Tuesday, Febraury 9, 2010:

Andrew Humphrey, CBM
Meteorologist and Science & Technology Reporter
WDIV-TV

Many of my weather buddies on Facebook answered my call with snowfall amounts.  By air-time, several Detroiters had 5 inches of new snow or more.  Also, I received reports from Facebook friends from coast to coast.  My Co-Anchor inquired about the weather in Southern California on the air, and I was able to answer him with an observation from my Digital Weather Watcher Jovanny Venegas, which was:  ”Orange County, CA no snow just rain.”  Similarly, Max Cacas reported “5 new inches on top of what’s already fallen…in (Washington,)D.C.”  Many of my audience members were able to catch these reports on the livestream of my newscast.

It was a wild morning!  Just what a meteorologist and science reporter, like me, lives for!

By noon, many communities had up to 10 inches of snow.  Here are the final snowfall totals from The National Weather Service:

This is the map of the total snowfall amounts from the February 9-10, 2010 snowstorm.

Andrew Humphrey, CBM
Meteorologist and Science & Technology Reporter
WDIV-TV

Andrew Humphrey, CBM
Meteorologist and Science & Technology Reporter
WDIV-TV and ClickOnDetroit.com

In Washington, DC, where I covered the Blizzard of ’96, two to three feet of snow was common. Dulles Airport had over thirty-two inches!

Many Michiganders are concerned because we have several relatives and loved ones in the blizzard’s path.  My Weather Watchers emailed WDIV with their photos of the snow and snow damage, and I showed them on Saturday’s Local 4 News at 6 and 11.  Here they are:

2010 Blizzard: Roof of this hangar collapses at Dulles Airport. Photo sent by Kevin.

2010 Blizzard: Hangar's roof falls onto jets' tails. Photo sent by Kevin.

2010 Blizzard: Caved in roof tilting three jets upward. Photo sent by Kevin.

2010 Blizzard: The Kennedy Center and Potomac River in Washington, DC. Photo taken from The Watergate by Neil.

2010 Blizzard: Cars and yards covered by heavy snow in Silver Spring, Maryland. Photo sent by Carla.

2010 Blizzard: Snow piles onto the patio, chairs and table south of Philadelphia.

Can you believe more is on the way?  Another winter storm will form in a few days, and Detroit will not miss out on it.

Andrew Humphrey, CBM
Meteorologist and Science & Technology Reporter
WDIV-TV and ClickOnDetroit.com

From WDIV-TV in Detroit, I recently used social media to tap into my global network for information, incorporated it into my “local” weathercast, and used livestreaming to communicate my weather story back to my local and global viewers.

Last Labor Day Weekend, the weather in the Motown Area was gorgeous!  It was sunny and in the upper 70s or near 80 each day.  On the morning of September 5th, I sent out this Facebook message:

Andrew Humphrey Where are you? What’s your weather? I can mention it on Local 4 News Morning on TV and http://bit.ly/13uvAb between now and 8am ET (Now – 12pm GMT).
September 5 at 6:57am

I expected my usual responses from my fellow Detroiters, but the first reply was from someone outside of the city, state, nation and continent.  It was from South America and it was this:

Dan Kubiske Brasilia. Cloudy with thunderstorms on the horizan. It’s about 28C right now (8am Atlantic time) going to 31C. But then again we are leaving winter and heading for summer.
September 5 at 7:01am

My primary audience is in Detroit and Southeast Michigan, and they understand the English measuring system.  Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, is over four thousand miles away from Detroit.  28 degrees Celsius is equivalent to 82 degrees Fahrenheit, and 31 degree Celsius is about 88 degrees Fahrenheit.  What does this have to do with the Motor City’s weather forecast?  How would I use this in my presentation and keep it relevant to my local viewers?

