WeatherBrains

This week's WeatherBrains episode is all about the July 2025 flooding tragedy in Texas.
Our Guest WeatherBrain for tonight's episode is Dr. JJ Gourley.  An Oklahoma native, he's a senior research hydrometeorologist at NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory.  He manages an interdisciplinary team there that is developing the FLASH product, which is a flash flood forecasting product that Dr. Garley will discuss on this week's episode.  He's won the Department of Commerce's silver medal award, as well as the AMS Journal of Hydrometeorology Editor's Award.  He's also authored over 160 Paraview Journal Articles.  He's even written a radar hydrology textbook!  Welcome to tonight's show, Dr. Gourley!
Our Guest Panelist tonight is Dr. Keri K. Stephens from the University of Texas at Austin.   She's the George Christian Centennial Professor.  With over 25 years of interdisciplinary research experience, Dr. Stephens' expertise includes organizational communication, mobile technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), crisis and disaster communication, infrastructure communication, and health communication. In her professional service, Dr. Stephens currently serves on the National Weather Service NOAA Central Texas Integrated Warning Team and on the Executive Advisory Council of the Schreiner University Institute for Hazard Risk and Readiness.  Dr. Stephens, thanks for joining us tonight!
Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.
Oklahoma heat trivia from NWS chat (04:30)
Dr. Gourley's hydrometeorology background (9:00)
Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor System (MRMS) (13:00)
FLASH project (13:30)
Meteorological setup leading up to July 2025 Texas floods (17:30)
Area creeks around Camp Mystic that became major players (29:00)
Process determining approximate lead time before event (34:30)
Warn-on-Forecast System (WoFS):  From experimental to operational? (36:30)
Combining organizational communication and disaster studies (42:30)
Lessons learned about public safety infrastructure in the wake of post-flood hearings (58:00)
Protocol for severe/winter weather warnings at campgrounds/RV parks (01:16:30)
Turn Around, Don't Drown! (01:29:00)
The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:38:15)
This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:40:30)
E-Mail Segment (01:42:30)
Sneak peak at future WeatherBrains episodes! (01:44:00)
and more!
Web Sites from Episode 1075:  
NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory
Alabama Weather Network
 
Picks of the Week:
Dr. JJ Gourley - Watch Duty - Wildfire Maps & Alerts
Dr. Keri K. Stephens - Texas Institute for Hazard Risk and Readiness (TIHRR) - Schreiner University
James Aydelott - Tornado video in France
James Aydelott - Tornado video in France - Secondary Angle
James Aydelott - More absurd footage of the tornado in Pomas, France
James Aydelott - Exceptional video of the tornado that struck the area around Carcassonne!
James Aydelott - Strong tornado in France, north of the Pyrenees
Jen Narramore - University Archives and West Florida History Center
Rick Smith - IEM (Iowa Environmental Mesonet) Severe Weather Products
Troy Kimmel - United States Power Outage Map
Kim Klockow-McClain - WoFS-FLASH coupled forecasts for the July 2025 Texas Hill Country Flash Flood Disaster
Kim Klockow-McClain - Hydrometeorological Analysis of the July 2025 Texas Hill Country Flash Flood Disaster
Kim Klockow-McClain - Indiana Governor Calls for NIPSCO to be Investigated Over Power Outages After Gary Storms
John Gordon - Photo from Mike Olbinski: Moonbow
Bill Murray - Out
James Spann - ENSO: Recent Evolution, Current Status and Predictions
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.

