TV Meteorologist

TV Meteorologist

Kevin Selle

Wichita Falls, TX

Male, 55

I've been a broadcast meteorologist on television since the early 1990's. Happy to answer any questions about the weather or local TV news. Yes, I often wear sneakers on set just out of view of the camera.

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326 Questions

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Last Answer on December 24, 2019

Best Rated

hey is this a real person

Asked by Mike about 9 years ago

Yes. But some would disagree.

On the East Coast, specifically the Allegheny mountains, are the prevailing winds necessarily from the west? Which is to ask: Is the leeward size of those mountains generally on the east, or rather on the west, as the Atlantic ocean is so close?

Asked by Mrs. Mills over 7 years ago

Hello, Mrs. Mills. Broadly speaking the leeward side of the Allegheny Mountains would be the eastern side, closer to the coast. At any given moment the windward side of anything is that facing the wind. In general terms the broad atmospheric flow is west to east across the United States. Here is a good definition on Wikipedia. Thanks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windward_and_leeward

How can they predict a foot of snow when the temperature is going to be above freezing?

Asked by Richard Ferstandig about 8 years ago

Great question, Richard! Each storm and location is a little different. Much of the precipitation type is determined above the surface of the earth. The snowflakes form thousands of feet above the ground and stay frozen as they fall. A very shallow layer of air at the surface could be above freezing but not deep enough to melt the snow.

Hello. My boss has asked me to find out the amount of snowfall in a 5 day span in January 2016. Any idea on how can I get this info?

Asked by Erin over 8 years ago

Hi, Erin. I’d go to weather.gov (not .com). Click on your area of the map and it will take you to the local National Weather Service office and you’ll see phone and email on the bottom. Good luck.

It seems to me that cold outbreaks can be predicted well in advance and are almost always accurate (sadly). This is in contrast to rain and snow. What is it that makes their prediction so reliable?

Asked by docjmcg2 over 7 years ago

Great question. A cold air event, like the current one, is a good bit less complicated than rain or snow. With a precipitation forecast there are more factors at play. In general a forecast gets fuzzier the further out it time you go. Broadly speaking the forecast starts with data gathered from weather balloons launched twice a day from about 900 sites around the world. That sounds like a big number but when you consider the size of the earth, and how much of it is covered by water, which is hard to launch a balloon from, that data is pretty sparse. The goal of the balloons is to take a snapshot of the atmosphere at a given moment. It is a fuzzy picture. Think of putting that fuzzy picture on a copy machine. The copy is fuzzier, then make a copy of a copy and so on. So the further out in time the more errors or changes that enter the forecast. Stay warm!

Here in Lake County, Illinois (Zion) we have had nothing that resembles winter. No snow. No slick roads. No dangerous windchill conditions. Most daytime temperatures are above freezing. Next to nothing for rain. What is going on here?

Asked by Clarence over 9 years ago

I usually answer this questions like this. I really don't like the use of the word "normal" in weather. "Average" is better. Over simplified, if the "normal temperature for this date is 75 degrees and we look a the records for the last 100 years. In theory half of those years the temperature could have been 50 degrees and half 100 degrees. The "normal" is 75 but it was never 75. So, there are swings in the global weather patterns constantly you're at one end of the swing! Hope that makes sense.

About two weeks ago I witnessed what I believe to be a waterspout on a relatively small lake near my home in sw Wisconsin. It appeared out of ominous clouds that were bringing in a pretty severe storm. Do waterspouts happen on inland lakes?

Asked by Jeff Lawver almost 9 years ago

Yup! Any body of water. Glad you got to see one! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterspout