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    Mark Boardman

    @StormHourMark

    Creator of StormHour
    Our mission is to promote meteorology & weather photography, & provide a platform & resource for amateurs & professionals alike.

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    Website stormhour.com Location Macclesfield, UK

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    Best posts made by StormHourMark

    • Q and A with Jennifer Carfagno of The Weather Channel

      Jennifer Carfagno.jpeg
      Jen Carfagno is co-host of AMHQ weekdays from 5-9 a.m. ET on The Weather Channel. Jen earned her bachelor’s degree in meteorology from Pennsylvania State University in 1998 – a year after an internship with The Weather Channel. Later that year, she joined The Weather Channel as a full-time forecaster.

      In her spare time, Jen enjoys running, relaxing at the beach or working in the yard.

      Follow Jen On Twitter

      What was your most memorable weather event?

      It’s hard to pick just one. As a meteorologist at The Weather Channel, Hurricane Katrina proved to be even more than the disaster we thought it could be. I can still picture what the dire weather bulletins looked like as I read the messages urging evacuation.

      As a teenager in Pennsylvania, experiencing the Superstorm of 1993 was pretty epic. And events like when Hurricane Joaquin skirted the southeast coast but it’s moisture was tapped to produce devastating flooding in South Carolina – events like that intrigue me.

      Hurricane-Katrina-Landfall-New-Orleans.jpg
      Hurricane Katrina Making Landfall in New Orleans

      What is your favourite and least favourite type of weather?

      I hate the east wind. I have a saying – Nothing Good About the East Wind. Think about it – so many bad weather days can be linked to east wind! A nor’easter, rip currents on the east coast of Florida, getting socked in clouds/cool in the Southeast US, Heat/Wind/Fire Risk in with Santa Anna’s (east wind) in SoCal, Snow/Ice in Portland OR (east wind down Columbia R. Gorge. )

      I love to forecast exciting and changing weather, but I’d be happy living in sunny and 75 (with a dew point of 65) any day and every day 😉

      If you weren’t a meteorologist what would you most like to be?

      Maybe something related to the ocean – I like to do things where I’m constantly questioning and learning.

      From a purely meteorological point of view, where would you most like to live?

      Atlanta is actually pretty good. We get winter weather, severe weather, sometimes tropical storms bring rain, and our autumn weather can’t be beat

      Is there anything else you’d like to share?

      One of the reasons I love being a meteorologist is that weather is the backdrop to every moment in our lives. It is the great equalizer. It is the conversation starter. It can create an instant connection. And it’s amazing to me how the weather community shares information and learning so well. Glad to be a part of it!

      ​For more Meteorologist Interviews visit StormHour Featured Meteorologists

      posted in Articles article meteorologists stormhour
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    • Q and A with StormHour Featured Meteorologist Jorge Torres

      Jorge Torres.jpg

      Jorge Torres is the Chief Meteorologist at KOB-TV in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Before that, he was the Morning Meteorologist at KVIA-TV in El Paso, Texas, so he’s quite familiar with the Desert Southwest.

      When not at work, Jorge enjoys hiking, travelling, exploring new places in New Mexico, eating, working out, and keeping up with his Texas A&M Aggies!

      Follow Jorge On Twitter

      What was your most memorable weather event?

      I actually have two memorable events: one from my childhood and one during my career. My most memorable weather event when I was a boy would be the Jarrell tornado that hit central Texas on May 27th, 1997. I was 10 years old living in Pflugerville, Texas (suburb north of Austin). After an afternoon swim with my family, we were in our home watching TV when Jim Spencer, Chief Weathercaster at KXAN-TV, cut into programming due to a Tornado Warning north of us. The storm rapidly grew in intensity and produced the last F-5 to hit the state of Texas. The tornado hit roughly 30 miles north of where I was, but that same storm produced the darkest skies I’ve ever seen along with high winds and minor flooding in my town.

      
photo: KXAN;
link: /assets/uploads/files/1561130862862-jarrell-tornado.image-via-kxan.jpg;
desc: Jarrell Tornado;
licence:cc;

      The other memorable weather event for me was the February Freeze of 2011 that hit much of the south, including El Paso. The powerful Arctic air-mass caused major damage to the infrastructure in the city. El Paso experienced 78 consecutive hours (more than 3 days) of below freezing temperatures, with the coldest being 1º.

