typhoon closes in on Guam.

Meteorologists Rich Wirdzek and Ulises Garcia recap the rain from this past Saturday; along with talking about the tropics, snowfall & a special weather event that occurs in the Great Lakes. 

After a very warm and drought stricken April, May has thus far been a much more typical weather setup with a back and forth between cool, wet days and nice, sunny days. Meteorologist Ulises Garcia and Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek discuss the current pattern and how recent rains have allowed much of Delmarva to recover from drought conditions while other parts of the Mid-Atlantic remain abnormally dry or in moderate drought. Dry conditions have also plagued areas in the Midwest leading to severe thunderstorms that have created large dust storms typically found in the desert southwest.

This past weekend brought several inches of much needed rain to Delmarva, reversing the course of moderate drought that had taken over much of the Peninsula. Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Ulises Garcia discuss rain totals and explore how a snowfall deficit in the winter months enhanced drought conditions into early Spring. Plus, with the weekend rains came severe weather in the region, as a strong tornado ripped through the city of Virginia Beach early Sunday evening. 

A major shift in the overall temperature and precipitation pattern is occurring across the Mid-Atlantic after several weeks of above normal temperatures and dry conditions. Cool and wet days lie ahead as we round out the final days of the month as Meteorologist Ulises Garcia and Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek discuss what to expect heading into May. They also talk about a rare glimpse of the Northern Lights in Delmarva!