WeatherBrains 641: No Such Thing as a Slam Dunk

WeatherBrains Episode 641 is now online (April 30, 2018). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE netcast audio program for you!

Joining us for this episode is SPC Lead Forecaster John Hart. John is actually in the mountains of Colorado where he has been panning for gold. As far back as he can remember, he had always dreamed of being a lead forecaster for the SELS unit in Kansas City which is now called the SPC. After attending college in St. Louis, he worked at Channel 2 there for a while. Then, a few weeks after graduation he was lucky enough to get a job at the National Weather Service in Charleston, West Virginia, and interned there for two years. He was involved with a few computer programming projects there that got his name known, so when a job opened at SELS, he was able to get it. Since then, he’s been in this unit, but worked multiple jobs. He became a meso-forecaster in 1995, and then a lead forecaster in 2000.

John considers the events of April 27, 2011, to be the biggest event that he will experience in his career. But the show title comes from a comment John made about how no event is a slam dunk, there are always uncertainties in any weather event.

Other discussions in this weekly podcast include topics like:

• Extremes: 103 at Rio Grande Village, TX, and 19 at Rosscommon, MI
• Severe wx forecast Central US next couple of days
• Hail and high wind from West TX to NB today
• Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice
• and more!

Our email bag officer hangs up on us. But we always love to hear from our listeners.

From The Weather Center:

WeatherBrains 101: You never know where you’ll find inspiration. The topic for this episode of 101 came from a tweet made by WFO Norman, OK, last week on April 26th. It seems Oklahoma has not seen even one tornado so far for 2018. So we dive into that fact and contrast it with what has been a fairly active season in Alabama.

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 641:

Storm Prediction Center (SPC)

Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program

SPC definitions of severe weather

Picks of the Week:

Nate Johnson – Meteorologist, a web comic

Kim Klockow-McClain – NOAA still headless

Brian Peters – National Hurricane Preparedness Week, May 6-12, 2018

Kevin Selle – McDonald’s turn items into weather icons and
Egypt Cracks down on ‘Fake’ Weather Reports

Rick Smith – Storm stress and anxiety

James Spann – Stations take new view of weather

Aubrey Urbanowicz – NOAA Photo Library

The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like Nate Johnson, Bill Murray, Aubrey Urbanowicz, Rick Smith, Kevin Selle, Kim Klockow-McClain, and Brian Peters. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating netcast about weather.

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Category: ALL POSTS, WeatherBrains