Archive for February, 2007

WeatherBrains 57: Gore’s “clever rhetoric”

WeatherBrains Episode 57 is now on the server (February 26, 2007)

(Want to play WeatherBrains right away? Click the streaming player to the right!)

In this week’s Episode:

“They like to be green” — Reaction to Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth winning an Academy Award from Patrick J. Michaels, a Senior Fellow of Cato Institute and members of the WeatherBrains crew;

– Sellout success — James Spann and Brian Peters report big response to an Alabama project to make alarm-equipped Weather Radios available to the public at a low price;

– From dust to blue sky…Kevin Selle provides a pictorial update of how much Texas weather can change in just 24 hours;

Visible satellite picture of dust on Saturday, February 24…

Visible Satellite

View from the ground on Saturday…

Dust Brains

Same branch…next day…

Blue Brains

This Week in Weather History: Bill Murray tells the tragic story of the Spokane Express, a train whose passengers were doomed because of a massive winter storm;

LL Bean Keeping warm in the cold — How do manufacturers test the winter jackets you wear to make sure they’ll stand up to the cold? Kevin hooks up with L. L. Bean to find out;

– Talking computers: What happens when David Black gets some mischievous ideas when he finds a website that turns text into voice? Nobody is safe!

Websites featured in this Episode:

– Patrick J. Michaels’ book about the distortion of the global warming issue;

Cato Institute

South Texas Record Christmas snowfall book

Join James Spann, Kevin Selle, Brian Peters, Bill Murray, J.B. Elliott and David Black…

WeatherBrains

WeatherBrains 56: If you knew Suomi…

WeatherBrains Episode 56 is now on the server (February 19, 2007)

(Want to play WeatherBrains right away? Click the streaming player to the right!)

In this week’s Episode:

Dangerous weather shaping up for the February 24th weekend for residents in the southern U.S.;

Meteorologists with The Weather Company discuss the potential hazards from what’s expected to be a potent storm system taking shape across the western U.S.;

“Develop a plan now, and forget the sirens” — James Spann warns residents to think ahead of time about what to do and where to go if severe weather strikes;

“A Weather Radio for every home” — James announces an offer of new alarm-equipped Midland Weather Radios for $29.95;

“Hogwash” — The National Weather Service draws criticism over its decision to change a key part of Severe Weather Awareness Week in Alabama;

A WeatherBrains Extra:Dr. Suomi

“The Father of Satellite Meteorology”

— We look at the contributions to meteorology and science by Dr. Verner Suomi, a researcher considered ahead of his time, and who came up with an ingenious idea for capturing weather data from satellites while watching a football game; Click here to see a photo gallery of Dr. Suomi;

“A sign of the times” — More and more people are turning to the Internet for severe weather information;

An updated website for weather fans: Kevin Selle details upgrades to the WeatherBrains website;

Jason Simpson tells the story behind why Kevin Selle is also known as “The Hat”…

This Week in Weather History: Bill Murray looks at the close call Christopher Columbus had with bad weather, and how it almost changed world history;

Websites featured in this Episode:

Fresh weather information is always available from the ABC 33/40 Weather Blog;

The University of Wisconsin-Space Science and Engineering Center (where Verner Suomi did much of his work);

The Storm Prediction Center constantly monitors severe weather threats in the U.S.

Join James Spann, Kevin Selle, Brian Peters, Bill Murray, J.B. Elliott, Jason Simpson and David Black…