{"id":11687,"date":"2026-09-01T10:15:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T15:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/weatherbrains.com\/?p=11687"},"modified":"2026-09-01T10:15:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T15:15:29","slug":"weatherbrains-1076-big-blue-h","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/weatherbrains.com\/?p=11687","title":{"rendered":"WeatherBrains 1076:  Big Blue H"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"Episode 1076\" href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/weatherbrains\/wb083126.mp3\">WeatherBrains Episode 1076<\/a> is now online (August 31st, 2026). If you are crazy about weather, this is <strong>THE<\/strong> podcast for you!<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: medium;\" title=\"Embed Player\" src=\"https:\/\/play.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/42645575\/height\/192\/theme\/modern\/size\/large\/thumbnail\/yes\/custom-color\/87A93A\/time-start\/00:00:00\/playlist-height\/200\/direction\/backward\/download\/yes\/font-color\/FFFFFF\" width=\"100%\" height=\"192\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GQDocZXZgWE?si=omlEGOzs9MnFHlY_\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">?<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>This week&#8217;s WeatherBrains episode is all about hydroplaning and why it happens.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Guest WeatherBrain for tonight&#8217;s episode is the Assistant Director of the Vision of Maintenance for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. \u00a0Discussing a national hydroplaning project with the panel in the episode, she has over two decades experience in transportation and is a friend of the field. \u00a0<strong>Randi Feltner<\/strong>, thanks for joining us!<\/p>\n<p>Joining us as Second Guest WeatherBrain is very special guest <strong>Zion Powell<\/strong>. \u00a0He&#8217;s pursuing his dream to become a meteorologist with an emphasis on mesoscale weather events. \u00a0He&#8217;s currently a senior at Salisbury State in Maryland majoring in meteorology and geoscience. \u00a0He was selected as a NOAA Lapenta Intern for 2025 in Louisville, Kentucky where he worked on a national hydroplaning campaign. \u00a0<strong>Zion<\/strong>, welcome!<\/p>\n<p>We are excited to have Guest WeatherBrain and WeatherBrains veteran<strong> Alan Sealls<\/strong> joining us tonight. \u00a0A 16-time Regional Emmy Winner, he&#8217;s now the president of the American Meteorological Society and has had a legendary career in the field. \u00a0He earned his degree in meteorology at Cornell and earned a Master&#8217;s Degree at Florida State University. \u00a0He is a professor at the University of South Alabama. \u00a0<strong>Alan<\/strong>, welcome back!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"css-9pa8cd\" draggable=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/HRERyArXkAA2H7S?format=jpg&amp;name=large\" alt=\"Image\" width=\"926\" height=\"521\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. <strong>Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tropical Storm Eduard forms in the Gulf (01:00)<\/li>\n<li>Record heat for Alabama football&#8217;s home opener? \u00a0(02:30)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Zion&#8217;s<\/strong> early background in weather (09:30)<\/li>\n<li>All about Salisbury State&#8217;s Atmospheric Science program (11:00)<\/li>\n<li>What is the William M. Lapenta Scholarship? (12:00)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Randi&#8217;s<\/strong> early background and path to second in command at KDOT (13:30)<\/li>\n<li>Experiences during 2021 Mayfield, KY tornado (19:00)<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Wet Lanes, Don&#8217;t Hydroplane&#8221; (24:00)<\/li>\n<li>Role of tire pressure and speed in hydroplaning (26:00)<\/li>\n<li>Complicated nature of getting national hydroplaning statistics (47:00)<\/li>\n<li>What is spectrum allocation? (01:02:45)<\/li>\n<li><strong>AMS Annual Meeting<\/strong> <strong>2027<\/strong> in Denver (01:04:00)<\/li>\n<li>All about the AMS and its history (01:08:00)<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice<\/strong> (01:22:45)<\/li>\n<li><strong>This Week in Tornado History With Jen<\/strong> (01:25:00)<\/li>\n<li><strong>E-Mail Segment\u00a0<\/strong>(01:27:00)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sneak peak at future WeatherBrains episodes!<\/strong> (01:34:00)<\/li>\n<li>and more!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Web Sites from Episode 1076: \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/annual.ametsoc.org\/2027\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2027 AMS Annual Meeting<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/alabamaweathernetwork.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alabama Weather Network<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Picks of the Week:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Zion Powell &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/zepowell_wx\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Zion Powell on Instragram<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Zion Powell &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@zepowell_wx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Zion Powell on TikTok<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Randi Feltner &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/goky.ky.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kentucky Transportation Cabinet<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Alan Sealls &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/experience.arcgis.com\/experience\/ac8e52b8ddd94ddfa7ace14808b34a20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Severe Weather Archive Display<\/a><\/p>\n<p>James Aydelott &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/story.php?story_fbid=1615371683286457&amp;id=100044409220335&amp;mibextid=wwXIfr&amp;rdid=IVmp8fjg2tOKsWfA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tulsa Hits 102F<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jen Narramore &#8211; Out<\/p>\n<p>Rick Smith &#8211; Out<\/p>\n<p>Troy Kimmel &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.noaa.gov\/news-release\/noaa-boosts-weather-data-collection-capabilities-with-new-mesonet-contract\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NOAA boosts weather data collection capabilities with new Mesonet contract<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kim Klockow-McClain &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/08\/31\/world\/asia\/nepal-floods-teacher.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Principal Saved 900 Students Before His School Was Washed Away in Nepal<\/a><\/p>\n<p>John Gordon &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ORJtxkuD62E\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Monstrous Flash Flood &amp; Debris Flow l Johnson Canyon, UT 7\/16\/2018<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Bill Murray &#8211; Out<\/p>\n<p>James Spann &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/sgsup.asu.edu\/basics-arizona-monsoon-desert-meteorology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Basics of the Arizona Monsoon and Desert Meteorology<\/a><\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WeatherBrains Episode 1076 is now online (August 31st, 2026). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you! ? This week&#8217;s WeatherBrains episode is all about hydroplaning and why it happens. Guest WeatherBrain for tonight&#8217;s episode is the Assistant Director of the Vision of Maintenance for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. \u00a0Discussing a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19492,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shows"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weatherbrains.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weatherbrains.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weatherbrains.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weatherbrains.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19492"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weatherbrains.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11687"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/weatherbrains.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11690,"href":"https:\/\/weatherbrains.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11687\/revisions\/11690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weatherbrains.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weatherbrains.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weatherbrains.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}