JUDY WOODRUFF: The past 12 months are the warmest ever recorded in the United States since record-keeping began in 1895. That word comes as a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says climate change, including human factors, has increased the odds of extreme weather. . .
Watch Extreme Weather Records 'Like a Baseball Player on Steroids' on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.
Yes I am! MT @PLMuse Are you #expecting? If so, expect these common problems during your pregnancy! bit.ly/JkHpYo #pregnancy
— Kim_Martucci (@WeatherKim) May 15, 2012
DCRTV hears that Channel 9/WUSA has hired Anny Hong [April 2009 video below] as weekend meteorologist and weekday reporter. She comes from the KOVR/KMAX TV combo in Sacramento. She's also worked at TVers in Fresno, Eugene OR, Syracuse, and Watertown NY. She interned at the BBC in London and CNN in Seoul. She is a graduate of Syracuse University where she double-majored in broadcast journalism and policy studies. Hong received her broadcast meteorology degree from Mississippi State University.....She has most recently been living in Paris:
After working as an Anchor/Reporter at CBS13, Anny Hong is fulfilling her dream of living in Paris. She moved to France to cover stories in Europe and attend the prestigious Sorbonne University to learn French. She will also be taking cooking courses at the world-renowned Cordon Bleu culinary institution. Along with going to school, she'll be blogging about her life and experiences in France. She will also be Skyping and reporting LIVE from various events and interesting locations on Good Day Sacramento and CBS13. Local high school students from several schools that offer French language courses will also be Skyping with Anny on a regular basis.
Last year he stumbled over his words in a live broadcast and forecast a "muddy sh*te" for Glastonbury instead of a "muddy site".The Beeb itself reported its regrets:
He was also forced to make an apology after referring to the Outer Hebrides or Western Isles of Scotland as "nowheresville" in a weather bulletin in February 2007.
Early this year Tomasz caused controversy when he posed without his top on for the cover of Active - a supplement in gay magazine, Attitude.
"The News Channel presenter in the studio acknowledged a mistake had been made, and we apologise for any offence caused," a BBC spokesman said.The Guardian's MediaMonkey blog comments
"Tomasz was not aware that he was on air, and whilst the gesture was only shown for a second, it was not acceptable."
And, you guessed it... Schafernaker again who couldn't stop laughing after BBC News presenter Simon McCoy – him again! – suggested he had a "frozen ball". "Just the one," replied TS. Schafernaker, who as well as predicting warm fronts has quite an impressive front himself (as revealed in Attitude magazine earlier this year) has also been known to break into song, read out the wrong forecast and occasionally make no sense whatsoever.
DCRTV hears that Channel 7/WJLA officially announced on the 11 PM Sunday newscast that Bob Ryan will be working there. As widely rumored. They had a pic of Bob and Doug Hill together. Ryan, who left Channel 4/WRC in February, will be doing 7's 11 PM newscast's weathercast, teaming with Hill during weather emergencies, and contributing to station owner's new TBD local news website. The DC Post has more. More local TV weather news (not in the Post): DCRTV hears that Kim Martucci (right), who left Channel 9/WUSA at the end of December when her contract was not renewed, announced on her Facebook page that she will be doing some freelance weather work at Channel 4/WRC soon. "They have a great team and I am excited to be working with some incredibly talented people who have been here a long time. See you on the air very soon," she writes. Just last week, DCRTV reported that Martucci announced that she is pregnant and due in October.....See Mediarology for other posts on this topic.
"All along, he has said it was not about money. Well, Gannett is not only showing him the money, they are offering something the Allbrittons can't - national exposure in USA Today, his own weather website, and the 11 PM slot on the newly revitalized '9 News Now.' The cooling off period is over, now the real negotiating begins." Is Gannett's Channel 9/WUSA also interested in former Channel 4/WRC weather superstar Bob Ryan (right)? Ryan has been rumored to be jumping to Allbritton's Channel 7/WJLA.....Don't set your TiVo just yet.
