The Bryan Norcross Podcast

Join Bryan and Luke Dorris for an in-depth conversation with the retiring Director of the National Weather Service, Louis Uccellini. Hear about Louis’s extraordinary career as a key player in everything to do with the science and practice of forecasting the weather in the United States and around the world. Louis recounts how today’s computer models were developed, the competition between U.S. modelers and the Europeans, his interaction with the National Hurricane Center before and after Hurricane Andrew, the seminal moment when computer models worked for the “Storm of the Century” in 1993, his path to success, the program to make the U.S. a Weather-Ready Nation, and much more.

Join Bryan and Luke Dorris for an in-depth conversation about the epic story of the cruising ship Fantome that was lost in Category 5 Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Prolific author Jim Carrier talks about the twists and turns in the saga that led to a huge passenger ship being trapped in the western Caribbean by a giant hurricane that refused to go where it was forecast. The story of the ship, the owner, the captain, the crew, and the Miami Beach company that owned it is quite a tale.

Join Bryan and Luke Dorris for a wide-ranging conversation with the amazing, 90-year-old former director of the National Hurricane Center Dr. Neil Frank. Neil recalls the great hurricanes of the 1960s, how forecasts were made at that time, and how he came to understand that communications is as important as making good forecasts. Learn how a kid from Kansas grew up to be the longest serving NHC director in history.

Bryan and Luke talk with Andrew Freeman, the climate and energy reporter at Axios. It’s a wide-ranging conversation about climate and climate policy in the United States and elsewhere in the world, working on Mount Washington in 100 mph winds, modern formats for communicating efficiently, and his fascinating career which included time out to be a stand-up comic.

Bryan and Luke talk with David Bernard, Chief Meteorologist at WVUE-TV in New Orleans, about his and his TV station’s experiences during Hurricane Ida. What did they know before Ida hit? Was it a surprise? What was it like in the city during the storm? How has the recovery gone in the city and it the hardest hit areas? How could communications have been better? And much more.

Bryan and Luke talk with Dr. Roni Avissar, Dean of the oceanography and meteorology school at the University of Miami about research underway at the school, including a new idea for detecting the strength of hurricanes, a hurricane forecast model, using a helicopter to better understand how hurricanes strengthen, and what’s involved in being a dean at a high-level meteorology school.

A special edition of the Bryan Norcross Podcast. Luke interviews Bryan about how Hurricane Andrew changed his life, the morning Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, covering Hurricane Sandy, naming winter storms, and more. This is Part 2 of an extensive conversation.

A special edition of the Bryan Norcross Podcast. Luke interviews Bryan about his life, communications philosophy, key weather moments, and much more. From his first hurricane broadcast during Hurricane Camille, to his first time anchoring when nobody could get to the TV station in a major snowstorm, to running a news department, to of course, Hurricane Andrew. This is Part 1 of an extensive conversation.

Bryan and Luke talk with Dr. Brian Glazer from the University of Hawaii at Manoa about his research into microbes and how they exist is extreme natural environments like volcanoes and deep in the oceans. Plus we learn about a new system called Hohonu, which has the goal of measuring ocean, bay, or river levels in real time so we know what’s happening during storms or due to sea-level rise in general.

Bryan and Luke talk with Dr. Lixion Avila, who recently retired as Sr. Hurricane Specialist at the National Hurricane Center about growing up and learning meteorology in Cuba, coming to the University Miami, and spending his professional life at the National Hurricane Center. Lixion wrote more advisories and forecast discussions than anyone in NHC history. Hear stories about how it was done back in the day, the legendary meteorologists he worked with, and how a kid from Cuba became a key U.S. hurricane forecaster and communicator to the rest of the world’s weather services on hurricanes.

Bryan and Luke talk with Dr. Kerry Emanuel, meteorology professor and climate scientist at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts about how climate science has evolved, and his work to understand how hurricanes will behave in a warmer world. Is global warming already affecting hurricanes? Also, learn about his groundbreaking work to determine how strong a given hurricane could get – called the Maximum Potential Intensity. What are the challenges of conveying risk, and why that’s so important in hurricane forecasting. It’s a wide-ranging discussion about hurricanes, climate change, policy, and much more.

Bryan and Luke talk with Robbie Berg, Hurricane Specialist at the National Hurricane Center who also specializes in communications. Learn how hurricane forecasts are made around the clock when multiple storms are active at the same time and other forecasting challenges. Robbie is also a communication specialist working on the next generation of National Hurricane Center products. How do people use the cone? How might the cone change in the years ahead. Join Bryan and Luke for a far-ranging conversation about hurricane forecasting and forecast communications.