      What is your favourite and least favourite type of weather?

      My favorite type of weather is tropical weather. I’ve always been a fan of summertime thunderstorms that help cool things down after a hot, humid day. I’ve always been very interested in tropical cyclones as well.

      My least favorite type of weather is drought. Living and working in the Desert Southwest has shown me how crucial water is. When large periods of drought occur, wildfires can easily form and spread quickly

      If you weren’t a meteorologist what would you most like to be?

      If I wasn’t a meteorologist, I would love to be a high school science teacher. I enjoy going to local schools and talking to students about weather and science in general. The look of excitement and curiosity from the kids makes it all worthwhile, and I wouldn’t mind having that every day if I was teaching.

      From a purely meteorological point of view, where would you most like to live?

      From a purely meteorological standpoint, I would most like to live & work in Miami. The potential for afternoon storms and the yearly threat of tropical storms & hurricanes would always keep me on my toes.

      If you are interested in being a Featured Meteorologist on StormHour please contact mark@stormhour.com or via DM on Twitter

      posted in Articles article meteorologists interview albuquerque texas
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    • Q & A with Space Meteorologist Dr. Tamitha Skov

      Tamitha Skov.jpeg

      Tamitha Skov stares at the Sun a lot. She is a credentialed space weather forecaster and has been helping the public understand the effects of Space Weather on our daily lives since 2013.

      Tamitha’s forecasting work as the “Space Weather Woman” is widely known on social media such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook and you may have caught her on several television shows for The Weather Channel and The History Channel.

      Follow Tamitha on Twitter

      Or on Facebook!

      What was your most memorable weather event?

      The Mother’s Day solar storm of 2016. Even though this wasn’t the strongest storm on record, it was the first in which I had a GPS drone operator give me real evidence that a solar storm could dramatically impact the navigation of a popular drone.

      I had been reporting on the possibilities of such issues for years, but that storm was the first time anyone gave me the telemetry and actual flight path information of the affected drone.

      What really made a lasting impression on me was that this drone incident occurred only about 30 miles away from an active Amazon Air drone delivery facility in the UK.

      What is your favourite and least favourite type of weather?

      Space Weather is really a mixed bag. Unlike traditional weather, what is considered spectacular for aurora photographers and space enthusiasts is considered horrible for amateur radio operators and GPS enthusiasts.

      For instance, back in 2015 we saw brilliant, rainbow-colored aurora that reached much of Europe and North America. It was even seen in places as far south as Brittany, France, Arkansas, USA, and as far north as Perth, Australia.

      But that same storm ruined a worldwide contest for amateur radio operators and made things difficult for emergency responders to do their jobs. So every space weather storm has positives and negatives. It has me both cheering and booing at the same time.

      If you weren’t a meteorologist what would you most like to be?

      Actually, I am a physicist by training. I’m not a classically trained meteorologist. Space Meteorology isn’t really a field yet, especially in the realm of public consulting and broadcasting.

      Official Space Weather forecasts are a responsibility still held by government agencies like NOAA. In fact, space meteorology today is analogous to what terrestrial meteorology was in the 1960’s. Back then early meteorologists, like Harry Volkman, would grab weather forecasts from military bases and broadcast them to the public.

      Following a similar path, the government regularly does space weather forecasts, but its not really their responsibility to disseminate them to the public. So much of the explanation behind their predictions goes unsaid. I am trying to change all that.

      From a purely meteorological point of view, where would you most like to live?

      This is a really difficult question, obviously, but I think I would most like to live on one of the moons in the Jovian system, like Europa or Ganymede, or perhaps Saturn’s Earth-like moon, Titan.

      Living on one of these magnetized moons, not only would you see aurora in your own skies during a solar storm, but you would also get a chance to see aurora in the sky of your host planet. Of course the terrestrial weather there would be unlivable. Its too bad Earth’s Moon isn’t like more Titan or Europa.

