Tonight's Guest WeatherBrain is Canadian meteorologist Ken MacDonald. He started his career way back in 1975, and has been an instructor, a forecaster, and a researcher. He is the former Executive Director of Environment Canada. Our second Guest WeatherBrain James Abraham is a veteran meteorologist with almost four decades of experience who has forecasted in British Columbia, the U. S. East Coast and even was former and first Director of the Canadian Hurricane Center. Ken and James, welcome to WeatherBrains!

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.

• Environment Canada basics (08:00)
• Modernization process at Environment Canada (14:00)
• Reformatted warning polygons (19:00)
• Recurring issues with zone forecasts (22:30)
• Canadian meteorology employment/recruiting (28:30)
• Details of 18 month internship after initial hire (34:00)
• Canadian Hurricane Center (35:00)
• The Perfect Storm of 1991 (48:00)
• Total number of TV meteorologists in Canada (53:00)
• Death of linear television (56:30)
• Research efforts across Canada (01:06:00)
• Most difficult places to forecast meteorology in Canada (01:09:30)
• 2025-26 Canadian winter highlights (01:10:30)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:14:00)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:16:45)
• E-Mail Segment (01:18:00)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 1043:

Alabama Weather Network

Canada's weather warning system has changed. Here's how.

Meteorologist Occupational Training Program

Picks of the Week:

James Aydelott - The OCS/Mesonet Ticker

Jen Narramore - Jen shoutout on X

Rick Smith - Out

Troy Kimmel - Foghorn

Kim Klockow-McClain - Foghorn

John Gordon - NWS Juneau on YouTube

John Gordon - Juneau, Alaska buried under 80+ inches of snow

Bill Murray - Out

James Spann - CIPS Analog-Based Severe Probability Guidance

The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like Troy Kimmel, Bill Murray, Rick Smith, James Aydelott, Jen Narramore, John Gordon, and Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating podcast about weather.

Our Guest WeatherBrain couldn't make it tonight, so our panel holds a homegrown episode to kick off 2026. Discussions include storm-based vs county-warnings, public storm reports, and a deep-dive into fundamentals of modern-day radar.

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.

• Severe storms possible on Friday in Deep South 1/9/26 (05:00)
• Storm-based warnings vs county-wide warnings (26:00)
• Pete Wolf Charitable Foundation (38:00)
• Helping the general public with radar interpretation (48:00)
• Public storm reports and how often they are used in NWS warnings (53:00)
• MPING (57:30)
• NWS app is needed (59:00)
• Protecting people living in mobile homes during severe weather (01:06:00)
• Threats-In-Motion (TIM) (01:08:00)
• Threat Confirmation Defined (01:14:00)
• Social media AI engagement farms (01:16:00)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:22:00)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (No segment this week)
• E-Mail Segment (01:24:00)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 1042:

Alabama Weather Network

Picks of the Week:

James Aydelott - Out

Jen Narramore - WeatherBrains 224

Jen Narramore - WeatherBrains 998

Rick Smith - The Annual Lightning Report 2025

Troy Kimmel - US Drought Monitor From 2000-2025

Kim Klockow-McClain - Foghorn

John Gordon - Extreme Temperatures Around The World

Bill Murray - Out

James Spann - AEM Releases 2025 U.S. Lightning Report

The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like Troy Kimmel, Bill Murray, Rick Smith, James Aydelott, Jen Narramore, John Gordon, and Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating podcast about weather.

On WeatherBrains this week this our annual year-ender episode with Greg Carbin. Greg needs no introduction; tonight we look back at 2025's notable weather events, and what the meteorology community has learned in the past year. Greg has presented his "Year-in-Review" presentation to the NWA Annual Meeting every year since 2004. His professional society memberships have included the NWA, AMS, International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), and Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). Greg currently serves as Chair on the NWA's Professional Development Committee.

Thanks for joining us this week for this year's WeatherBrains finale!

Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com.

• Looking back at 2025 (11:45)
• 2025 Gulf Coast snowstorm (19:30)
• Legendary meteorologist Chuck Doswell passes away (21:00)
• 17 tornadoes in Alabama in 2025 (42:00)
• Mid-May tornado outbreak near St. Louis (53:00)
• July 2025 Texas flooding tragedy (55:30)
• Remnants of Typhoon Halong cross Alaska (01:05:30)
• Dr. Neil Frank 2021 interview clip/Rewatch Episode 819 for entire interview (01:14:30)
• The Astronomy Outlook with Tony Rice (01:11:05)
• This Week in Tornado History With Jen (01:13:00)
• E-Mail Segment (No segment this week - Happy New Year!)
• and more!

Web Sites from Episode 1041:

Remembering former KHOU-11 TV chief meteorologist Dr. Neil Frank

Alabama Weather Network

Picks of the Week:

Greg Carbin - Ensemble QPF Tracking

James Aydelott - Tulsa, OK record high temperature graphic

Jen Narramore - Ethan Mok on X: Zion, IL fake AI tornado damage

Rick Smith - Out

Troy Kimmel - Foghorn

Kim Klockow-McClain - Foghorn

John Gordon - Tom Niziol on X: Wind-driven seiche on Lake Erie

John Gordon - Tom Niziol on X: 80 mph wind gusts at Buffalo, NY

Bill Murray - James Spann speaks with FOX Weather's Bob Van Dillen

James Spann - Aaron Rigbsy on X: Tree damage video associated with a blizzard

The WeatherBrains crew includes your host, James Spann, plus other notable geeks like Troy Kimmel, Bill Murray, Rick Smith, James Aydelott, Jen Narramore, John Gordon, and Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain. They bring together a wealth of weather knowledge and experience for another fascinating podcast about weather.