Ken Kaye reports in the Florida Sun-Sentinel's hurricane blog that long-time Weather Channel tropical expert Steve Lyons is leaving that position. Rick Knabb, formerly a senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center, will replace Lyons for the 2010 hurricane season, which begins in less than 6 weeks. Lyons will be the meteorologist in charge of the San Angelo, Texas office of the National Weather Service.I've really enjoyed my 12 hurricane seasons at The Weather Channel. I thank all of you for your viewing support, web interactions and for joining my facebook page. I'm returning to the National Weather Service where I will help make weather forecasts that save lives and property. I am extremely excited about my new opportunity; I’ll see you in the Lone Star State soon! Sincerely, Dr. SteveThe Weather Channel's announcement stated, in part,
Geoffrey Darby, executive vice president of programming for The Weather Channel, said, "Rick brings tremendous experience to this role and is no stranger to high profile hurricane activity, having worked with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) during the record-setting 2005 Atlantic season. He will help lead our on-air and cross-platform tropical coverage, providing continuous updates as hurricanes and tropical storms develop."Image: New Weather Channel tropical expert Rick Knabb, from Florida Sun-Sentinel
As a senior hurricane specialist at NHC from 2005-2008, he prepared and issued official forecasts and warnings during the 2005 hurricane season with Hurricanes Dennis, Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Perhaps most notably, Dr. Knabb signed the advisory announcing that Katrina had become a major hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico. He also served as NHC's science and operations officer from 2001-2005.
Most recently, Dr. Knabb has been deputy director and director of operations of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC) and NWS Forecast Office in Honolulu, Hawaii. While there, he led the development and implementation of the first-ever joint CPHC/FEMA hurricane preparedness course for emergency managers. Throughout his career in NOAA, in addition to personally preparing and issuing more than 200 official tropical cyclone operational forecast packages, Dr. Knabb has been involved in emergency management, military and academia collaboration, technology incorporation, and public speaking and media interviews.
What's your definition of "cruel reality"? Maybe getting cancer or losing your legs in a car wreck? But does that term apply to a few days of rain and showers? According to weather forecaster Jason Samenow at the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang it does. You know, I get tired of weather over-hype. Why do a few springtime showers have to been verbalized as something terribly negative? OK, sure, no one wants it to rain on their wedding day, but a few raindrops on a workday Monday is certainly not something that's even remotely close to being "cruel." Especially not to the plants that can use the moisture. Come on!
WUSA-TV 9NewsNow lied to us. It sneaked in a pre-recorded weather segment with Topper Shutt during the late newscast that followed Friday's NCAA basketball games. What an insult to viewers and ripoff to advertisers. The recorded forecast aired about 12:38am Saturday. The failed atttempt at a seamless transition from the news anchors was awkward and there were no current weather conditions presented. WUSA's obvious effort to hide its little secret shows very poor management judgment and only serves to hurt its image as a trusted source, if it had one. Topper never should have agreed to record a forecast for broadcast and anchors/producers should have objected to being part of it. I hope sponsors that probably never counted on taped weather when they paid big bucks for their ad time raise hell with their account execs on behalf of viewers. If Gannett/WUSA-TV can't afford to pay a live weather talent it should be honest with their customers and audience . A live news anchor should have presented the weather segment instead of attempting this lame deception. Could you blame advertisers and viewers for running to the competition now?
The churn in the local broadcasting market fed by falling revenues has brought another new face to Washington weathercasting. Following the recent departure of veteran meteorologist Bob Ryan, the 11 pm report on WRC-TV, Channel 4, last night was delivered by Justin Drabick. Drabick's presentation showed a familiarity with local geography undoubtedly acquired during an early career spent on Maryland's Eastern Shore. 