This is an update to Podcast #60 with a discussion of Tropical Storm Elsa, plus our discussion with Dr. Hal Needham. How high has the storm surge actually reached in hurricanes of the past? Luke and I talk with Dr. Hal Needham who has studied the historical records from Texas to Maine to learn how high the water reached, and what could happen in the future. Learn about Hal's experience studying and experiencing storm surge.

Are the cycles of hurricane activity in the Atlantic real? Is Europe warm because of the Gulf Stream? Will we have more hurricanes in a warmer future world? How should South Florida respond to climate change? Dr. Amy Clement of the University of Miami talks with Bryan and Luke answering these questions and more in a wide-ranging discussion.

Dr. Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University joins Bryan and Luke with the latest forecast for Hurricane Season 2021. Learn how the forecast is made, and the factors in the atmosphere and ocean that make a season busy or calm. Will the activity be above normal again? And what is normal in the modern world? Plus, are hurricane cycles real? Listen for answers to these hurricane questions and more.

To get ready for Hurricane Season 2021, Bryan and Luke talk with Ken Graham, the Director of the National Hurricane Center about the big challenges and lessons of the 2020 hurricane season and what we learned about how storms behave, the computer forecast models, and much more.

Bryan and Luke Dorris talk with Dr. Mike Brennan who runs the unit at the National Hurricane Center that produces the advisories and outlooks that we’re all so familiar with. They discuss Hurricane Season 2020 – what was especially difficult during this very busy season? How did the computer models do this year? How does the National Hurricane Center use the models and avoid big swings in the forecast? And much more about hurricanes and hurricane forecasting.

Bryan and Luke talk with Beth McElroy, the Director of Emergency Management at the South Florida Water Management District. The District is the agency that’s tasked with keeping South Florida from flooding from heavy rain and protecting the fresh water supply. Learn how the massive system works that controls the water in the major rivers and canals that crisscross South Florida, and makes the region livable for millions of people.

Bryan and Luke Dorris talk with former National Hurricane Center Director and Local 10 Hurricane Specialist Max Mayfield about the changes in hurricane forecasting during his time in the business, forecasting Hurricane Gilbert and Andrew, how communications have changed, and much more.

Bryan and Luke Dorris talk with former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate about managing hurricanes and other disasters including Covid-19, his time in Florida dealing with the monumental hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005, and lessons for dealing with hurricanes in the future.

Bryan and Luke Dorris talk with two very prolific and accomplished young meteorologists: Matthew Cappucci of the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang and Jack Sillin, who is still in school at Cornell University, but also has a big presence on Twitter and his own weather websites. Both have been active since they were very young, and now produce extremely professional and articulate analyses of complex weather topics. Meet the next generation of leaders in meteorology.

Bryan and Luke Dorris talk with National Hurricane Center Storm Surge Specialist and leader of the Storm Surge Unit Jamie Rhome about the challenges presented by erratic Hurricane Sally, the forecasting success in Hurricane Laura in spite of the instant criticism, and the modern science behind storm surge forecasting.

Luke and Bryan talk about what's going on in the tropics - lots of action in the eastern Atlantic and over Africa - plus a conversation with author Greg Funderburk who has a new book coming out called "Mourning Wave: A novel of the great storm." It's a gripping tale about the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900, and is very different from other hurricane books.

Bryan Norcross and Luke Dorris talk about current developments in the tropics, whether Hurricane Laura was as bad as "expected", and Hurricane Dorian. Local 10 anchors Calvin Hughes and Nicole Perez remember Dorian - what it was like on the ground in Abaco and what it was like anchoring from South Florida. And much more about hurricane coverage on TV.

Bryan talks with University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy about Hurricane Laura. Could the forecast have been any more accurate? The state of hurricane science. What's going on with South Florida's climate? And much more.

Bryan talks with Eric Jay Dolin, the author of the new book, "A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes." From the first hurricane forecast by a European, Christopher Columbus, to the great hurricanes that have hit America in more modern times, Bryan and Eric talk about the process of writing a book that covers so much time, and with so much information available. Plus fascinating stories of the forecasters and regular people who lived through the incredible storms.

This special audio and video podcast follows up on research from last year about the details behind the 1888 Cat 3 or higher hurricane that hit Miami Beach on August 16, 1888, according to the official database.

