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My New Gig at FOX 8. Check Out The Weather Lab!

posted on Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 9:31 pm

It was a gorgeous day in New Orleans today. Dry, breezy and sunny. It’s the kind of weather we look forward to all year. It’s been a cold winter down here, we’ve been waiting for Spring.

Cirrus Clouds, New Orleans Sunset

On my way to talk to a community group tonight, I shot this photo as I was looking to the southwest. What a gorgeous sunset. Louisiana often has beautiful sunsets and sunrises. Interesting cloud formations reflect the sunlight as the sun rises and falls.

Meanwhile, I’ve been neglected my weather blog. My new job at FOX 8 is creating new and interesting challenges. I love my job. We launched a new show called FOX 8 Morning Call on February 1.

Here’s a picture of Chris Franklin and me from this morning at 5am.

Chris Franklin and Dawn Brown, WVUE New Orleans

We started this new show that’s kind of like the Weather Channel, but it’s focused on Southeast Louisiana. We do the usual temperatures, rain chances, forecast, but then we get to spend extra time talking about the wave heights and sea surface temperatures in the lakes and Gulf of Mexico, the kind of stuff fisherman and mariners are interested in. We have the buoy data from all the Gulf Coast buoys plotted in our new weather system.

Here’s the pic I took Friday of the current sea surface temperatures on one of our new weather systems.

Sea Surface Temperatures, (3/12/2010)

Here’s Chris at the weather wall. Because I’m usually doing the weather, I never get to see how weird it looks that we’re pointing at a blank green wall.

Chris Franklin, WVUE New Orleans

Our weather graphics are projected onto the wall, and we are “keyed” out of the graphics. We can’t wear green or we would blend right into the graphics. We’ll probably both get pinched on St. Patty’s Day!

It’s awesome having two meteorologists in the mornings. Besides having the extra help with forecasts and graphics, we get to explain basic weather phenomenon, like hail, high pressure systems, sea fog, etc.

Every week, Chris and I also host a segment called “Weather Lab”, where we explain basic weather terms with experiments. Last week, Chris crushed a soda can with air pressure.

I’m having a blast! However, I’ve been remiss with my weather blog and adding new features to my website. I’m getting back on track… bear with me.

Thanks – Dawn Brown

Tags: chris franklin, dawn brown, fox 8 new orleans, louisiana, new orleans, weather lab, what's up with that weather | No comments | Read more

A Watch Versus a Warning

posted on Sunday, October 25th, 2009 at 4:19 pm

Expired Weather Warnings, Image: NOAA

When a TV weather forecaster breaks into television programming, it’s usually to tell the viewers a watch or a warning has been issued by the National Weather Service. The National Weather Service is the government agency in charge of issuing weather warnings to save lives and protect property.The NWS issues the warning, television stations broadcast it to the viewers. The image above tells us the National Weather Service has issued two different warnings for Southeastern Texas and Western Louisiana. The counties colored red are under tornado warnings. A tornado warning means that a tornado has either been spotted visually

Union City, Oklahoma 1973, Image: NSSL, NOAA

or it has been detected by Doppler radar. When a tornado warning is issued, this means viewers need to take immediate shelter. Click on the following link for more information on tornado safety. The counties shaded in green are under flood warnings. This means that heavy rain has caused river levels to rise in those areas. A flash flood warning means that a flash flood is occurring or about to occur. Flash floods typically occur during torrential rain events.

Expired Tornado Watch, Image: NOAA

Television viewers are most likely not surprised when the National Weather Service issues a warning. They have probably seen the skies darken, lightning flash in the distance, and heard the rumbling of thunder. By the time a flash flood warning or a tornado warning has been issued, viewers need to take immediate action to protect their lives or property. Television forecasters don’t have much time to tell viewers they are in danger when a tornado is already on the ground, or heavy rain has turned into a flash flood event. It is the job of forecasters at the Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma to forecast the possibility of severe weather days in advance, and give local forecasters a heads up that they need to warn viewers that they need to prepare for severe weather. The Storm Prediction Center is in charge of issuing watches. (This can be a flood watch, tornado watch, severe thunderstorm watch, etc.)