      Could you imagine looking up at the Moon at night during a solar storm and seeing aurora, like little glowing halos surrounding its poles? It would happen far more often than most people yet realize. What a magical sight that would be.

      For more Meteorologist Interviews visit StormHour Featured Meteorologists.

      posted in Articles article meteorologists interview spaceweather
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    • Q and A with Meteorologist Kelly Foster

      kellywx3.jpg
      Kelly is the Morning/Noon News Anchor & AMS & NWA Sealed Meteorologist at NBC 15, WPMI-TV Mobile, AL-Pensacola/Fort Walton Beach, FL

      You can follow Kelly on Twitter

      What was your most memorable weather event?

      My passion is tropical meteorology! I have covered more than a dozen Gulf Coast landfalls throughout my career, but my most memorable would be Hurricane Katrina. Prior to landfall, Katrina took up almost the entire Gulf of Mexico. It was a monster storm that wiped out a large portion of my hometown, Pascagoula, MS, including my parent’s and grandparent’s homes. FEMA trailers dotted the Mississippi Gulf Coast for many years following Katrina, and where antebellum homes once graced the beachfront along the Gulf, there are still vacant lots. Slowly, but surely, new homes are being built to fill these vacant lots. One of the big sayings after Katrina was “Ya’in yet?” Anybody who lived along the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Katrina knew what that question meant: “Have you rebuilt and moved in your house yet?”

      What is your favorite and least favorite type of weather?

      Though occasionally a bit scary, hurricanes are my favorite! My first love with forecasting is the tropics. I enjoy watching the tropical waves come off the coast of Africa, show some development, and then track them across the Atlantic, sometimes spinning up into major hurricanes that approach my area along the Gulf Coast! It always amazes me that you can go to bed with a tropical storm churning and, with the right ingredients, wake up to a strong Cat 2 hurricane that has strengthened overnight! I neither wish for hurricanes nor do I like the devastation and destruction they bring, but if they do spin up, they get adrenaline going, and around town, it creates a social event as it is all anyone talks about at parties, in the grocery store line, and at church. That said, though I like forecasting, tracking, and monitoring the development of hurricanes, I always wish for best case scenarios such as a front to sweep them up and shift them out to sea where they find their demise.

      My least favorite is fog! When you don’t have to drive in it, it’s no problem, but I do a lot of early morning driving! Here along the Gulf Coast, it can become very dense, making it extremely dangerous and disorienting for drivers and boaters.

      If you weren’t a meteorologist what would you most like to be?

      A judge or an attorney.

      From a purely meteorological point of view where would I most like to live?

      I LOVE the beach. I like sunshine, warm temps, beautiful sunsets, and a cool summer breeze at night. There is also nothing quite like watching a major thunderstorm roar out over the open Gulf! I think the perfect spots to live are anywhere between New Orleans, LA and Destin, FL!

      If you are interested in being a Featured Meteorologist on StormHour please contact mark@stormhour.com or via DM on Twitter

      posted in Articles article kelly foster stormhour interview meteorologists
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    • Q and A with a British meteorologist and TV presenter Clare Nasir

      Clare Nasir.jpg

      Clare is a British meteorologist and TV presenter. She is an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust, an advocate for the nuclear energy industry, and ambassador for the Healthy Air Campaign.

      • Follow Clare on Twitter

      What was your most memorable weather event?

      I was caught in a blizzard on a glacier on top of the volcano of Katla in Iceland; I was filming a documentary series for CBBC on extreme weather, called Fierce Earth. Visibility was down to less than 10 metres and I felt on the edge of the world, not knowing where the drop was.

      Clare Nasir 3.jpg

      What is your favourite and least favourite type of weather?

      I love crisp and clear weather at the break of dawn, with a hint of cirrus bursting into the highest skies. Broadcasting on breakfast TV for over a decade you have to love the mornings.

      The eerie quietness before life gets busy coupled with the promise of glowing colours from the sun as it captures a sweeping veil of cloud; just magical. I’m not a fan of nimbostratus days, as a weather forecaster there is nothing to celebrate when these dull, grim beasts come to town.

      If you weren’t a meteorologist what would you most like to be?

      A sax player in a band – travelling around the world and playing live.

