Archive for February, 2023

WeatherBrains 890: A Lot Of Pucker Factor

WeatherBrains Episode 890 is now online (February 6th, 2023). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Our show tonight focuses on forecasting and defining snow squalls and what qualifies as a snow squall, why the public should pay attention, and the difficulty of the science of forecasting winter weather events.

Tonight’s Guest WeatherBrain is a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in State College, Pennsylvania.  He previously joined us back on show 877.  John Banghoff, great to see you again!

Our second Guest WeatherBrain is also a 30-year veteran meteorologist at NWS State College PA.  He’s the Lead Forecaster at NWS State College, and is passionate about winter storms and winter weather forecasting.  Greg DeVoir, welcome!

Our third Guest WeatherBrain is the Science and Operations Officer at the NWS in State College PA.  Michael Jurewicz, welcome!

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

• Early February New England cold snap (16:30)
• Forecasting snow squalls (29:00)
• Origin on the term “snow squall” (41:00)
• Hard stop alerts (52:30)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:34:22)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:35:38)
• National Weather Round-Up (01:28:30)
• E-Mail Segment (01:37:45)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 890:

Midland USA

2023 OSU Weather Symposium

Picks of the Week:

John Banghoff – Snow Squall Science

John Banghoff – Snow Squall FAQ

John Banghoff – Murgo signing off at WTAJ

Greg DeVouir – Snow leads to massive pileup in Wisconsin, dozens injured

Greg DeVouir – Wisconsin black ice video

Michael Jurewicz – 511 PA

Bruce Jones – The Tornado At St. Louis

James Aydelott – Helicorder (seismograph) imagery from an Oklahoma site showing the seismic waves from the catastrophic M7.8 earthquake in Turkey Sunday Evening

Jen Narramore – Gore Springs, MS F2 Tornado February 4, 1971

Rick Smith – Out

Neil Jacobs – Coast Guard Rescue Video

Troy Kimmel – NY Times Article on hyperbole by Matt Richtel

Troy Kimmel – NY Times Article on hyperbole by Matt Richtel

Troy Kimmel – FedEx plane narrowly misses crashing into Southwest Airlines jet at Austin airport

Troy Kimmel – Austin Mayor apologizes as city struggles to restore power

Kim Klockow-McClain – WxDash

Bill Murray – Blizzard of ’78

James Spann – Severe Weather Awareness Week

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.