ICYMI: My flagship AccuWeather stories of the last year

It has been a blockbuster year since I joined the AccuWeather.com Editorial Team as Senior Weather Editor last Summer. I'd like to look back at some of my favorite major articles that I've written

It has been a blockbuster year since I joined the AccuWeather.com Editorial Team as Senior Weather Editor last Summer. I'd like to look back at some of my favorite major articles that I've written (or helped write). In the old days, I would have written blog entries for these, but now that our news department is much bigger, we're starting to put these types of stories in the main news section on AccuWeather.com and the AccuWeather app.

Best-selling author, weather enthusiasts explain allure of California weather

(March 22, 2022) - This was something I had always wondered -- why is California weather so ingrained into entertainment? Since I grew up on (and still read) Dean Koontz's books, which often contain flowery weather descriptions, I decided to interview him -- and other meteorologists and weather enthusiasts from the Golden State to find out the answer.

In an addendum blog, I ranked Koontz's top-selling novels by the number of weather phrases per book, and discovered that weather is making a comeback in books & movies.

The 5 US skyscrapers that get struck by lightning most often

(Aug 24, 2021) - For this article, I worked with Chris Vagasky of Vaisala to get data on the skyscrapers that get struck by lightning most often in the U.S., then tabulated the Top 5.

I also had Chris send me a file that plotted every lightning strike in New York City, which I turned into a flythrough in Google Earth, then our video editors helped me turn that into a larger video detailing the study.

Woman is lucky to be alive after hair-raising day at the beach

(July 28, 2021) - After seeing a video showing Karyn Sandiford's hair standing up on a beach in the United Kingdom, which meant that she was about to be struck by lightning. She had already figured that out, but I interviewed her on zoom about her experience.

I also talked about a similar photo from the 1970s, published in nearly every weather book in the 1980s, taken just before a man was killed by lightning.

45 years ago: The day it snowed in Miami

(Jan 19, 2022) - This year was the 45th anniversary of "The Day it Snowed in Miami." It was essentially the first, and last day in history that Florida experienced widespread snow and cold temperatures. This was a story I really wanted us to tell, but there are virtually no weather maps or public domain photos, almost nothing on Social media.

I ended up using Flickr to find the old photos to obtain permission for us to use them, and I used Microsoft Excel to create a weather map showing snowfall amounts, as reported by National Weather Service COOP Observers, which was the only weather network (outside or airports) running at the time.

The day a tsunami-like flood struck a landlocked mountain town

(May 31, 2022) - The anniversary of the "Great Johnstown Flood" was 133 years ago. That's not a "round" anniversary, but those aren't important for something that took place more than 100 years in the past.

While I didn't write this entire story by myself, I did provide the media inside it, wrote some of the text, and the intro paragraphs, which transport you into the mind of a Johnstown resident that fateful morning.

What day is the peak of tornado season?

(April 21, 2022) - This was a weather mystery that I had always wondered about, and no one had really ever solved. What day is the "peak" of tornado season in the U.S., meteorologically speaking? Conventional wisdom held that the most tornadoes were in April and May, and there was a secondary severe season in the Fall.

The data from the Storm Prediction Center was out there, so I downloaded it into Excel to take a look. Not only was I able to pinpoint the day with the most tornadoes; I also discovered there was a tertiary tornado spike during Hurricane season, and not one but two autumn severe weather seasons. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to write the entire article, but I did provide the graphics and data insights.

Is 'Tornado Alley' shifting east?

(April 25, 2022) - Another weather mystery, solved. I didn't have time to write this one, but I edited this article and provided quotes and analysis for it. This was pretty exciting to figure out. For the last few years, meteorologists have been bemoaning the famous "Tornado Alley" map that was created more than 20 years ago, saying it's not accurate anymore. Meanwhile, studies have confirmed that tornado activity has shifted from the Plains to the Southeast.

It turns out that both things are true. The old "Tornado Alley" map was about seasonal repetition, not about tornado frequency, which has shifted south and east over the last 50 years.

Those are the big stories - the ones of which I am most proud. This next list of stories covers updates to previous articles, and (mostly) "one-offs" -- meaning that I didn't plan to write them, but felt I had to, to cover unexpected weather stories.

• How Henri stacks up in New England hurricane history (Aug. 20, 2021)

• Death toll rises in wake of record-breaking rain, flooding (Nov. 15, 2021)

• Great Lakes ‘have a fever’ as first lake-effect snow sets a record (Nov. 3, 2021)

• 10 famous Christmas storms, from snow to tornadoes Dec. 15, 2021 w/ Katy Galimberti)

• Iguanas fall from trees in Florida as cold snap hits (Jan. 30, 2022)

• TV meteorologist stops live broadcast to make important phone call (April 1, 2022)

• 'Fire rainbows' enthrall residents in North Carolina on Good Friday (April 15, 2022)

• Deadly derecho affected nearly half of Canada’s population, spawned EF2 tornado (May 25, 2022)

I also routinely provide graphics and meteorological analysis quotes to our stories and Live Blogs -- that's probably the most frequent way I'm able to contribute. There are too many of those to list here but you can get a partial list of stories I'm quoted in on our search page... make sure you sort by "Newest" under "Relevance."