      From a purely meteorological point of view, where would you most like to live?

      I would love to witness the Morning Glory cloud in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland in Australia, and perhaps surf its atmospheric wave. Dangerous and a rare sighting, but it would be incredible to see such a phenomenon.

      Is there anything else you’d like to share?

      My 5th Cloud Academy book for kids (4-6 year olds) came out in March. The Space Clouds Mission introduces strange noctilucent clouds to young minds. It’s a fun adventure of how two brave little clouds help save a space rocket as re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere too fast.

      Other titles, Colin the Cloud (thunderstorms), Steve the Stratus (what clouds are made of), The Showbiz Clouds (seasons) and Two Clouds and a Cough (air pollution).

      If you are interested in being a Featured Meteorologist on StormHour please contact mark@stormhour.com or via our Contact Page

      posted in Articles article clare nasir interview meteorologists stormhour
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    Latest posts made by StormHourMark

    • Q and A with Meteorologist Dan Pope from Utah

      Dan pope wccAXJGl.jpg

      Dan is Chief Meteorologist for KTVX & KUCW-TV (ABC4 & CW30) in Salt Lake City, Utah. Reporting on all things Meteorology, Astronomy, Geology and Photography!

      What was your most memorable weather event?

      Skiing at Alta, UT after 55.5” of snow fell in 24 hours on January 4-5, 1994. It was powder-fest perfection.

      What is your favourite and least favourite type of weather?

      Favorite weather has to be winter snow, especially when it falls with little wind, accumulating and covering everything…leaving pine trees and other things bending down under the weight of the powder. Then upon sunrise, I enjoy seeing a light fog as the bright sun illuminates the freshly fallen delight.

      My least favorite weather is wind and heat. Wind is especially annoying, messing up my hair, blowing dust into my eyes or making it impossible to enjoy working in my yard, gardening and mending to the flowers and lawn. Heat is difficult to deal with.

      Temperatures here in Salt Lake City, UT can approach or exceed 40 C/104 F. I can handle temperatures over 30 C/86 F, but 40 C is ridiculously hot. In Salt Lake City, UT we average 56 days per year above 32.2 C/90 F. It is a desert climate; and a dry heat, but it is always hot in the summer. My favorite temperature is 26.7 C or about 80 F.

      The nice thing about Salt Lake City is its proximity to the mountains (where it is cooler) and where we have 13 ski resorts within 45 minutes’ drive. And, it is always cooler in the mountains.

      If you weren’t a meteorologist what would you most like to be?

      If I weren’t a Meteorologist, I would be an Environmental Forest Ranger, where I could be out in the mountains, enjoying their beauty every day and helping to improve the watershed, animal life and visitor experience…and where I could bring my camera along to take photos of everything around me!

      From a purely meteorological point of view, where would you most like to live?

      Meteorologically, my perfect place to live would be Anchorage, Alaska, where there is plenty of winter snow, long summer days, frequent Aurora, lots of mountains and so many places to explore and enjoy. The weather is always changing, and it is not hot!

      Is there anything else you’d like to share?

      I started watching the weather carefully when I was between 4 and 5 years old. By the time I was 12, I decided I not only wanted to be a Meteorologist, but I wanted to be on Television. I followed my dream and have never looked back.

      I love my job and enjoy my work every day. It is a difficult profession; bad work hours, extreme deadlines, severe scrutiny from your managers (and especially from the public). I’ve had to develop a “thick skin”, but I would not do anything differently.

      When I speak to youngsters about planning for their life and profession, I always encourage them to get a good education and to follow their dreams…to do something they will enjoy for a job!

      posted in Articles article dan pope meteorologists utah interview
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    • Q and A with a British meteorologist and TV presenter Clare Nasir

      Clare Nasir.jpg

      Clare is a British meteorologist and TV presenter. She is an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust, an advocate for the nuclear energy industry, and ambassador for the Healthy Air Campaign.

      • Follow Clare on Twitter

      What was your most memorable weather event?

      I was caught in a blizzard on a glacier on top of the volcano of Katla in Iceland; I was filming a documentary series for CBBC on extreme weather, called Fierce Earth. Visibility was down to less than 10 metres and I felt on the edge of the world, not knowing where the drop was.

