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

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 6 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

Is Hurricane Irma only considered a hurricane at the eye, or center, of the storm and beyond that only a tropical storm? So, for example, hurricane Harvey didn't hit Houston, a tropical storm did?

Asked by Kim Harris over 7 years ago

Hi, Kim. Nope. The maximum sustained winds of any part of the storm (mostly likely near the eye) determine the designation of the entire storm. Harvey hit peak strength at Category 4 as it came ashore near Rockport, TX and the center never did cross Houston.

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 about 7 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.

I heard somewhere about it but maybe I heard wrong. IDK but I guess it was a thing in the past but I have never heard of it recently. Like Tornado Alert. Sorry that I did not provide very much information on the last question.

Asked by Carlene over 6 years ago

No problem. Thanks for the information. It could be that a local weather source is using that term. “Officially” the term used by the National Weather Service is a tornado warning, and in some extreme situations a tornado emergency. Thanks again!

hey is this a real person

Asked by Mike almost 8 years ago

Yes. But some would disagree.

Winds seem to flow along an isobar, but pressure changes between them. Why don't the winds flow in the direction of changing pressure rather than along lines of constant pressure?

Asked by Hal over 6 years ago

Hi, Hal. Uneven heating of the atmosphere helps create air pressure differences. Mother Nature tries to equalize the imbalance and air moves from high to low. Since the earth rotates the air is subject to Coriolis force and the air is deflected from moving perpendicular to the isobars. Thanks! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_force

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 6 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!