A tornado watch means that conditions are right for the development of tornadoes. A watch can be issued when the sky is blue and the weather does not seem at all threatening. On a Sunday morning, you may leave for church, then an afternoon of shopping at the mall and be totally surprised by severe thunderstorms passing through as you try and leave the shopping mall to head home. This is why forecasters at the Storm Prediction Center spend hours trying to predict the weather days in advance of developing storms, to give people adequate time to protect their property and save lives.

If you live in an area where severe thunderstorms occur, you are responsible for making sure you know what precautions to take when the National Weather Service issues a warning. Again click on the following link for the latest information on tornado safety.

The main threat from flash floods comes in the form of water filling roadways. Flash floods are the #1 severe weather related killer from in the United States. (Heat related deaths are the highest overall.) Most of the threat comes from people trying to cross flooded roadways. Six inches of fast moving water can knock you off your feet. (Source: Turn Around, Don’t Drown, National Weather Service Southern Regional Headquarters.)

Flash Flooding, Image: NOAA

-Dawn Brown

Tags: dawn brown, flash flood, flash flood watch, flood warning, tornado safety, tornado warning, tornado watch | No comments | Read more

What is the job of a television meteorologist?

posted on Saturday, September 5th, 2009 at 3:30 pm

The Magic of TV! Photo Courtesy Chris Meydrich

I’ll get to the picture in just a second. But, first, the job of a TV weather person depends on where you work. Some stations don’t even require that you are a meteorologist. They just want you to be able to communicate the weather forecast in a way that’s easy to understand, so the public knows what the weather will be like when they walk out the door. While the National Weather Service is the government agency in charge of forecasting the weather and issuing warnings when your life or property is threatened, they communicate those warnings through television stations. In places like New Orleans, most television stations require the weather person to have a degree in meteorology. Severe weather, in the form of flash flooding, damaging winds, or hail, can develop rapidly along the Gulf South. When I’m looking at a developing storm on radar, I have the ability to determine whether it has certain features that indicate the possibility of damaging winds, or even a tornado. Because weather conditions change so rapidly, TV weather people often stay up all night watching the weather, in case a thunderstorm becomes severe. (A yoga mat on the floor is very comfortable during an all-nighter.) The other fact that people are surprised about is that we make up our own forecasts. That’s why every station has a different forecast. We check the global computer models four times a day, and adjust our forecasts with the changing weather conditions (what’s going on outside), and what the computer models are showing us as well. It’s up to the experience of the individual meteorologist to look at the developing weather outside as well as use the most accurate computer model to produce the forecast. That’s a lot of mumbo jumbo to say it’s a takes a lot of work and experience to make a daily forecast, and it’s a new challenge every day. (My next blog answers the question: What is a computer weather model, and how do forecasters use them?) Most television meteorologists make their own computer graphics, put on their own makeup, choose their own clothes, and then go on TV! (Not as glamorous as it looks to most people I guess.)

Okay… so to the “green screen”! In the picture above, I am standing in front of the weather wall, (probably putting on my microphone.) When we are giving our forecasts, the screen in back of us is green. Through the magic of TV, the maps of the United States are made to look like they are on the wall behind us, even though they are just projected onto your television set, with the meteorologist in front. When it looks like we are turning toward the wall and pointing, we are actually looking at television monitors on each side of us, and in front of us. Stay tuned for more insider weather info… until next time!

Tags: and green screen, brown, dawn, meteorologist, television, weather anchor | 1 comment | Read more

Get Your Local TV Forecast

posted on Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 at 9:40 pm

CLICK ON YOUR TOWN TO WATCH YOUR LOCAL FORECAST! Your can watch your local forecast on the internet! Click on the town you live in below, or the town you are visiting to watch the local forecast from the weather anchor. Scroll down the list to find the state and then town. (For a faster search, hit Control F, then type in the name of the town, and hit enter.)

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