WeatherBrains 1006: Farmer McNasty Pants
WeatherBrains Episode 1006 is now online (April 28th, 2025). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!
Tonight’s Guest WeatherBrain has a 25-year history in aviation. He is an experienced skydiver with over 700 jumps, a fixed-wing pilot with a seaplane rating, and a commercial hot air balloon pilot. His company, Champagne Sunrise, operates out of Meridian, Mississippi, and has safely taken hundreds of passengers on unforgettable balloon rides over the years. Beyond commercial operations, he uses Champagne Sunrise for community outreach, including delivering letters to the North Pole for Santa with local schools and donating tethered balloon rides to the local children’s museum. During the week, he serves as the General Manager of Peavey Electronics, one of the largest manufacturers of musical instruments and professional audio equipment in the world, with sales in over 136 countries. Additionally, he is a Board Member of the Balloon Federation of America (BFA). Fred Poole, welcome to WeatherBrains!
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@weatherbrains.com.
- Conditional severe weather threat in Nation’s Heartland (01:00)
- Potential issues for severe thunderstorms on May 1st (04:30)
- Differences between base jumping vs sky diving (11:30)
- Base level weather knowledge needed for hot air balloon piloting (20:30)
- What it is like to ride in seaplanes (29:50)
- Utilizing Windy.com in aviation and hot air balloon piloting (34:30)
- Balloon chasing before the days of GPS (44:30)
- Hot air balloon designs/artwork/decorations (49:45)
- Fabric/materials used in hot air balloons (51:30)
- On-site weather operations/protocol for hot air balloon festivals (53:00)
- Hot air balloon safety precautions (58:15)
- Typical hot air balloon clientele and standard flight preparation (01:03:07)
- Hot air balloon instrumentation (01:06:30)
- Unique rides (01:15:00)
- Balloon Federation of America (01:17:30)
- Communication and radio equipment (01:21:45)
- Saint Louis University loses meteorology program (01:30:00)
- Importance of past analogs of severe weather events for assimilating public forecasts (01:31:00)
- Bruce Jones/Midland Weather Radio (01:33:25)
- The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (No segment this week)
- This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:26:15)
- E-Mail Segment (01:27:30)
- and more!
Web Sites from Episode 1006:
Champagne Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Rides
Picks of the Week:
Fred Poole – Windy.com
Bruce Jones – La Plata Maryland April 28, 2002 Tornado Outbreak paper by Tim Marshall
James Aydelott – Image of QLCS TDS in western Wisconsin/a>
Jen Narramore – OTUS Project on X: NE Tornado Photo
Rick Smith – Out
Troy Kimmel – Out
Kim Klockow-McClain – Tom Petty – Free Fallin’
John Gordon – VWP Display and Calculations – VMP Paper by Jared Guyer and John Hart
John Gordon – Vertical Wind Profile SAT
Bill Murray – Out
James Spann – Using lightning to monitor the extreme impacts of landfalling hurricanes -NSSL News
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.