Midnight Friday Update: Bob Ryan made an emotional "final weekend forecast" and farewell to his audience and colleagues Jim Vance and Doreen Gentzler around 12:20 Saturday morning at the end of the Olympics-delayed local news broadcast.Bob Ryan has been News4’s Chief Meteorologist since 1980 making him the longest-serving weathercaster in Washington. His weather reports air weekdays on News4 at 5, 6 and 11 and on NBCWashington.com. And, listeners to NPR affiliate WAMU-FM can hear Ryan’s forecasts afternoons during All Things Considered.From dcrtv's mailbag, here is a copy of the email distributed this afternoon at WRC:
Ryan’s career began in Cambridge, Mass. where he was involved in cloud physics research with Arthur D. Little, Inc. A side job as a broadcast meteorologist turned into a fulltime job as principal meteorologist for Boston’s WCVB-TV. In 1978, Ryan became the first meteorologist to regularly appear on NBC’s Today show.
As Chief Meteorologist, Ryan has initiated and supported many unique programs at NBC4. For 25 years, his annual Almanac provided weather and environmental information while raising more than $500,000 for local children’s charities. He also created the 4WINDS (Weather Interactive Demonstration Schoolnet) Network that placed more than 400 interactive weather stations in area schools. In 2006, that system was upgraded and expanded to become Weather Plus Neighborhood Network. Hundreds of thousands of kids who grow up in the Washington area enjoy a hands-on introduction to meteorology from these systems.
Ryan was also co-investigator for a project that brought NASA and NBC4 together to lead one of the first television weather sites on the Internet, WeatherNet4. Today, NBC4’s strong web weather presence takes the shape of weatherplus.com, a website and a cable channel which provides round-the-clock forecasts and weather information.
Ryan is also actively involved professionally in his science. In 1996, he was elected president of the American Meteorological Society; he is the only broadcaster to have led this prestigious organization. Ryan has also served the AMS as Chair of the Committee of Broadcast Meteorology, Commissioner of Professional Affairs and member of the Council of the Society. He has also served on the Board of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate for the National Academy of Science two committees of the National Research Council, and the Advisory Committee of the Geoscience Directorate of the National Science Foundation. Ryan’s expertise has been called upon repeatedly to testify before various committees of Congress
During his career, Ryan has received numerous awards, including regional Emmys for Weathercasting and the Ted Yates Emmy for outstanding service to the community. His alma mater, the University of Albany, presented him with a "Distinguished Alumni" award, and the AMS gave him The Charles Franklin Brooks Award for his outstanding service.
Despite these awards and his distinguished career, Ryan is proudest of his role as husband and father. He and his family reside in Northern Virginia.
Bob Ryan has been an important fixture in our newsroom for 31 years. He has covered everything from tornadoes to hurricanes and of course the occasional blizzard. Millions of area residents have come to depend on his forecast. After much discussion with him, Bob has decided it is time for a change. So Friday will be his last day at NBC4. We can't thank him enough for his dedication and passion. He will certainly be missed. Bob asked me to share the following note with you: "Even for a snow loving meteorologist this has been some winter. And for this snow loving and every other kind of weather loving meteorologist this has been some ride. It’s also been more fun than one person should have over 30 years in the same job with some of the same friends and colleagues for 20-30 years. But this winter’s snows are now pausing and so will I. Yogi Berra said, 'When you come to a fork in the road take it.' I’m going to take that great philosopher’s advice. This fork leads to more time with my wonderful wife Olga, who has had to deal with more storm related power outages and unshoveled walks alone than any spouse should ever have to put up with. I have had the wonderful fortune to work for and with many of the most dedicated people I know, who care deeply about what we do and why we do it. I may not have the opportunity after Friday to sit next to Doreen, Vance, Wendy, Jim or have the fun of interacting with my long time colleagues Tom, Veronica and Chuck and so many of you. But I will always have great affection for everyone here and you will be in my thoughts as you have been part of my professional life. If anyone asks, tell them let’s meet upstairs at Guapo’s when the snow melts, after this winter we all need a beverage and I know I still owe Collins another Jameson"
The Weather Channel announced yesterday that it will start a Friday night movie series, adding full-length motion pictures to its programming: For the first time in its 27-year history, The Weather Channel® (TWC) will add movies to its programming schedule with "The Weather Channel Presents..." This new movie series launches Friday, October 30, with the TWC premiere of The Perfect Storm, starring George Clooney, which coincides with the anniversary of the ferocious "perfect storm" of 1991, on which the movie was based.Local weather will be displayed during the movies in the lower portion of the screen.