      Clare Nasir 3.jpg

      What is your favourite and least favourite type of weather?

      I love crisp and clear weather at the break of dawn, with a hint of cirrus bursting into the highest skies. Broadcasting on breakfast TV for over a decade you have to love the mornings.

      The eerie quietness before life gets busy coupled with the promise of glowing colours from the sun as it captures a sweeping veil of cloud; just magical. I’m not a fan of nimbostratus days, as a weather forecaster there is nothing to celebrate when these dull, grim beasts come to town.

      If you weren’t a meteorologist what would you most like to be?

      A sax player in a band – travelling around the world and playing live.

      From a purely meteorological point of view, where would you most like to live?

      I would love to witness the Morning Glory cloud in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland in Australia, and perhaps surf its atmospheric wave. Dangerous and a rare sighting, but it would be incredible to see such a phenomenon.

      Is there anything else you’d like to share?

      My 5th Cloud Academy book for kids (4-6 year olds) came out in March. The Space Clouds Mission introduces strange noctilucent clouds to young minds. It’s a fun adventure of how two brave little clouds help save a space rocket as re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere too fast.

      Other titles, Colin the Cloud (thunderstorms), Steve the Stratus (what clouds are made of), The Showbiz Clouds (seasons) and Two Clouds and a Cough (air pollution).

      If you are interested in being a Featured Meteorologist on StormHour please contact mark@stormhour.com or via our Contact Page

      posted in Articles article clare nasir interview meteorologists stormhour
      StormHourMarkS
      StormHourMark
    • Q and A with Meteorologist Kelly Foster

      kellywx3.jpg
      Kelly is the Morning/Noon News Anchor & AMS & NWA Sealed Meteorologist at NBC 15, WPMI-TV Mobile, AL-Pensacola/Fort Walton Beach, FL

      You can follow Kelly on Twitter

      What was your most memorable weather event?

      My passion is tropical meteorology! I have covered more than a dozen Gulf Coast landfalls throughout my career, but my most memorable would be Hurricane Katrina. Prior to landfall, Katrina took up almost the entire Gulf of Mexico. It was a monster storm that wiped out a large portion of my hometown, Pascagoula, MS, including my parent’s and grandparent’s homes. FEMA trailers dotted the Mississippi Gulf Coast for many years following Katrina, and where antebellum homes once graced the beachfront along the Gulf, there are still vacant lots. Slowly, but surely, new homes are being built to fill these vacant lots. One of the big sayings after Katrina was “Ya’in yet?” Anybody who lived along the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Katrina knew what that question meant: “Have you rebuilt and moved in your house yet?”

      What is your favorite and least favorite type of weather?

      Though occasionally a bit scary, hurricanes are my favorite! My first love with forecasting is the tropics. I enjoy watching the tropical waves come off the coast of Africa, show some development, and then track them across the Atlantic, sometimes spinning up into major hurricanes that approach my area along the Gulf Coast! It always amazes me that you can go to bed with a tropical storm churning and, with the right ingredients, wake up to a strong Cat 2 hurricane that has strengthened overnight! I neither wish for hurricanes nor do I like the devastation and destruction they bring, but if they do spin up, they get adrenaline going, and around town, it creates a social event as it is all anyone talks about at parties, in the grocery store line, and at church. That said, though I like forecasting, tracking, and monitoring the development of hurricanes, I always wish for best case scenarios such as a front to sweep them up and shift them out to sea where they find their demise.

      My least favorite is fog! When you don’t have to drive in it, it’s no problem, but I do a lot of early morning driving! Here along the Gulf Coast, it can become very dense, making it extremely dangerous and disorienting for drivers and boaters.

      If you weren’t a meteorologist what would you most like to be?

      A judge or an attorney.

      From a purely meteorological point of view where would I most like to live?

      I LOVE the beach. I like sunshine, warm temps, beautiful sunsets, and a cool summer breeze at night. There is also nothing quite like watching a major thunderstorm roar out over the open Gulf! I think the perfect spots to live are anywhere between New Orleans, LA and Destin, FL!

