Tonight's episode features TWO special guests!

Our Guest WeatherBrain for tonight is an award winning journalist and author who's latest book "Cloud Warriors" was recently named one of Barnes and Nobles's best science and technology books in 2025 with a background in investigative and narrative journalism. He brings a deep curiosity and perspective to the world of atmospheric science. In researching his book, he traveled across the country embedded with scientists at the National Weather Service. His book explores the shifting landscape of weather forecasting at a time that climate change, technical disruption and institutional uncertainty is shaking the foundations of our industry. Thomas Weber, welcome!

Our Guest Panlist is the lead meteorologist at the NWS forecast office in State College, PA. He's got years of operational forecasting experience and plays a key leadership role in the accuracy, timeliness, and relevance of forecasts for central Pennsylvania. He's deeply involved in mentoring younger forecasters and helping to communicate critical weather information to emergency managers and the public. He's also a graduate of Penn State. Welcome to the show, John Banghoff!

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.

• Role/responsibilities of a NWS Lead Forecaster (11:00)
• Official "Cloud Warriors" book website (20:45)
• How early science/technology developed and shaped societies (22:30)
• Shift at the NWS forecast office in Caribou, Maine in the 60s/modern parallels (28:00)
• What is a NWS WFO and what does it do? (29:45)
• Focusing on public service in journalism (44:30)
• Weather and its ability to be a great unifier (57:30)
• 2019 Beauregard/Lee County tornado research (01:16:00)
• Revolutions in weather forecasting (01:25:30)
• Fighting conspiracy theories and misinformation (01:34:30)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:44:40)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:46:45)
• E-Mail Segment (No segment this week - stay tuned!)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 1017:

John Banghoff on X

"Cloud Warriors" by Thomas E Weber

Picks of the Week:

John Banghoff - "The Weather Gods Curse The Gettysburg Campaign" by Jon Nese Jeffrey J. Harding

James Aydelott - Grand Canyon National Park

James Aydelott - Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Jen Narramore - PA Storm Trackerz

Rick Smith - Out

Troy Kimmel - Out

Kim Klockow-McClain - NOAA nominee Neil Jacobs testifies at confirmation hearing amid deadly Texas floods

John Gordon - Pulse and Multicell Storms Conceptual Model

Bill Murray - Foghorn

James Spann - Sarah Marsh Obituary

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.

Tonight's episode comes on the heels of another horrific weather tragedy; a Texas hill country flash flooding event that killed at least 100 people. This was a flash flood that we all fear - extreme rainfall, rugged terrain, and was a nocturnal event overnight on a holiday weekend. It's a home-grown show among our panelists, and it's a critical topic about a historical weather event.

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.

• 1978 Texas Flash Flood/Tropical Storm Amelia (03:00)
• What makes the Hill Country so susceptible to flooding? (05:00)
• WEA Alerts issued before flash flood tragedy (12:00)
• Prior major flash floods that have plagued the U. S. (20:45)
• Returning to critical thinking about risk assessment and wading through the madness of social media (25:00)
• Exploring the role of NWS Warning Coordination Meteorologist and the EMA coordination process (37:25)
• Difficulties of warning the public for flooding events/Call to action (50:30)
• Warning fatigue similarities with Severe Thunderstorm/Flash Flood NWS bulletins (59:25)
• Legacy and critical lasting importance radio/NOAA weather radio communication in an emergency (01:11:30)
• Modeling post-event reports from NTSB service assessments (01:15:00)
• First ever issued NWS Flash Flood Emergency (01:24:00)
• Political activist posts following tragedy/cloud seeding explained (01:33:45)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:47:35)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (No segment this week - stay tuned!)
• E-Mail Segment (No segment this week - stay tuned!)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 1016:

Samaritan's Purse Responding to Deadly Floods in Texas

Convoy of Hope Response to Texas Deadly Floods

Picks of the Week:

James Aydelott - James Aydelott on Facebook: Texas Flood Tragedy Discussion

Jen Narramore - Samaritan's Purse/Convoy of Hope Texas Flood Tragedy Fundraising Campaigns

Rick Smith - Cuts to NOAA increase the risk of deadly weather tragedies - Yale Climate Connections

Troy Kimmel - Foghorn

Kim Klockow-McClain - Wine Fish

John Gordon - July 23rd, 2020 Rainbow Wash Flash Flood

Bill Murray - How one Texas summer camp successfully evacuated from the floods

James Spann - James Spann on Facebook: Texas Flood FAQ and answers

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.

Tonight's guest joins us from Bonn, Germany — and from the far side of the clock, where it's 2 a.m. local time! Lars Lowinski is a seasoned meteorologist with international experience spanning Europe and New Zealand. He now works with WetterOnline, one of Europe's largest weather platforms, where he connects their U.S. business operations with German-based product development and training. He's also an avid storm chaser who's pursued Great Plains supercells and participated in the Hazardous Weather Testbed in Norman, Oklahoma. Lars has been a loyal WeatherBrains listener since 2008 — and we're thrilled to finally have him on the show! 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.

• Is tornado season over? (02:30)
• Forecasting in the Southern Hemisphere and working with oil and gas industry (17:50)
• Compare/Contrast experiences in NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed (20:00)
• Importance of doing a thorough hand analysis before utilizing model data when assimilating forecasts (21:00)
• Discussing the European Severe Storms Laboratory (23:00)
• Importance of working together internationally/globally when communicating severe weather risks (28:00)
• Breaking down barriers in the science of meteorology through simple human interaction (35:00)
• Approaches/challenges in weather messaging across different cultures and languages across the world (35:30)
• Looking back at Lars's storm chasing experiences (45:30)
• Discussion of deadly July 1916 Austria tornado and it's experiences lost in history due to World War One (55:00)
• European severe weather warning process vs U.S. severe weather warning process (57:45)
• Weather-aware subculture in the United States (01:13:00)
• Rise of Digital Meteorologists (01:16:00)
• NWS budget update/analysis (01:29:30)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:26:20)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:28:00)
• E-Mail Segment (No segment this week)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 1015:

Lars Lowinski Photography

Picks of the Week:

Lars Lowinski - Monster HP supercell in France (06/13/2025)

James Aydelott - James Aydelott on Facebook: Three feet of rain in Tulsa, OK since January 1st/Wettest April 1-June 30 on record in Tulsa (Back to 1931)

Jen Narramore - Lightning strike injures 2 at Northland HS soccer field in Columbus

Rick Smith - Out

Troy Kimmel - Out

Kim Klockow-McClain - Earth's Clouds on the Move

John Gordon - Kyle J Gillett on X: Panhandle, TX boundary collision

John Gordon - Ronca-HohnWx on X: Memphis, TN boundary collision

Bill Murray - Out

James Spann - June 28th, 2025 Deuel County, South Dakota tornado

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.