Following The Perfect Storm on Oct. 30, TWC will air feature films every Friday night in November. Weather plays a central role to the story, plot or overall theme in each of the movies selected.
Two scientists who have previously said they didn’t believe in global warming still don’t believe in global warming."Climate sceptics celebrate BBC story"
What is of most concern is how skeptics of the global warming theory are treated. I have in the past made comments on blogs only to find that people had researched who I was. They don't answer my questions or debate the facts, what they want to know is who is making the argument. I have been accused of being paid by the fossil fuel companies (I wish I was), many supporters of the theory seem to think any contrarians must have alterior motives (than just the truth). To be called Holocaust deniers, flatlanders and such, using disparaging comments, ad hominem attacks, must be similar to what other skeptics experienced in 1930's Germany, skeptics of you know who. Have not noteable scientists who support the theory called for Nuremburg style trials. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/23/17350/3999/231/540815 Science is not supposed to have consensus. Consensus is a political term. Many/most scientific discoveries have come from contrarians. It is dangerous to promote consensus on any subject by simply savaging your opponents (or trying to do so). Fortunately the truth has its own power. Mother Nature is weighing in on the subject. Some alarmists are now agreeing that temperatures might fall for the next 20 years (but they say this gives humanity more time to prepare for the inevitable warming and just wait and see how hot it is going to get once the 20 years of cooling is over). The past ten years of cooling temperatures show that "natural forces" are more powerful than man made ones. It never crosses the alarmists minds that perhaps these same natural forces that are making the earth cooler also made it warmer from the late 70s to the 90s. Delaying cap and trade legislation now is critical because it will be even more difficult in the future to pass it when cooler temperatures (and the resulting shorter growing season) are felt by people throughout the globe. www.isthereglobalwarming.comThe initials gpp are fairly generic, but some determined Googling against the referenced web site along with a good memory for names and an extensive bookmark list turned up some interesting connections, especially a comment earlier this year at Chris Mooney's Intersection blog:
Re Geoffrey PohankaApparently Pohanka had no problem appearing in public when he was recently interviewed on the PBS Nightly Business Report, where he was identified as the president of Pohanka Automotive Group, whose 14 dealerships in the Washington, DC area had sold 800 cars under the Cash for Clunkers program and was awaiting $3 million from the government in payments.
Mr. Pohankas’ web site, which his name linked to, doesn’t identify him. However, anyone living in the Washington DC area is familiar with the name Pohanka, which is a family that owns a number of automobile dealerships in the area. And guess what, Mr. Pohanka is the president of the Pohanka Lexus auto dealership and a member of the Pohanka family that owns these dealerships.
Mr. Pohanka, as one whose family is heavily invested in the automotive dealership industry, thus has a vested interest in denying global warming as the automobile industry is one of the major contributors to the production of carbon dioxide and other carbon emissions. Because of course, measures to alleviate such production will probably have a negative effect on that industry. Nice try Mr. Pohanka but its pretty hard to hide from Google.
We'll get an obituary up as soon as we can get one prepared.
Back in January, before the WaPo's hostility to climate coverage necessitated a split, CapitalClimate pointed out an American Meteorological Society (AMS) conference presentation which thoroughly debunked the myth that climate science in the 1970s was predicting global cooling. That presentation has just been formally published in the current issue (September) of the Bulletin of the AMS as a paper titled, "The Myth of the 1970s Global Cooling Scientific Consensus". The full paper is available at the link, no subscription required.
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