WeatherBrains

WeatherBrains Episode 119 is now online (May 5, 2008). THE netcast audio program for people who are absolutely passionate about everything weather.

After the late episode last week, we finally got the weather geeks back on track this week. Now that is an oxymoron if there ever was one. When has this group ever been on track? Hopefully, another riveting episode about weather!!

The gang talks about Typhoon Nargis which struck Burma (Myanmar) on the Bay of Bengal. The death toll may go beyond 15,000.

Plus Brian Peters talks about what it is like to fly through a hurricane as he did with Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

And some recapping of the tornado season for 2008 so far. Could the total number of tornadoes in the US exceed 1600 this year?

Our show sponsor is Stratus Station. Stratus Station has the best combination of equipment for live views of the weather with fully functional cameras with a complete weather station. Be sure to check out their products. If watching the horizon is important to you, look to Stratus Station for an affordable way to do just that.

Mailbag: And James Spann puts his hand into our mail bag to review feedback from listeners. But James has fallen down on the job reading only one email this week.

From The Weather Center:

WeatherBrains 101: You hear about those pressure levels all the time like 500 millibars or 850 millibars? So what’s up with constant pressure surfaces? That’s the topic for tonight’s engaging segment with the slightly dulling professor.

This Week in Weather History: Bill Murray takes a look at some weather events for this week. And you may recall one of them - an airship crash you probably ran across in your history class - but did you know that weather played a role. And what about your own tornado warning dog? These and other highlights in TWIWH.

Listener Surveys: Okay, we continue to drive this topic into the ground, but we really do like to hear from you. Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to fill out the Listener Survey. The survey takes just a minute or two to complete and provides us with an opportunity to learn where you are and hear your thoughts and comments on the show. Click here to take the survey.

Web Sites from Episode 119:

Serious about the weather? Stratus Station, our sponsor, has a great product for monitoring live weather for almost anyone from television stations to emergency management.

NWS Little Rock February 5, 2008, Tornadoes

Joint Typhoon Warning Center

James Spann corrals the usual collection of weather geeks including JB Elliott and Brian Peters for this look at the field of weather in the latest episode of WeatherBrains.

We love to hear from you! To leave a recorded message, call 1-888-247-8627. Some calls may be used in future episodes. Also, feel free to post comments to the site and send us an email at question@weatherbrains.com.

WeatherBrains Episode 118 is now online (April 30, 2008). This is THE netcast audio program for people who absolutely love everything weather.

Yup! We are a tad late with the latest episode thanks to trouble scheduling the weather geeks of WeatherBrains. So please excuse us as we finally manage to get together to talk weather.

Our show sponsor is Stratus Station. Stratus Station has the best equipment for combining live views of the weather with fully functional cameras with a complete weather station. Be sure to check out their products. When watching the horizon is important to you, go to Stratus Station.

Virginia Tornadoes: The WeatherBrains crew makes a call in the dark and manages to get Brian Jackson at the NWS office in Wakefield, VA, who brings us up to date on the tornado outbreak in Southeast Virginia. The warning process worked very well in getting warnings out ahead of a supercell thunderstorm. Lead times were about 15 minutes on the Suffolk tornado which was rated an EF3. And our own Kevin Selle talks about the tornado in the same area in 1993.

The meteorological community noted a big loss last week when Dr. George Cressman, tenth Director of the NWS, passed away at 1:30 pm on Saturday, April 19. Dr. Cressman was NWS Director from 1965 to 1979. It was during his tenure, in 1970, that NOAA was formed. Dr. George Cressman was the first Director of the Numerical Meteorological Center, a position he held from 1954-1964. In 1965, Dr. Cressman was named Chief of the Weather Bureau and supervised the transition of the Weather Bureau to the National Weather Service following the creation of NOAA in 1970. A memorial service is planned on Saturday, May 10, at 2 pm at the Chapel of the National Lutheran Home in Rockville, MD.

Mailbag: And James Spann puts his hand into our mail bag to review feedback from listeners. And believe it or not, we got an email from the UK and Australia!

From The Weather Center:

WeatherBrains 101: How the temperature changes as you go up in the atmosphere is called the lapse rate. So this week, our topic will be a discussion of what that is and how it can be important.

This Week in Weather History: Bill Murray takes a look at the active weather for this week which included high wind and flooding which affected some trains and some ball games.

