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21 September 2019
Straight Talk From an Expert on Climate Change
This is why Katherine Hayhoe got the UN Champion of the Earth Award this month. She deserved it. This is how you communicate science. From her Twitter feed on August 23rd: And the response when Dr. Hayhoe posts things like this: …and the truth of the matter is that those who claim it is not real are not basing their opinion on fact or evidence. It’s based on FEAR: …
16 September 2019
You Are About to See a Whole Lot About Climate Change On-line and On-Air and it is Long Overdue
Many on-air and online news outlets are going to do a lot of climate change coverage this week. This came out of a meeting I attended a few months back at Columbia University and it was sponsored in part by the Columbia Journalism Review. The press, especially TV news, has done a horrible job of covering climate change. Mainly by ignoring it. When they have covered it, the stories were …
10 September 2019
NWS Director and Chief Science Officer at NOAA Back NWS Hurricane Tweet; Who Wrote NOAA Friday Statement??
In a (not really) surprising turn of events, Monday, the Director of the National Weather Service Louis Uccinelli and NOAA’s chief science officer publicly backed a tweet issued by the NWS office in Birmingham on Sept. 1st. That tweet (which was scientifically accurate) told residents that Hurricane Dorian would not be a threat to Alabama. It was posted after their phones melted with rumors that Alabama would be hit much …
8 September 2019
American Meteorological Society & NWS Leadership Issue Statements Supporting NWS Employees/ WAPO- Forecasters Warned Not To Give Opinions on Forecast!
The American Meteorological Society tonight posted a statement supporting the NWS office that was criticized by an unsigned NOAA statement Friday night. (See here and here). In addition, an all-hands email was sent Saturday by NWS Director Uccellini and the Deputy Director/Executive Council. Note the sentence I highlighted in the email. Note the Washington Post is reporting tonight that top NOAA officials warned employees not to correct the President in …
7 September 2019
Anger Among Public and Meteorologists after False Unsigned NOAA Statement
Last Sunday morning the forecasters at the NWS were giving a huge sigh of relief. It had been certain for at least two days that Hurricane Dorian would not be an issue there. The forecast cone from the NHC by midday Saturday continued to show Florida and areas up the Eastern Seaboard would be in the path of Dorian. Then the phones started ringing off the hook and social media …
6 September 2019
NOAA Issues False Statement About Alabama Hurricane Impacts
On Sunday the NWS in Birmingham put this tweet out: It was correct based on the guidance and on the public forecasts issued by the National Hurricane Center. Their forecast was actually nearly spot-on as well. Tonight an unnamed person at NOAA issued this statement (below) Friday evening. This statement is false. The tweet from the NWS in Birmingham was correct. This is a dark day for NOAA. I have …
1 August 2019
New Research Confirms it: The 7 Day Forecast Will Never Become a 17 Day Forecast
Despite the “horoscope” forecasts on Accuweather, most meteorologists will tell you that 7 days is about the extent of a reliable weather forecast. We can give you (at times, especially in the warm season) an idea of above or below normal out to maybe ten days but that is really pushing it. Beyond that, your best bet is to rely on the climatological averages (or add a degree …
27 July 2019
New Research Confirms It: The Warming is Us
The leading climate myth going around these days (I see it a lot on social media) is that the record global warmth is just part of a natural cycle. It’s been shown in many ways that this is not possible for quite some time, but some people (not the science community) have held onto the “Little Ice Age” as evidence that the warming planet is from only natural oscillations. New …
16 July 2019
A 1954 Weathercast
Today was our 65th anniversary at WBOC TV here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. During our anniversary special at 7 PM, I did the weather as it would have been done in 1954. No radar, no satellite, and the extended forecast? That was the day after tomorrow. Times have changed! I actually did the weather on a hand-drawn map for a couple of years at the start of my …
20 June 2019
Climate Stripes on the Solstice
Climate scientist Ed Hawkins at the Uni. of Reading is known for producing some great info-graphics about our warming climate but one of his most popular is now known as the climate stripes. This Friday, on the solstice (1554 GMT) meteorologists around the world are going to display them. They are a powerful visual of how the planet is warming, and this time thanks to the folks at Climate Central …
Dan Satterfield has worked as an on air meteorologist for 32 years in Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama. Forecasting weather is Dan's job, but all of Earth Science is his passion. This journal is where Dan writes about things he has too little time for on air. Dan blogs about peer-reviewed Earth science for Junior High level audiences and up.