Bryan talks with Dr. Louis Uccellini, the Director of the National Weather Service, about the new forecast for Hurricane Season 2020, operating the National Weather Service in a pandemic, how the American computer forecast model compares to others in the world, and much more.

Was the Florida miss possible to forecast? Plus his book about Hurricane Sandy, how scientists become scientists, climate science, and much more.

Bryan Norcross talks with Dr. Phil Klotzbach about the current uncertain situation in the tropics related to Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine. Plus why this hurricane season looks like it will be very busy, and more hurricane talk.

Bryan Norcross talks with Dr. Jeff Masters, one of the preeminent weather and climate bloggers on the internet, and a founder of the famous weather-information website Weather Underground. They talk about what's going on with Hurricane Season 2020, how climate change is affecting our weather, and many other weather topics.

Bryan and Local 10 meteorologist Luke Dorris discuss the superplume of Saharan dust in the Atlantic, the unusually early arrival of the 4th named storm of the season, and a project by the National Weather Service to streamline weather alerts, called HazSimp, with National Weather Service meteorologist Eli Jacks

Bryan and Local 10 meteorologist Luke Dorris discuss the active start so far this season, including the earliest "C" named storm on record with Tropical Storm Cristobal. Joining them is Ken Graham, the Director of the National Hurricane Center to discuss whether 6 or 7 day hurricane forecasts are useful, what is new this year from the NHC, and much more.

Bryan and Local 10 meteorologist Luke Dorris kick on Hurricane Season 2020, which has been active so far. Joining them is Shannon Weiner, Emergency Management Director in the Keys to talk about hurricane planning with COVID-19 as a consideration and more.

The National Hurricane Center's Dr. Mike Brennan joins Bryan to help wind down the 2019 hurricane season on this episode of the Bryan Norcross Podcast

In this episode of the Bryan Norcross Podcast, Bryan and Luke discuss the challenges of communicating local weather in a high-tech era with Robert Molleda of the National Weather Service.

The National Hurricane Center's Matt Onderlinde joins Bryan and Luke on the Bryan Norcross Podcast to talk about the technology and science branch of the NHC and his Weathernerds website.

This week, Bryan and Luke welcome Local 10 Hurricane Specialist Max Mayfield to the podcast to discuss the 1888 hurricane that reportedly brought 18-foot tides to South Florida. But is the legend of that storm more fiction than fact?

Willie Drye, author of "Storm of the Century, and Les Standiford, author of "Last Train to Paradise" join Bryan and Luke to discuss their renowned South Florida-centric books and the history behind them on the Bryan Norcross Podcast.

Local 10's Jenise Fernandez shares her eyewitness accounts of Hurricane Dorian's devastation in the Bahamas when she joins Bryan and Luke on the Bryan Norcross Podcast

Local 10's Bryan Norcross and Betty Davis explain the slight changes to the Hurricane Dorian forecast and whether South Florida could be in the clear on the Bryan Norcross Podcast.

Local 10 Chief Certified Meteorologist Betty Davis joins Bryan Norcross to talk about a wild day for Hurricane Dorian and what it all means for the chance of a direct hit to South Florida.

Local 10's Bryan Norcross and Brandon Orr discuss the very latest on Hurricane Dorian and which models are the most successful in predicting where a storm may head.

Local 10's Bryan Norcross and Luke Dorris have the very latest on Hurricane Dorian as it strengthens and targets Florida.

Local 10's Bryan Norcross and Luke Dorris discuss the future path of Tropical Storm Dorian and how it could affect Florida after it makes it's way through the Caribbean. Plus, Leslie Chapman-Henderson from FLASH joins the Bryan Norcross Podcast.

Bryan and Luke are joined by the legendary and fearless storm chaser Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel on the Bryan Norcross Podcast.

Local 10's Bryan Norcross and Luke Dorris discuss what's brewing in the tropics after a slow start to hurricane season, and they're joined by hurricane tracker Mark Sudduth on the Bryan Norcross Podcast

Local 10's Bryan Norcross talks to the "Hurricane Man" himself, Josh Morgerman, about chasing storms around the world and his new show that debuts September 15 on the Science Channel.

Dr. Phil Klotzbach joins Bryan and Luke on the Bryan Norcross Podcast to discuss Colorado State's updated forecast for the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season.

On the podcast, Bryan and Luke discuss how prepared the Sunshine State is for hurricane season with Jared Moskowitz, Director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management.