This week's WeatherBrains episode is all about the Enhanced Fujita scale and the path toward implementation.
Tonight's Guest WeatherBrain is the EF Committee Chairman.  He's the master instructor at the NWS Operations Training Unit, and he's the Team Lead in NWS forecasters course development.   He's also acting Director of the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program at the National Institute for Standards of Technology, and he currently chairs and cofounded the Standards Committee on estimating wind speeds of severe storms within the American Society of Civil Engineers.  Jim LaDue, welcome to WeatherBrains!
Tonight's Guest Panelist is the Founder and CEO of Climavision.  Climavision is a weather technology company that provides critical gaps in radar coverage, and improves forecast accuracy.  He brings in more than 30 years of advanced weather observation predictive modeling, work spanning dual polarization radar, mobile and satellite enable systems, and the forecasting models that turn raw observations into sharper forecasts.  Chris Goode, thanks for joining us!
Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.
Jim's early background in weather (09:00)
ASCE (American Society for Civil Engineers) (11:30)
Who decided to update the Fujita scale in the early 2000s? (14:30)
EF Scale Subcommittee (21:30)
Bill under construction to improve assessment of tornadoes (33:00)
Behind the scenes with other ways to rate tornadoes in new EF Scale (37:30)
Re-analysis process in a civil and organized fashion (46:00)
Damage exposure simulations in the future? (50:00)
EEC (Enterprise Electronics Corporation) (01:00:30)
X-Band vs C-Band radars (01:03:30)
Benefits of Climavision high resolution radar and how it improves the warning process (01:05:30)
Relationship between Climavision and NWS (01:08:00)
Phased array radar - when will it happen and what about major radar gaps?  (01:15:00)
The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:23:45)
This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:26:45)
E-Mail Segment (01:29:00)
Sneak peak at future WeatherBrains episodes! (01:32:00)
and more!
Web Sites from Episode 1074:  
Tornado Archive
Climavision
Alabama Weather Network
Picks of the Week:
James Aydelott - Okie James on Facebook: Plume from oil/gas tank fire caused by lightning strike
Jen Narramore - 7 dead from historic flooding in Indiana
Rick Smith - Norman microburst timelapse
Troy Kimmel - Foghorn
Kim Klockow-McClain - Hurricane Lala Hawaii Damage
John Gordon - NASA Ocean Current Simulation
Bill Murray - Out
James Spann - Foghorn
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.

This week's WeatherBrains episode is all about Hawaii.
Joining us tonight as Guest WeatherBrain is the Chief Meteorologist at Hawaii News Now.  She has given over 15 years of service and has provided trusted coverage for the Hawaiian Islands including tropical cyclones, earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, and other natural disasters.  She earned her Bachelor's degree in Atmospheric Ocean Science at San Fransisco State University.  Jennifer Robbins, welcome to WeatherBrains!
Tonight's Guest Panelist is the Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) at the NWS office in Honolulu.  He works Statewide with a wide variety of partners and earned his Bachelor of Science in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Michigan in 1998.  He started at NWS Marquette MI in 1999, and has worked with the NWS Honolulu since 2006, and the WCM since 2017.  John Bravender, thanks for joining us tonight!
Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.
Jennifer's early weather background (10:00)
John's early weather background (15:30)
What exactly is it like to forecast for the State of Hawaii?  (18:00)
Difficulties forecasting with Hawaiian microclimates (20:00)
Employee organization at NWS Honolulu (25:30)
Torrential rainfall and major flooding in Hawaii caused by Kona lows (33:00)
What exactly is a Kona low?  (42:30)
What happened to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center? (49:00)
1992's Hurricane Iniki (50:00)
Introduction of chickens to Hawaii in the wake of Hurricane Iniki (53:30)
Fire weather threats and how it has changed in recent years (58:30)
Tsunami risks and concerns in Hawaii (01:07:45)
Warning protocol in the State of Hawaii regarding tsunamis and severe weather (01:19:30)
The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:25:30)
This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:27:30)
E-Mail Segment (01:29:00)
Sneak peak at future WeatherBrains episodes! (01:31:30)
and more!
Web Sites from Episode 1073:  
Hawaii News Now First Alert Weather
Honolulu, HI NWS Forecast Office
Alabama Weather Network
Picks of the Week:
John Bravender - Homeowner's Handbook to Prepare for Natural Hazards
James Aydelott - Okie James on Facebook: In 1936, the start of a truly hideous stretch of never-seen-since Summer weather in Tulsa
Jen Narramore - Dyer County Historical Society
Rick Smith - Out
Troy Kimmel - Out
Kim Klockow-McClain - Population structure and hybridisation in a population of Hawaiian feral chickens
John Gordon - LoriGraceWX Monsoon Photography
Bill Murray - Out
James Spann - Proposed changes to WPC's Excessive Rainfall Outlook

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.

