Tonight's Guest WeatherBrain is one of the most respected voices in the field of broadcast meteorology. He celebrated his 45th anniversary with WGN-TV in August 2023, and officially retired from WGN-TV at the end of February 2024.  Tom Skilling, it's great to see you tonight!  

Meteorologist and Former Director of NWS (2013-2022) Louis Uccellini also joins us tonight as a Guest Panelist. He was also director of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and served as the Permanent Representative of the United States for the World Meteorological Organization.  Thanks for joining us tonight, Louis!   

Joining us as Guest Panelist is a brilliant researcher and recently tenured Professor in the Department of Earth, Atmosphere, and Environment at Northern Illinois University. His research umbrella covers a wide range of topics related to severe weather, particularly the relationship between severe convective storms and climate change by utilizing dynamical downscaling.  Dr. Victor Gencini, welcome to the show!

Also, Bruce Jones joins us to discuss the importance of NOAA Weather Radio and its integration in order to save lives.  Welcome back, Bruce!

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: [email protected].

• New Panelist Introduction (05:15)
• 1990 Plainfield tornado tragedy (18:00)
• Lack of feasibility to privatize government warning systems for severe weather (25:00)
• Writing on the wall with budget cuts/staffing reductions and concerns for working in Government Sector/NOAA (41:00)
• Losing younger scientists to the private sector (55:45)
• November 17th, 2013 Washington, Illinois Tornado (01:00:30)
• Long-term budget concerns (01:05:00)
• Importance of not losing upper-air data when assimilating a public forecast (01:08:00)
• Development of global radiosonde network (01:20:00)
• Final thoughts on uncertain times in the industry (02:01:00)
• Inexpensive cost to taxpayers for NOAA's forecasts and services (01:53:00)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (No segment this week)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:54:57)
• E-Mail Segment 
• National Weather Round-Up
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 1001:

Midland Weather Radio

Victor Gensini, PhD, CCM on X

Tom Skilling on X

Picks of the Week:

Bruce Jones - Foghorn

James Aydelott - James Aydelott on X: "Twisters" Sequel?

Jen Narramore - Germantown Regional History and Genealogy Center

Rick Smith - 2024 Severe Weather Year In Review

Troy Kimmel - Foghorn

Kim Klockow-McClain - Foghorn

John Gordon - Foghorn

Bill Murray - Foghorn

James Spann - NSSL Severe Convection and Climate Research

The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like Troy Kimmel, Bill Murray, Rick Smith, James Aydelott, Jen Narramore, John Gordon, and Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating podcast about weather.