Listener Surveys: Okay, we continue to drive this topic into the ground, but we really do like to hear from you. Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to fill out the Listener Survey. The survey takes just a minute or two to complete and provides us with an opportunity to learn where you are and hear your thoughts and comments on the show. Click here to take the survey.

Web Sites from Episode 118:

Serious about the weather? Stratus Station, our sponsor, has a great product for monitoring live weather for almost anyone from television stations to emergency management.

Wakefield NWS Site

James Spann corrals the usual collection of weather geeks including JB Elliott and Brian Peters for this look at the field of weather in the latest episode of WeatherBrains.

We love to hear from you! To leave a recorded message, call 1-888-247-8627. Some calls may be used in future episodes. Also, feel free to post comments to the site and send us an email at question@weatherbrains.com.

WeatherBrains Episode 117 is now online (April 22, 2008). This is THE netcast audio program for people who absolutely love everything weather.

Our show sponsor is Stratus Station. Stratus Station has the best equipment for combining live views of the weather with fully functional cameras with a complete weather station. Be sure to check out their products. When watching the horizon is important to you, go to Stratus Station.

Chaser Streaming Video Something new on the Internet is video streaming from storm chasers. Tonight’s episode features a chat with Kory Hartman with Severe Studios, a source for live chaser videos. Speaking to us from South Dakota, Kory fills us in on what Severe Studios is. Their focus for the web site is the ability to stream video from weather spotters.

Mailbag: And James Spann puts his hand into our mail bag to review feedback from listeners. And believe it or not, we got an email from the UK and Australia!

From The Weather Center:

WeatherBrains 101: Out with the shelf clouds and in with the pouchy clouds. Okay, okay, the official term is Mammatus clouds. Taking another episode to peek at the sky, our illustrious professor takes a look at some of the most menacing and picturesque clouds that sometimes appear with thunderstorms. But what do they mean?

Listener Surveys: Okay, we continue to drive this topic into the ground, but we really do like to hear from you. Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to fill out the Listener Survey. The survey takes just a minute or two to complete and provides us with an opportunity to learn where you are and hear your thoughts and comments on the show. Click here to take the survey.

Web Sites from Episode 117:

Serious about the weather? Stratus Station, our sponsor, has a great product for monitoring live weather for almost anyone from television stations to emergency management.

Severe Studios

Kory Hartman

Kory’s Blog

Kestrel Pocket Weather Trackers

James Spann corrals the usual collection of weather geeks including JB Elliott and Brian Peters for this look at the field of weather in the latest episode of WeatherBrains.

We love to hear from you! To leave a recorded message, call 1-888-247-8627. Some calls may be used in future episodes. Also, feel free to post comments to the site and send us an email at question@weatherbrains.com.

WeatherBrains Episode 116 is now online (April 15, 2008). This is THE netcast audio program for people who absolutely love everything weather.

Our show sponsor is Stratus Station. Stratus Station has the best equipment for combining live views of the weather with fully functional cameras with a complete weather station. Be sure to check out their products. When watching the horizon is important to you, go to Stratus Station.

Working a TV Weather Shift What a turn around as we record the show during the morning. And James is at home while Brian works at the ABC 3340 station. We discuss the trials of working a profession that requires 24-hours of operation. JB discusses some lonely callers who called a weather office to chat or play the piano.

Mailbag: And James Spann puts his hand into our mail bag to review feedback from listeners. Tough to do when you have another active week of weather.

From The Weather Center:

WeatherBrains 101: Shelf clouds - can you get one at Lowe’s or Home Depot? Probably not. But that never keeps the illustrious professor from tackling a topic. So we delve into some of the aspects of shelf clouds and what makes them tick.

Listener Surveys: Okay, we’ve driven this topic into the ground, but we really do like to hear from you. Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to fill out the Listener Survey. The survey takes just a minute or two to complete and provides us with an opportunity to learn where you are and hear your thoughts and comments on the show. Click here to take the survey.

Web Sites from Episode 116:

Serious about the weather? Stratus Station, our sponsor, has a great product for monitoring live weather for almost anyone from television stations to emergency management.

SPC Risk Definitions

Bahamas Weather Conference Debate Scroll down to the bottom and look for the title “Two Fronts Collide: A Panel on Global Warming.”

James Spann corrals the usual collection of weather geeks including JB Elliott and Brian Peters for this look at the field of weather in the latest episode of WeatherBrains.

We love to hear from you! To leave a recorded message, call 1-888-247-8627. Some calls may be used in future episodes. Also, feel free to post comments to the site and send us an email at question@weatherbrains.com.