WeatherBrains 1057:  Ike Dike

WeatherBrains 1057: Ike Dike

From WeatherBrains by Big Brains Media LLC

April 21, 2026 · 1h 42m

About this episode

The episode features an interview with Bill Read, a former director of the National Hurricane Center, discussing his experiences and insights on hurricane forecasting and management.

We are excited to have retired National Hurricane Center (NHC) Bill Read on tonight's episode of WeatherBrains! Bill was the Director of the National Hurricane Center from 2008-2012, and focused on improving storm surge forecasting accuracy and strengthening collaborations with emergency managers to better communicate risks. He advanced the use of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter for real-time public outreach and feedback, notably during events such as Hurricane Irene in 2011, to refine messaging on inland flooding threats. Bill was the first Meteorologist in Charge (MIC) at NWS Houston and led the office for 15 years. He was also a Navy Hurricane Hunter on the P3 aircraft. Bill, welcome to WeatherBrains! Our email officer Jen is continuing to handle the incoming messages from our listeners. Reach us here: email@weatherbrains.com. National Tropical Weather Conference (06:00) Bill's entry in the NWS (22:45) Looking back at 1978's Tropical Storm Amelia (25:00) Who remembers teletypes? (30:15) Anniversary of 2010 Deepwater Horizon tragedy (38:30) Experiences as NHC Director working Hurricane Ike (44:30) Are there more landfalling US hurricanes at night or during the…

People in this episode

Guest: Bill Read

Topics covered

  • hurricane forecasting
  • storm surge
  • emergency management
  • social media in weather
  • hurricane history
  • NHC operations

Keywords

  • hurricane
  • storm surge
  • forecasting
  • NHC
  • social media
  • emergency management
  • Tropical Storm Amelia
  • Hurricane Ike
  • Deepwater Horizon

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: National Hurricane Center, NWS Houston, NWS

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