Wind gust forecasts verified for today with gusts hitting above 40 MPH for most of Acadiana. But WHY? Shouldn't strong winds come with strong storms? Not always!
I believe the saying is so true that "you can know the forecast perfectly, but if you can't get anyone to listen or hear you, it doesn't matter."
I'm Jobie Lagrange! I am a degreed Atmospheric Scientist who is getting the privilege of working at KATC as your local Meteorologist and MMJ Reporter.
I like to take opportunities, like today, to tell our community about the science about why our weather is happening.
I can't go in-depth into the science on air, but I've had requests to have more science explainers for the community and I'm always happy to talk about the weather with you all.
So here is a video where I break down what caused our winds today, all due to a strong pressure gradient!
I believe the saying is so true that "you can know the forecast perfectly, but if you can't get anyone to listen or hear you, it doesn't matter."
Community weather communication is incredibly important to me. It's truly why I got my degree and started here at KATC. To try and protect any and everyone I can.
So I like to create special ways to get the weather message out there.
Yesterday on Facebook, I asked YOU Acadiana, what would your best guess be for the highest wind gusts be in Lafayette?
139 people sent in their guesses. It wasn't about just being a fun game, it was about a way communicate the weather message.
This told me at LEAST 140 now knew there was the chance for damaging winds today.
How do I know?
Of course I went through all the Facebook comments, and plotted the responses, and made a graph.
This also let me know you guys knew overall in general which range to expect. I'm proud of all of you!
The winds did plenty of damage, including downed trees, power lines, traffic lights going out, bus stops flipped over. These are REAL impacts that people were hopefully more aware of and prepared for.
So if anyone ever has ideas for topics you want to understand better, or parts of the forecast that is confusing, please reach out to me on any of my socials or my email here at KATC and I will be happy to explain or break anything down for you!
Facebook: Meteorologist Jobie Lagrange
KATC Email: jobie.lagrange@katctv.com
