WeatherBrains 933: A Unicorn Puked On It

WeatherBrains Episode 933 is now online (December 4th, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Tonight’s show is all about fire warnings and wildfire forecasting.

Our first Guest WeatherBrain is the Science and Operations Officer with the NWS Norman.  He’s previously worked in Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland and Tulsa NWS.  He recently received the Charles L Mitchell Award for his years of work in fire weather forecasting.  Todd Lindley, thanks for joining us tonight.

Forecasters must look to ground for wildfires, researcher says | The Journal Record

Second Guest WeatherBrain is the Deputy Fire Management Chief of the Oklahoma Forestry Services.  He’s responsible for both fighting fires on the ground as well as prescribed fire management.  He’s also part of the Northern Rockies Incident Management Team One.  Drew Daily, thanks for being a part of the show.

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.

  • What is a Deputy Fire Management Chief?  (09:10)
  • NWS Fire Weather Program (13:30)
  •  Current state of fire prediction (17:45)
  • What are fuels and how do we acquire that information and account for it?  (23:00)
  • Red Flag Thread Index (27:00)
  • Role of media in wildfire preparation and awareness (36:00)
  • Invasive species/Red Cedar and fire threat (40:00)
  • Outside variables for controlled burns (45:30)
  • Diurnal range of energy release component (58:00)
  • Satellites and wildfire detection (01:02:00)
  • What is column collapse?  (01:30:00)
  • The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:41:27)
  • This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:43:30)
  • National Weather Round-Up (01:49:30)
  • E-Mail Segment (01:45:30)
  • and more!

Web Sites from Episode 933:

Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 1

Picks of the Week:

Drew Daily – Oklahoma Wildfire Situation Report

Todd Lindley – NOAA GSL Fire Weather Testbed

James Aydelott – Fire Mike Tomlin on X

Jen Narramore – The Immeasurable Cost of the December 10-11th 2021 Tornado Outbreak

Rick Smith – Wildfire Weather Safety

Neil Jacobs – Octopus tornado on YouTube

Troy Kimmel – NTSB Docket open on Feb 2023 FedEx/Southwest Airlines Near Miss at KAUS

Troy Kimmel – NYT Investigation of Air Traffic Controllers Pushed to the Brink

Kim Klockow-McClain – Mesonet OK-FIRE

Bill Murray – Foghorn

James Spann – National Reflectivity Mosaic

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

 

 

WeatherBrains 932: Okies for Hokies

WeatherBrains Episode 932 is now online (November 27th, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

 

Tonight’s first WeatherBrain is the suggestion of listener Edward Shaw and is a previous alumni of the show.  He’s a professor in the Department of Geography at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg.  He is a native of Roanoke Virginia and studied environmental science as an undergraduate before completing his graduate work through the Department of Geosciences at Mississippi State. Connections to Virginia Tech spread through his family as five other family members completed either undergraduate or graduate degrees at the university. Before joining the Department of Geography’s new meteorology degree program, Dave spent several years teaching a dual-enrollment Applied Meteorology course for accelerated high school students and undergraduates through Virginia Tech’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dave Carroll, welcome to the show.

David Carroll | Geography | Virginia Tech

Our second Guest WeatherBrain is an associate professor of geography and meteorology at Ball State University in Muncie.  He received his meteorology degree with honors from Penn State and an advanced degree in geography from Syracuse University.  David Call, welcome to the show.

David Call

Also stopping by as our Guest Panelist is Stephanie Zick, an assistant professor and core faculty member for Virginia Tech’s B. S. meteorology program.  She’s a tropical weather expert as well as numerical weather prediction and model forecast verification expert who joined Virginia Tech University in 2016.  Thanks for joining us!

Stephanie Zick

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.

  • Bringing the community into a University meteorology program (06:45)
  • Superstorm of Thanksgiving 1950 (09:30)
  • Ball State storm chasing program (24:25)
  • Deeper look at geography program at Virginia Tech (50:00)
  • AMS/NWA chapters (01:07:30)
  • The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:47:50)
  • This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:49:40)
  • National Weather Round-Up
  • E-Mail Segment (No segment this week)
  • and more!

Web Sites from Episode 932:

“Superstorm 1950: The Greatest Simultaneous Blizzard, Ice Storm, Windstorm, and Cold Outbreak of the Twentieth Century” by David A Call

Picks of the Week:

David Call – “Buckeye Blizzard: Ohio and the 1950 Thanksgiving storm” by Roger Pickenpaugh

David Call – “White Hurricane: A Great Lakes November Gale and America’s Deadliest Maritime Disaster” by David G Brown

James Aydelott – Early season NW Oklahoma snow preliminary totals

Jen Narramore – Out

Rick Smith – Out

Neil Jacobs – Out

Troy Kimmel – The Tornado Project Online

Kim Klockow-McClain – Out

Bill Murray – Foghorn

James Spann – Fallstreak hole over Alabama photos on X

James Spann – Chris Elick on X announcement about his research on perceptions of weather-based pain forecasts

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