WeatherBrains 263: Brian’s All Packed
WeatherBrains Episode 263 is now online (February 7, 2011). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE netcast audio program for you!
As if one round of WeatherBrains was not enough, we welcome Laura Velasquez back to the show tonight as Guest Panelist. She is an On-camera Meteorologist with WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, MI, handling the weekend weather duties for Storm Team 8. When she’s not covering weather, Laura is often running and staying active. She plans to run the Chicago Marathon in 2011. She also enjoys swimming, golfing, softball, traveling the region, and rollerblading.
Our guest WeatherBrain comes to us from the Great State of Texas. Frank Brody is the Chief of the National Weather Service Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG) at the Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston, TX. SMG provides unique world-class weather support to the US Human Spaceflight effort by providing weather forecasts and briefings to NASA personnel; providing pre and post spaceflight weather analyses and documentation; advising the JSC community of adverse weather impacting the JSC complex; serving as meteorological consultants to the JSC community for current and future spaceflight endeavors; and, developing tools and techniques to enhance SMG’s weather support and to improve the science of meteorology. SMG strives for quality, accuracy, timeliness, customer satisfaction, and safety. SMG staffing currently consists of one Meteorologist-In-Charge – that’s Frank – 5 lead forecasters, 2 techniques development meteorologists, and an administrative assistant. A small team of MSOC (Mission Support Operations Contract) software and hardware engineers support SMG’s McIDAS based weather computer system.
And in keeping with the international flair of WeatherBrains, we have a special correspondent joining us from “down under.” Neil Abraham from Brisbane, Australia, will be joining in with a report on the impacts of Cyclone Yasi which struck Northern Queensland this past week. Yasi struck Australia as a very powerful storm with wind gusts to 184 mph and storm surge to nearly 30 feet. The readiness of Australians for Yasi was in stark contrast to cyclone Tracy, which struck Darwin on Christmas Day, 1974, and took many people by surprise, killing 65 and destroying more than 70 percent of the city’s homes. News reports indicated no deaths or serious injuries from Yasi.
Other discussions in this weekly podcast include topics like:
Tune in for the next installment of “Where is Our Mail Bag Officer,” the never ending story of an analog man in a digital age!
From The Weather Center:
WeatherBrains 101: Meteorology is a lot of science, but everyone is capable of observing the weather. Hence the existence of oodles of weather folklore. This week the science diverts just slightly to one of those folklore sayings to examine if there is any truth to it. Don’t forget that you can send your weather questions to questions at weather brains dot com.
TWIWH: Bill Murray looks back at the week of February 8th. Snow, cold, and even tornadoes make some of the headlines.
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 263:
Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG)
Picks of the Week:
Dr. Tim Coleman – Slant-wise Convection
JB Elliott – That Weather Show – Dual Polarization Technology
Bill Murray – Chicago Blizzard Comparisons
Brian Peters – Satellite View of Mega Winter Storm
Kevin Selle – Hurricane Baby
James Spann – WeatherGreekPro
Laura Velasquez – Snow-zilla
The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like JB Elliott, Kevin Selle, Dr. Tim Coleman, Bill Murray, and Brian Peters. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating netcast about weather.
