WeatherBrains 91: A Chat With Roy Leep

WeatherBrains Episode 91 is now online (October 22, 2007). This is THE netcast audio program for people who love everything weather.

In this week’s Episode:

Chatting with Roy Leep: Roy Leep joins the Weather Brains crew in a casual chat about meteorology – where it has been and where it is headed – with special emphasis on television meteorology. Roy was chief meteorologist at WTVT in Tampa for 40 years. He actually joined WTVT in 1957 and became their chief meteorologist in 1959. That same year Roy inaugurated Florida’s first radar unit installed exclusively for a television station. In many markets, weather is given two minutes at the end of a half-hour newscast. At WTVT, Roy and his associates personally prepared all reports, and were afforded a full six to seven minutes of air time, and more if severe weather threatened. Roy was usually pretty serious with his on-air demeanor, and that set him apart from his competitors. Roy retired from television in 1997 but keeps active in the Tampa area.

On a personal note, I (Brian Peters) first experienced Roy during the coverage of Hurricane Donna in 1960. It was Roy Leep who became my role model and inspired me to seek out and fulfill a career in meteorology.

Survey: Don’t forget that the Weather Brains crew, as motley as they are, have a real interest in your thoughts about the show. You can take a quick survey just by clicking here or in the column to the right where it says, “Listener Survey.” We do value your opinions and look at every single survey that comes to us.

From The Weather Center:

• WeatherBrains 101: Santa Ana winds are making the headlines with the wildfires in California. But what is a Santa Ana wind? Do they only occur in California? Not being one to shy from spouting hot air, the illustrious professor Peters takes on the topic of hot, dry wind.
• This Week In Weather History: The week of October 23th featured Hurricane Mitch. Is it possible that a four-mast cruise ship could be stalked by a hurricane? Hear all the details as Bill Murray recounts the tale of Mitch and the Fantom.

Web sites from Episode 91:
The Roy Leep Story
WTVT Weather
Storm Alert Xtreme

Join James Spann, Kevin Selle, Brian Peters, and the legendary JB Elliott for this look at the field of weather in the latest episode of WeatherBrains.

We love to hear from you! To leave a recorded message, call 1-888-247-8627. Some calls may be used in future episodes. Also, feel free to post comments to the site and send us an email at question@weatherbrains.com.