Unlocking Radar Data Amidst Record Severe Weather

Guest: Dr. Stephen Nesbitt Five years ago, Dr. Steve Nesbitt joined us to unpack the fundamentals of radar meteorology. Since then, atmospheric science has undergone a massive evolution moving from how we capture severe weather to how we decode it using artificial intelligence and cloud computing. As a UIUC Professor, incoming Associate Dean, and newly named AMS Fellow, Steve has spent his career studying Earth’s most explosive storms. Today, he’s leading a new frontier in meteorology, building open-source tools like Radar DataTree to turn decades of legacy radar files into AI-ready intelligence. We’re sitting down with Steve to catch up on what’s changed since his last visit, how AI is reshaping weather science, and the physics behind the Midwest’s wild tornado season. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Guest Background 01:05 How Dr. Nesbitt Became a Weather Geek 03:59 AI's Impact on Meteorology and Weather Resilience 06:57 Recent Tornado Trends in Illinois and the Midwest 09:58 Break 1 09:59 Remote Sensing Technologies in Severe Weather Study 15:35 Introduction to Radar Data Tree and Its Applications 20:53 Stakeholder Engagement: Insurance and Water Resources 22:08 Current Research Projects and Urban Resilience 26:17 Break 2 26:17 Future Advances in Satellite and Radar Technology 29:18 Climate Change and Severe Weather Patterns 32:57 The Evolving Role of Academics in Public Engagement 35:51 Resources and Final Thoughts Resources AtmosScale.ai - https://atmoscale.ai Ed Zipser - Google Scholar - https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0,11&qsp=5&q=edward+zipser&qst=ib Relampago Project - https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/102/8/BAMS-D-20-0029.1.xml Radar Data Tree - https://atmoscale.github.io/radar-datatree/index.html NASA Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission - https://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov Guest links LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/steve-nesbitt-b8a06a54