This week's WeatherBrains episode is all about the Georgia Severe Storms Research Center. 
Joining us tonight as Guest WeatherBrain is the Director of the Georgia Severe Storms Research Center.  Growing up in Minnesota, he always had exposure to severe weather and took a keen interest early in his life.  He earned his Bachelor of Science in meteorology from Iowa State University.  Their research focuses on X-band radar that operates jointly between Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia.  They have done extensive research, with a major focus on lightning.  Michael Peterson, welcome to WeatherBrains!
Tonight's Guest Panelist is a research scientist at the Georgia Severe Storms Research Center.  She received a Bachelor's Degree from Penn State University, and earned her Master's Degree in meteorology from the University of Oklahoma.  Jessica Losego, thanks for joining us tonight!
Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.
Jessica's early background in the field of weather (17:00)
REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) (2:00)
IHOP (International H2O Project) (21:00)
When was the Georgia Severe Storms Research Center founded and what do they do?  (24:30)
Dual Pol variables in X-Band (26:30)
North Georgia Lightning Mapping Array (39:30)
2008 Downtown Atlanta, GA tornado during SEC tournament (57:30)
GA Tech's research on tornadogenesis (01:01:00)
What is cold air damming (CAD)? (01:03:30)
New world record lightning flash discovered by SSRC (01:06:30)
What is the definition of a mega flash?  (01:11:45)
Difficulties forecasting random airmass convection in the Deep South (01:19:30)
The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:25:00)
This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:27:30)
E-Mail Segment (01:29:30)
Sneak peak at future WeatherBrains episodes! (01:38:30)
and more!
Web Sites from Episode 1072:  
North Georgia Lightning Mapping Array
Georgia Severe Storms Research Center
Alabama Weather Network
Picks of the Week:
Jessica Losego - Weather with a Twist - Aaron Price on Substack
Jessica Losego - "Atlanta Tornado of 1975" Volume 104 Issue 8 (1976) by E. F. Greneker
Michael Peterson - Call for Papers - 2027 AMS Annual Meeting
James Aydelott - OU Launches Oklahoma 3D Mesonet
Jen Narramore - The Governor's Tornado - March 24, 1975
Rick Smith - Where Have the EF5s Gone? A Closer Look at the "Drought" of the Most Violent Tornadoes in the United States
Troy Kimmel - GOES Image Viewer
Kim Klockow-McClain - The Tiny Rain Icon On Your Weather App is Crushing Small Businesses
John Gordon - Tornadoes in Wisconsin since 1950
Bill Murray - Out
James Spann - NOAA's use of cloud infrastructure grows to include weather prediction models
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.

This week's WeatherBrains episode is all about the 1976 Big Thompson Flash Flood.
Joining us tonight as Guest WeatherBrain is meteorologist Matt Kelsch.  He earned his Master's Degree from the University of Oklahoma and has written numerous papers on mountain meteorology and hydrology.  Retiring in 2022, he's an avid outdoorsmen, biker and gardener.  It's great to see you tonight, Matt!
Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.
WSR 88-D NEXRAD (10:45)
World Meteorological Organization:  What They Do (13:00)
What tools were available for the NWS in 1976? (15:00)
Significant 2013 Colorado flood (21:30)
Photos of 1976 Big Thompson Flash Flood damage (27:00)
July 28th, 1997 Spring Creek Flood at Fort Collins, CO (32:00)
Proven success of converting creeks to floodways in 2013 (35:30)
Devastating 1889 Johnstown, PA flood (37:30)
Meteorological setup of Fort Collins 1997 Spring Creek flood (43:30)
2013 Colorado Flood (Great Erosional Flood) meteorological setup (48:30)
Social science perspective on Call-To-Action for general public during floods (59:30)
500 Year Flood vs 1000 Year Flood (01:01:30)
Profound lack of snowfall in Colorado during winter of 2025-2026 (01:10:00)
Tips for meteorologists to better forecast and anticipate major flash flooding in present day (01:12:00)
What is the definition of a flash flood?  (01:14:00)
Flash Flood Watch/Warning protocol in 1976 (01:16:00)
The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (No segment this week)
This Week in Tornado History With Jen (No segment this week)
E-Mail Segment (01:31:30)
Sneak peak at future WeatherBrains episodes! (01:27:00)
and more!
Web Sites from Episode 1071:  
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Alabama Weather Network
Picks of the Week:
Matt Kelsch - Real-time Air Quality Monitoring by PurpleAir
James Aydelott - River Photo
James Aydelott - Photo of sculpture by Bradley T. Mullnix
Jen Narramore - Rare waterspout near Montreal, Canada on July 23rd, 2008
Rick Smith - Out
Troy Kimmel - Out
Kim Klockow-McClain - Out
John Gordon - Matt Kelsch paper "Flash Flood Cases, Summary of Characteristics"
John Gordon - Bob Maddox paper "Synoptic and Meso-a Scale Aspects of Flash Flood Events"
Bill Murray - Out
James Spann - 40 Years Later, Jim Cantore on Mount Rushmore of TV Weather
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.