Weather Wise

Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Sloane Haines are back this week talking about Hurricane Fiona and the devastation brought to the island of Puerto Rico almost 5 years after recovering from Hurricane Maria. Much of Fiona's impact to Puerto Rico was from catastrophic flash flooding, and they compare this scenario to other tropical systems that were notable for extreme rainfall rather than wind damage.

Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Ulises Garcia talk about the latest rainfall to occur across Delmarva and how this is helping to curtail the expanding drought across the peninsula. Also, with the start of the pro football season, they discuss a few of the games that were most impacted by the weather.

Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Ulises Garcia talk about the latest drought status across Delmarva and how rainfall this week will potentially bring some reprieve to parched areas. They also take a look at a continued active scenario in the tropics as the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season approaches.

As we head into the peak of the Atlantic Hurricane season, activity has quickly increased after an unprecedented lull of action for most of the season. Meteorologist Sloane Haines and Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek explain the expectations of peak season in the tropics and what this may mean for the east coast heading into Labor Day Weekend.  They also discuss the latest drought monitor for Delmarva. 

30 years ago, Hurricane Andrew made landfall near Miami in South Florida as a powerful Category 5 storm. Similar to the current trend in 2022, Andrew was the first named storm of an extremely quiet 1992 Atlantic hurricane season, and to this day serves as a reminder that the tropics can produce devastating storms regardless of how inactive a season has trended. Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Sloane Haines talk about how the destruction of Andrew brought about important infrastructure changes along coastal areas and even in areas such as the Midwest. They also discuss the expanding drought conditions in parts of Delmarva and how tropical systems play a role in bringing necessary rains to the Mid-Atlantic region in late summer.

Expanding on last week's episode, Meteorologist Ulises Garcia and Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek review the official storm survey of the Smith Island tornado from the National Weather Service Office in Wakefield, VA. They take a deeper dive into the rare conditions that led to the development of the tornado and why it was such a difficult event to track in real-time.

Meteorologist Ulises joins Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek to talk about the recent Smith Island tornado. The event was unique from many perspectives, as they examine the atypical atmospheric setup that was in place over Delmarva that afternoon and how rare it is to have a tornado of such strength form under those specific conditions. 

With July in the books, Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek and Meteorologist Sloane Haines look back at how hot the month was for Delmarva along with precipitation totals. Looking forward, they examine temperature and precipitation trends for the month of August. They also look into a very quiet pattern in the tropics and what it might mean for the rest of the Hurricane season.

Meteorologist Ulises Garcia joins Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek to more things "heat" related, including the end of the heat wave across Delmarva and why nighttime low temperatures have been so warm. Even as Delmarva gets a break from the extreme heat, many other locations across the world are still dealing with dangerously hot conditions.

Meteorologist Sloane Haines joins Chief Meteorologist Rich Wirdzek to talk about the extreme heat that has gripped much of the country and Europe and how Delmarva is expected to be impacted by the sweltering conditions for several days. Plus, what's the difference between a "micro"burst and a "macro"burst? Rich and Sloane explain how the latter was responsible for extensive damage in several locations last Tuesday evening. Also, they examine the flash flooding event that had cars in parts of Salisbury stranded in flooded roads this past weekend.