Hurricanes: An Eye on the Future

The second annual event of the “Eye Towards the Sky” speaker series was held at WBUR Cityspace in Boston. This presentation covers the broader topic of hurricanes and the effects of a warming atmosphere on their intensity and frequency. The distinguished panel of speakers demonstrate how special aircraft are deployed to obtain real-time data as a storm is developing, and how the data is used by on-camera meteorologists to provide accurate and life-saving forecasts. The panel also discusses the measurable effects of a warming climate on hurricanes and tropical storms.

Dr Matthew Sitkowski

Science Editor-in-Chief, The Weather Channel

Science Editor-in-Chief and producer across multiple platforms at The Weather Channel, including an Emmy award winning Immersive Mixed Reality series. A published scientific journal author specializing in hurricane intensity and structure changes. Dr Sitkowski has flown directly into Hurricane Irene (2011) aboard a NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft. In 2019 he was a finalist for National Weatherperson of the Year.

 

Dr Lisa Bucci

Hurricane Specialist and Research Scientist, NOAA’s National Hurricane Center

Experienced hurricane specialist and research scientist, with fascinating and unique insight into the inside of a hurricane. Dr Bucci has flown directly into numerous powerful storms on board NOAA’S hurricane hunter aircraft fleet, notably Sandy (2012), Matthew (2016) and Irma (2017). She has extensive experience in observational data collection, research flight planning, and the evaluation of new hurricane observing systems to improve forecast data.

Stephanie Abrams

Meteorologist, The Weather Channel, America’s Morning Headquarters & The Pattrn Show

Highly experienced and popular on-camera meteorologist, providing live forecasts and life-saving information across all types of severe weather events, since 2003. Her enthusiasm and creativity are evident across the various shows she has presented including the popular “Wake up with Al”, “Science With Steph,” and more recently on The Weather Channel’s digital streaming platform “The Pattrn Show”. She is currently the co-host of “America’s Morning Headquarters” airing every weekday morning on the Weather Channel.

Professor Gabriel Vecchi

Professor of Geosciences, Princeton University’s High Meadows Environmental Institute. Director at the Cooperative Institute for Modeling the Earth System

Distinguished professor and published climate scientist specializing in hurricanes and heat waves. Research interests include the mechanisms of precipitation variability and change, and ocean-atmosphere interactions. He has made frequent contributions to the mainstream media discussing the impact of the world’s changing climate, in particular on hurricanes and other extreme weather events