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

Hello! So I read an article about the Amazon being in fire. I was wondering if there was a way to take the numbers from how much Co2 is increasing & oxygen being take away & measure the effects elsewhere from wind patterns, temperature changes, etc.

Asked by Desmond over 6 years ago

Interesting question. A little out of my area as a local meteorologist. You might have some luck looking around the website for National Center for Atmospheric Research. https://ncar.ucar.edu/

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 almost 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 almost 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!

We were having trouble deciding if todays clouds were stratus or cirrus in Ore City, Texas. We have pictures if you can help.

Asked by 4thgrade almost 9 years ago

Tough to say without seeing the pictures. If you would like to post them somewhere with a link I'd be happy to look. You could also do a Google search for "cloud classification" and see if something looks familiar.

Hi
Would U pls explain why or what stops a gulf of Mexico hurricane from going west? Or why cant a hurricane come up from Tx and go into New Mexico? Why doesn't that happen? Would it ever be possible? Thx

Jim

Proemed44@yahoo.com

Asked by Proemed about 7 years ago

Great question, Jim. An Atlantic hurricane can come to Texas, and in a rare case New Mexico. The storms are guided by the upper atmospheric pattern of ridges and troughs. Imagine hills and valleys. The atmosphere is always in motion and a storm will take the easiest path, harder to climb a hill, easier to go through the valley. The general pattern during hurricane season has a hill over the Atlantic and storms will travel around the edge of the hill toward the valley in the eastern US, but remember the hills and valleys can change. Also, this year hurricanes from the Pacific have brought rain to NM and TX.

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 8 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.

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 almost 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