      If you are interested in being a Featured Meteorologist on StormHour please contact mark@stormhour.com or via DM on Twitter

      posted in Articles article kelly foster stormhour interview meteorologists
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      StormHourMark
    • Q and A with StormHour Featured Meteorologist Jorge Torres

      Jorge Torres.jpg

      Jorge Torres is the Chief Meteorologist at KOB-TV in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Before that, he was the Morning Meteorologist at KVIA-TV in El Paso, Texas, so he’s quite familiar with the Desert Southwest.

      When not at work, Jorge enjoys hiking, travelling, exploring new places in New Mexico, eating, working out, and keeping up with his Texas A&M Aggies!

      Follow Jorge On Twitter

      What was your most memorable weather event?

      I actually have two memorable events: one from my childhood and one during my career. My most memorable weather event when I was a boy would be the Jarrell tornado that hit central Texas on May 27th, 1997. I was 10 years old living in Pflugerville, Texas (suburb north of Austin). After an afternoon swim with my family, we were in our home watching TV when Jim Spencer, Chief Weathercaster at KXAN-TV, cut into programming due to a Tornado Warning north of us. The storm rapidly grew in intensity and produced the last F-5 to hit the state of Texas. The tornado hit roughly 30 miles north of where I was, but that same storm produced the darkest skies I’ve ever seen along with high winds and minor flooding in my town.

      
photo: KXAN;
link: /assets/uploads/files/1561130862862-jarrell-tornado.image-via-kxan.jpg;
desc: Jarrell Tornado;
licence:cc;

      The other memorable weather event for me was the February Freeze of 2011 that hit much of the south, including El Paso. The powerful Arctic air-mass caused major damage to the infrastructure in the city. El Paso experienced 78 consecutive hours (more than 3 days) of below freezing temperatures, with the coldest being 1º.

      What is your favourite and least favourite type of weather?

      My favorite type of weather is tropical weather. I’ve always been a fan of summertime thunderstorms that help cool things down after a hot, humid day. I’ve always been very interested in tropical cyclones as well.

      My least favorite type of weather is drought. Living and working in the Desert Southwest has shown me how crucial water is. When large periods of drought occur, wildfires can easily form and spread quickly

      If you weren’t a meteorologist what would you most like to be?

      If I wasn’t a meteorologist, I would love to be a high school science teacher. I enjoy going to local schools and talking to students about weather and science in general. The look of excitement and curiosity from the kids makes it all worthwhile, and I wouldn’t mind having that every day if I was teaching.

      From a purely meteorological point of view, where would you most like to live?

      From a purely meteorological standpoint, I would most like to live & work in Miami. The potential for afternoon storms and the yearly threat of tropical storms & hurricanes would always keep me on my toes.

      If you are interested in being a Featured Meteorologist on StormHour please contact mark@stormhour.com or via DM on Twitter

      posted in Articles article meteorologists interview albuquerque texas
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    • Q & A with Space Meteorologist Dr. Tamitha Skov

      Tamitha Skov.jpeg

      Tamitha Skov stares at the Sun a lot. She is a credentialed space weather forecaster and has been helping the public understand the effects of Space Weather on our daily lives since 2013.

      Tamitha’s forecasting work as the “Space Weather Woman” is widely known on social media such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook and you may have caught her on several television shows for The Weather Channel and The History Channel.

      Follow Tamitha on Twitter

      Or on Facebook!

      What was your most memorable weather event?

      The Mother’s Day solar storm of 2016. Even though this wasn’t the strongest storm on record, it was the first in which I had a GPS drone operator give me real evidence that a solar storm could dramatically impact the navigation of a popular drone.

      I had been reporting on the possibilities of such issues for years, but that storm was the first time anyone gave me the telemetry and actual flight path information of the affected drone.

      What really made a lasting impression on me was that this drone incident occurred only about 30 miles away from an active Amazon Air drone delivery facility in the UK.

      What is your favourite and least favourite type of weather?

      Space Weather is really a mixed bag. Unlike traditional weather, what is considered spectacular for aurora photographers and space enthusiasts is considered horrible for amateur radio operators and GPS enthusiasts.