I decided to use the comparison between a northern American city with a tropical location as a holiday destination and Detroit’s exquisite weather to my advantage.  It may have already been warmer in Brasilia, but it was raining and worse, more dangerous weather was imminent there.  So I went on the air and essentially said, “I heard from my Facebook friend in Brasilia and it will be in the 80s there.  However, it’s cloudy and he’s expecting thunderstorms.  Most people think of leaving Detroit for the tropics for a holiday weekend, but this weekend the best place to be is in Detroit because it will be warm with sunshine all weekend.”  Contrasting Brasilia’s weather to Detroit’s takes international information and makes it local.

In addition, my secondary audience is global because of my station’s website,ClickOnDetroit.com.  We livestream our news program on it.  The abbreviated link (http://bit.ly/13uvAb) in my original message as the address to that online transmission.  Therefore, my social media contributors (e.g., Facebook friends) can watch and listen for their name, city and weather observations (i.e., news information).  This simultaneously accomplishes the goal of achieving growing my station’s online audience and potentially making any news or information relevant to them.

This experience proved to me how connected each person is to everyone on Earth and how local stories are related to global ones and vice versa and thus can be shared with the world at the same time.

Andrew Humphrey, CBM
Meteorologist, Science & Technology Reporter and Weather Producer
WDIV-TV

Last month, somebody broke into an e-mail server at the United Kingdom’s University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU), stole 3000 personal e-mail communications from climate scientists, and then leaked these e-mails to the press.  The decided minority who oppose the comprehensive 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report (most of them not scientists) then initiated a massive public relations campaign trumpeting these e-mails as “proof” of a “conspiracy” among climate scientists to hide and manipulate data to support their conclusions.  This could not be further from the truth.  Here’s what you need to know:

 1.  E-mail allows us scientists to rapidly communicate with each other to informally discuss and debate the latest research.  However, the illegally obtained e-mails are only personal communication, and do NOT represent the final, peer-reviewed, debated science that appears in scientific journals (which forms the basis for the IPCC conclusions).  For example, let’s say you e-mailed a friend that you wanted to buy a new Cadillac, but said that you didn’t have the money for it.  What if somebody then stole that e-mail, and used it to publicize that you were having severe money problems?  Would that be fair?  Of course not.  The e-mail was stolen, taken out of context, and the person who stole it had no factual information about the specifics of your financial situation.  This is exactly what happened to the CRU scientists.

 2.  There is an overwhelming amount of scientific research conducted independently by climate scientists around the world that strongly supports the IPCC conclusions.  I was in touch with many of these scientists immediately after the “climategate” story broke, and every single one of them confidently said that the stolen e-mails will not in any way alter their research conclusions, which have been independently verified by colleagues at other research institutions and in other nations, and have not been proven wrong in numerous attempts by global warming skeptics.  To believe that a single scientist can manipulate the world’s entire scientific community on global warming is as ridiculous as believing that men did not land on the moon, and that smoking is good for your health.

 3.  Finally, our Local 4 Defenders routinely investigate corruption, but they never stoop to illegal activity to get the information they need.  Documents are legally requested through the Freedom of Information Act, and they consult with our corporate attorney to ensure that any undercover investigating they do is both legal and ethical.  The person or people who stole the CRU e-mails are guilty of criminal activity.  Would you trust Local 4 investigations if this is how we acquired our information?  Then why would you trust the opinions of non-scientists who illegally obtained personal e-mails with scientific discussions, and then published those e-mails without the proper context?

Yes, “climategate” is a public relations disaster that will only serve to confuse the public.  However, we scientists are not concerned about climate change science itself, which is rock-solid and has withstood scientific scrutiny for many years now.

Paul H. Gross, C.C.M., C.B.M.

WDIV-TV Meteorologist and Executive Producer of Weather

One of the perks of working at WDIV-TV (and in television, in general) is meeting celebrities.  Renowned actor, musician and playwright Jeff Daniels visited the station today and performed a holiday concert preview on Local 4 News.

