I grew up in California, Texas, Arizona, and in Germany. For a number of years I wanted to
work for the airlines flying commercial jets, but my uncorrected eyesight was not ideal and I
quickly found that weather forecasting was my calling.
I got my first job in 1984 composing the daily weather page for a Dallas area newspaper.
It paid peanuts, but it got me some experience and disciplined me into analyzing the weather consistently
and taking accountability for my work.
I continued this job while I was in college and also dived headfirst into storm chasing, with 1987 my first
big season on the Plains. Unfortunately 1987 and 1988 are widely agreed upon to be the worst years in chaser history,
but it's probably for the better as I diverted my severe weather interests to journals, conference preprints,
and frequent visits with NWS forecasters.
A couple of years later I went into the Air Force as a meteorologist, and this marked a major turning point in my life.
I was honor graduate in their weather training program and was hand-picked to work for
the F-117A program at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada.
The day that I and a fellow coworker (Babe Lawson) were escorted into a closed hangar and got to walk up and touch the
F-117A and sit in the cockpit
was a particularly powerful moment for me, as at the time the plane was still secret and the public had never seen it.
As a forecaster, my briefings and forecasts were used mostly by the B-1B Lancer force at Dyess AFB
and by UN Command in Korea. I did get to participate in some high-profile operations like
the Operation Support Hope
humanitarian mission into Rwanda, the 1994 English Channel D-Day anniversary B-1B flyover, and
Space Shuttle mission STS-59's ferry flight back to Kennedy through Dyess.
For the full story on key events in my Air Force weather career,
click here as there's a lot of details.
In the late 1990s the tech boom was in full force, and I did well carving out my own niche in private consulting.
I developed mainstream and custom
meteorology packages, wrote meteorology books, ran seasonal storm chase forecasting services,
trained forecasters, and authored a longtime Weatherwise magazine department.
All of these things I continue to do to this day.
I currently live in Norman, Oklahoma and am married with a beautiful wife and a bright, enthusiastic son.
My areas of interest include meteorology, geography, earth sciences, astronomy, general
philosophy, 20th century history, and Cold War and Vietnam War studies.
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