      For instance, back in 2015 we saw brilliant, rainbow-colored aurora that reached much of Europe and North America. It was even seen in places as far south as Brittany, France, Arkansas, USA, and as far north as Perth, Australia.

      But that same storm ruined a worldwide contest for amateur radio operators and made things difficult for emergency responders to do their jobs. So every space weather storm has positives and negatives. It has me both cheering and booing at the same time.

      If you weren’t a meteorologist what would you most like to be?

      Actually, I am a physicist by training. I’m not a classically trained meteorologist. Space Meteorology isn’t really a field yet, especially in the realm of public consulting and broadcasting.

      Official Space Weather forecasts are a responsibility still held by government agencies like NOAA. In fact, space meteorology today is analogous to what terrestrial meteorology was in the 1960’s. Back then early meteorologists, like Harry Volkman, would grab weather forecasts from military bases and broadcast them to the public.

      Following a similar path, the government regularly does space weather forecasts, but its not really their responsibility to disseminate them to the public. So much of the explanation behind their predictions goes unsaid. I am trying to change all that.

      From a purely meteorological point of view, where would you most like to live?

      This is a really difficult question, obviously, but I think I would most like to live on one of the moons in the Jovian system, like Europa or Ganymede, or perhaps Saturn’s Earth-like moon, Titan.

      Living on one of these magnetized moons, not only would you see aurora in your own skies during a solar storm, but you would also get a chance to see aurora in the sky of your host planet. Of course the terrestrial weather there would be unlivable. Its too bad Earth’s Moon isn’t like more Titan or Europa.

      Could you imagine looking up at the Moon at night during a solar storm and seeing aurora, like little glowing halos surrounding its poles? It would happen far more often than most people yet realize. What a magical sight that would be.

      For more Meteorologist Interviews visit StormHour Featured Meteorologists.

      posted in Articles article meteorologists interview spaceweather
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    • Q and A with Jennifer Carfagno of The Weather Channel

      Jennifer Carfagno.jpeg
      Jen Carfagno is co-host of AMHQ weekdays from 5-9 a.m. ET on The Weather Channel. Jen earned her bachelor’s degree in meteorology from Pennsylvania State University in 1998 – a year after an internship with The Weather Channel. Later that year, she joined The Weather Channel as a full-time forecaster.

      In her spare time, Jen enjoys running, relaxing at the beach or working in the yard.

      Follow Jen On Twitter

      What was your most memorable weather event?

      It’s hard to pick just one. As a meteorologist at The Weather Channel, Hurricane Katrina proved to be even more than the disaster we thought it could be. I can still picture what the dire weather bulletins looked like as I read the messages urging evacuation.

      As a teenager in Pennsylvania, experiencing the Superstorm of 1993 was pretty epic. And events like when Hurricane Joaquin skirted the southeast coast but it’s moisture was tapped to produce devastating flooding in South Carolina – events like that intrigue me.

      Hurricane-Katrina-Landfall-New-Orleans.jpg
      Hurricane Katrina Making Landfall in New Orleans

      What is your favourite and least favourite type of weather?

      I hate the east wind. I have a saying – Nothing Good About the East Wind. Think about it – so many bad weather days can be linked to east wind! A nor’easter, rip currents on the east coast of Florida, getting socked in clouds/cool in the Southeast US, Heat/Wind/Fire Risk in with Santa Anna’s (east wind) in SoCal, Snow/Ice in Portland OR (east wind down Columbia R. Gorge. )

      I love to forecast exciting and changing weather, but I’d be happy living in sunny and 75 (with a dew point of 65) any day and every day 😉

      If you weren’t a meteorologist what would you most like to be?

      Maybe something related to the ocean – I like to do things where I’m constantly questioning and learning.

      From a purely meteorological point of view, where would you most like to live?

      Atlanta is actually pretty good. We get winter weather, severe weather, sometimes tropical storms bring rain, and our autumn weather can’t be beat

      Is there anything else you’d like to share?

      One of the reasons I love being a meteorologist is that weather is the backdrop to every moment in our lives. It is the great equalizer. It is the conversation starter. It can create an instant connection. And it’s amazing to me how the weather community shares information and learning so well. Glad to be a part of it!

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