WDIV-TV's Andrew Humphrey, CBM and Actor Jeff Daniels

Jeff and I met after his terrific performance.  I told him about what a true admirer I am of him and his work and that I am thrilled Chelsea, Michigan remains home to his Purple Rose Theatre Company.

Click here for Jeff Daniels’s musical performance on Local 4 News.

Andrew Humphrey, CBM
Meteorologist, Science & Technology Reporter and Weather Producer
WDIV-TV

Today has turned into a fabulous Fall day after an extremely foggy start in many areas.  WDIV-TV Local 4 viewer Nicole Williams sent me this picture of fog in Inkster:

Great job, Nicole!  Thank you for the photo and for watching Local 4 on television and at ClickOnDetroit.

If you have an interesting weather picture you want the world to see, email it to ishotnews@clickondetroit.com.

Andrew Humphrey, CBM
Meteorologist, Science & Technology Reporter and Weather Producer
WDIV-TV

On a perfect autumn afternoon in Detroit, I spoke to Detroit Edison Public School Academy’s entire third grade.  Their spectacular smiles and winning attitudes were brighter than the sunshine.

I had an extraordinary time talking with them about why I chose to become a Meteorologist instead of a football player and answering their questions about weather and being on television.  These intelligent Detroit children and their resourceful educators and parents represent a sunny future for Detroit, Southeast Michigan and the world.

The student, their teachers and you can see more pictures of them live on my show, Local 4 News Morning, this Saturday between 6:00 am and 8:00 am.  I will air the pictures locally on television (WDIV-TV Channel 4) and globally at http://bit.ly/13uvAb (livestream on ClickOnDetroit).

Andrew Humphrey, CBM
Meteorologist, Science & Technology Reporter and Weather Producer
WDIV-TV

Yes, our globe is warming.  In fact, it is warming at a very unusual rate, and an overwhelming majority of climate scientists around the world agree.  I know this because I hear directly about this subject from some of these scientists.  I also know this because of a 2008 George Mason University survey of climate scientists, which indicates that 97% of these scientists  – who had to be professional members of either the American Meteorological Society or the American Geophysical Union to participate in the survey – agree that the planet has warmed over the past 100 years, and 74% of the scientists agree that the warming is human induced (I’ll get into why the warming has occurred in my next blog).  I am also confident that most scientists agree about the warming because of  the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which represents the participation of 3000 to 4000 climate scientists based upon the balance of research evidence available at the time (and the evidence is even more convincing today).

The have been some accusations lately by a small minority that all of this is wrong, because the warming has slowed to a stop since 1998, and it is indeed true that temperatures during the most recent eleven years have been relatively stable.  However, what these skeptics do not like to discuss is that the planet’s warming is not linear.  In other words, temperatures do not rise in a straight line, just like the stock market.  In fact, take a look at any stock market graph showing a sharp gain or decline…you will always see “ups and downs” within the overall trend.  In fact, just last year (2008), one of the worst years that the stock market has ever seen, the Dow Jones 30 Industrials average set an all-time daily gain (nearly 900 points).  Would you believe somebody who told you that 2008 was a good year for the stock market because of that record one-day gain?  That’s what global warming skeptics are trying to get you to believe when they tell you that the warming is not happening because the past eleven years have been stable.

Skeptics also will not tell you that the newest climate models actually predict one-to-two decade long “flat periods” in the warming, and that the sharp warming resumes after each one.  So, not only are the past eleven years explainable, they are actually predicted by some of the world’s most sophisticated climate models.

One important thing to remember is that there are those with strong political views who are deeply disturbed by some of the policy recommendations to try and slow our warming.  This series of blogs will not address politics, and will stay focused strictly upon the science.  However, I need to stress that some of these people reject the science because of the policy ramifications.  What all of you need to remember is that there is a big difference between the scientists who do the climate research, and politics.  In these blogs, I will share with you scientific facts that are accepted by the world’s climatologists.  My goal is for these blogs to help you gain insight into the science, without it being clouded by the politics.