WeatherBrains Episode 1051 is now online (March 9th, 2026). If you are crazy about weather, this is THE podcast for you!

Tonight’s WeatherBrains is all about the NWS Storm Prediction Center (SPC)’s convective outlooks.

Guest WeatherBrain and SPC forecaster Bill Bunting joins us tonight.  He grew up in Virginia Beach, VA where we experienced a series of hurricanes and Nor’easters at a very young age.  He attended Old Dominion University as well as OU where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree.  He’s been with the National Weather Service since 1985, where he’s worked primarily at local offices in Norman (OK), Kansas City (MO) and Fort Worth (TX).  He was Chief of Forecasting Operations at SPC in 2012, and is now the Deputy Director at SPC since 2024.  Bill, welcome to WeatherBrains!

Second and last Guest WeatherBrain (but certainly not least!) is the brand new Warning Coordination Meteorologist (MIC) for for the SPC.  He grew up in Ohio and attended Valparaiso University, and has since worked for the NWS for over 15 years.  He loves historical weather statistics and visualization.  Evan Bentley, welcome to WeatherBrains!

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

• Organization/structure of NWS Storm Prediction Center (14:00)
• SPCS’s Fire weather forecasting (16:00)
• Science behind SPC’s new conditional intensity forecasts (20:30)
• Deterministic factors for a PDS (Particularly Dangerous Situation) watch (26:00)
• Improving communication of impactful weather events to family and co workers (40:00)
• SPC’s philosophy on dealing with QLCS events (51:00)
• National team approach for warnings?  (01:03:00)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:29:45)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:32:15)
• E-Mail Segment (01:24:00)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 1051:  

Alabama Weather Network

Picks of the Week:

Bill Bunting – SPC Hazard Climatology

James Aydelott – Okie James on Facebook: Two supercell rotation paths

Jen Narramore – Southeast Severe Storms Symposium XXIV

Rick Smith – NOAA Damage Assessment Toolkit

Troy Kimmel – Foghorn

Kim Klockow-McClain – Edwardsburg Schools offer support as community mourns loss of student

John Gordon – Congressman Eric Sorensen introduces new legislation to investigate major weather disasters

Bill Murray – Out

James Spann – Out

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.