Next, a list of my blogs over the last year -- topics that ultimately didn't make the editorial front page of AccuWeather.com, but I still wanted to publish.

• Blog: Easter weather history: spring snow and deadly tornadoes (April 22, 2022)

• Blog: Weather maps from the night the Titanic sank (April 12, 2022)

• Blog: Weather is making a comeback in search and books (March 26, 2022)

• Blog: Groundhog Day ice storm knocks out power from Mexico to Canada (Feb. 4, 2022)

• Blog: 2021 weather rankings reveal unusual severe weather (Dec. 2, 2021)

• Blog: Thanksgiving 2021 weather and holiday history (Nov. 25, 2021)

• Blog: A big bomb cyclone week! (Nov. 1, 2021)

• Blog: Collection of strange tube clouds: What are they? (Oct. 1, 2021)

• Blog: Hurricane Ida causes chaos from Louisiana to NYC (Sep. 4, 2021)

• Blog: Weather Photographer of the Year 2021: Vote Now! (Sep. 2, 2021)

• Blog: Summer 2021 weather gadgets review (Jul. 20, 2021)

You can find previous years' blog indexes here 2020 | 2019 | 2018.

And finally, last but not least, the entries I have written for our "Weather Permitting" photo blog, which I am now primarily authoring. Basically, we use this to highlight weather photos that we aren't able to write a whole story about. I like to 1.) Tell the story of the photo 2.) Explain the weather in the photo and 3.) Give a "Did you know?" fact about the location.

Unfortunately, I can't link you to each one of these -- you'll have to view the photo blog and scroll down or search for the entry.

• Trucks navigate sea of water in landlocked town accustomed to flooding (May 30, 2022)

• The calm after the storm: mammatus clouds loom over Oklahoma town (May 16, 2022)

• Miserable fox is all of us caught out in the rain (May 13, 2022)

• 'Mothership' storm spins ominously in skies over Nebraska (May 3, 2022)

• Los Angeles residents were taken aback by these 'UFO clouds' (Apr. 27, 2022)

• What used to be a 'mystery cloud' was recently sighted spotted in over Mississippi (Apr. 15, 2022)

• Complex ice halos appear as Empire State returns to winter (Mar. 14, 2022)

• Dust storm and dust devil face off in world's hottest location (Feb. 28, 2022)

• Brilliant sunrise illuminates frigid weather radar (Feb. 9, 2022)

• Strange swirl appears in the sky over the American heartland (Feb. 1, 2022)

• Nature photographer sends up drone for 'once in a lifetime' view of ice pattern (Jan. 25, 2022)

• Rare field of frost flowers spotted 'growing' on water (Jan. 18, 2022)

• Magnificent and rare iridescence adds color to late-afternoon sky (Jan. 7, 2022)

• Lone lenticular cloud compliments snowy scene atop famous volcano (Dec. 22, 2021)

• Dramatic photograph illustrates the volatility of Florida weather (Nov. 24, 2021)

• Astronaut spots unbelievable view of the Aurora Borealis (Nov. 19, 2021)

• Rare 'Horseshoe Vortex' cloud captured in Montana (Nov. 17, 2021)

• Thunderbolt electrifies an already stunning summer sunset at the Grand Canyon (Nov. 4, 2021)

• Foggiest place on Earth provides winning photo (Oct. 18, 2021)

• Lord looking down from above the clouds (Oct. 12, 2021)

• Road seems to be dividing line between summer and fall (Oct. 8, 2021)

• Harvest Moon rises with Jupiter, bathes waterfront in moonbeams (Sep. 26, 2021)

• Contest photographer snaps unique 'selfie' on frozen lake (Sep. 16, 2021)

• Pizza expert documents atmospheric phenomenon once ridiculed (Aug. 26, 2021)

• Iconic 'dark side of the moon' photo also great weather pic if you look closely (Jul. 16, w/Brian Lada)

• Double rainbow encircles Happy Valley and legendary protector (Jul. 14, 2021)

• Misty mountains evoke thoughts of computer wallpaper or Tolkien fantasy (Jun. 22, 2021)

• Sierra wave made an unforgettable background as the sun went down (Jun. 11, 2021)

• Lucky lightning shot for AccuWeather storm chaser (Jun. 11, 2021)

• Sensational photo took more than a month of planning to capture (May 27, 2021)

• ‘Angry-looking cloud’ gave way at just the right time to reveal this marvelous sight (May 19, 2021)

• Blue ice in Siberia made for a gem of a weather photo (Apr. 29, 2021)

• Aurora over Alaska doing its best impression of a hurricane (Apr. 16, 2021)

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