Weather Geeks – Details, episodes & analysis

Guest: Dr. Stella Kafka, AMS Executive Director

The world of meteorology is vast, with the options of different career paths spreading far and wide! You don’t have to be on TV in order to be a successful meteorologist, nor do you have to work for the government at the National Weather Service. In that same vein, you don’t have to be a meteorologist to be involved in the American Meteorological Society, even though it’s in the name! Your career may take you in a different direction, but there is always a weather geek in there somewhere. That’s why today on Weather Geeks, we have the new Executive Director of the AMS Dr. Stella Kafka on the show to talk about her journey into this position and where she wants to take the organization in the future…

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Guest: Kurt Shickman

We’ve been naming tropical systems since the late 1940s and the Weather Channel has been naming winter storms in the United States since 2012 while other nations have been naming storm systems for over a decade. But what about heat waves? The point of naming storm systems is to raise awareness, preparedness, and prevent the loss of life and property… and extreme heat is the deadliest weather-related killer in the United States, taking more lives on average each year than hurricanes and tornadoes combined. Joining us today is Kurt Shickman, director of Extreme Heat Initiatives at the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center to talk about bringing more awareness to the deadly heat that affects our country.

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Guest: Dr. Tyler WInkler

Introduction: The 2020 and 2021 hurricane seasons were among the top 3 most active on record. But, for now, the hurricane “record” extends only as far back as historical stories or modern weather data.  Could we actually be at a historical low in tropical cyclone activity?  Scientists, like Dr. Tyler Winkler, have discovered a new way of uncovering the past using sediment cores from Blue Holes. Tyler’s work was featured on an episode of the Nat Geo documentary “Years of Living Dangerously”, and he joins us on Weather Geeks.

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Guest: Dana Nuccitelli

On Aug 16, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. This piece of legislation is the single biggest step forward by the U.S. Government focusing on our changing climate. Today on Weather Geeks we will be joined by environmental scientist and climate journalist Dana Nuccitelli to discuss the impacts that the Inflation Reduction Act will have on our climate.

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Guest: Jennifer Walton

Storm chasers range from professionally trained photographers to research meteorologists to thrill seekers watching radar on their phones. And yet, still even today, the majority of them are male.  Girls Who Chase is an organization born out of the desire to elevate the efforts of women chasers.  To give them a community.  And to empower them - to do that thing they most long to do, no matter how daunting, non-stereotypical, or mathematical it might seem.  The founder of Girls Who Chase, Jen Walton, joins us today on Weather Geeks.

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Guest: Melissa Roberts

Introduction: In recent decades, extreme rainfall events have been on the increase. There have been 36 billion dollar flood disasters since 1980, and 11 of them have happened in the last 5 years. Sea level rise is leading to more coastal flooding, even in the absence of rain.  Who is going to organize the charge to address these rising flood concerns?  Melissa Roberts founded the American Flood Coalition to raise awareness to the reality of higher seas, stronger storms, and more frequent flooding.  She is here today on Weather Geeks to tell us more.  

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Guest: Mike Kozar & Robert Muir-Wood

Introduction: With August now in full swing, it’s just a matter of time before the tropics start to stir and the risks start to rise for communities. Risk Management Solutions is tackling and transforming the catastrophe risk industry, including hurricane risks. RMS HWind is a tool that is crucial to understanding as well as dealing with tropical cyclone risks. Joining us today are Mike Kozar and Robert Muir-Wood of RMS. Kozar is the lead on all their HWind products, and Muir-Wood has been with RMS over 18 years and is the Chief Research Officer.

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Guest: Tim Walsh

Introduction: Weather satellites in the Earth’s orbit supply vital information to meteorologists across the globe. Did you know that over 90% of the data that is used in weather forecast models comes from satellites? Our next guest has spent plenty of time working on improving weather satellites and the information that they obtain and share. From the heart of hurricane season to the middle of the winter, satellites are an integral part of keeping people safe. Today on Weather Geeks we are joined by Tim Walsh, Deputy Director of the Joint Polar Satellite System Program at NOAA. Thanks for being with us Tim…

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Guest: Victoria Ludwig

Introduction: When the temperature heats up, people living in cities are often even hotter. That's because the parking lots, roads, and human activities in cities cause the urban heat island. Victoria Ludwig is the national program manager for the Heat Island Reduction Program at the US Environmental Protection Agency. She is here today to explain what urban heat islands are, how we can reduce them, and why the EPA is concerned. 

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Guest: Derrick Herndon

Introduction: After two back-to-back supercharged hurricane seasons, 2022 is again expected to be well above average. When tropical systems are spinning far out in the ocean and away from land, meteorologists compare satellite imagery of the current storm to past storms to estimate its intensity. It's a technique that dates back to the ‘70s called the Dvorak Technique, and it is still used today.  Satellite meteorologist Derrick Herndon joins Weather Geeks today to share how the Dvorak technique has been upgraded. 

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