They have boots on the ground during the biggest storms to strike. Find out what's it like to cover hurricanes and tornadoes from AccuWeather reporter Bill Wadell.
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00:00Welcome to AccuWeather's Ask the Experts, I'm your host Jeff Cornish.
00:16Whether you nerd out on it or just want to know more about it, we talk to some of the
00:19best minds in meteorology, space and science to get answers on everything you've wanted
00:24to ask.
00:25And in this episode we want to talk to the people who help us tell the story of weather
00:30here on our network and AccuWeather's digital properties.
00:34And our AccuWeather reporters are our eyes in the field and they give us first-hand information
00:38of what's happening during some of the biggest weather events and you see their footage live.
00:43We have a team of reporters that travel across the country to get information on the weather
00:47that impacts you and today we're going to be finding out what it's like to be one of
00:52those reporters and joining us as our expert today to do that is AccuWeather National Weather
00:57Reporter Bill Waddell.
00:58Bill, thanks for being here with us.
00:59Jeff, it's nice being here indoors with some lights.
01:02I know.
01:03Not used to it.
01:04Sometimes it's not fair because we have climate control in the studio and you're out there
01:07in the middle of the worst that nature sends our way.
01:11But it's good talking to you and Bill has over 15 years experience reporting and he's
01:17covered everything from winter storms to wildfires and hurricanes, sometimes all in
01:22the matter of just a week or two.
01:24So Bill, tell us about the role that you've had here over the past five years at AccuWeather.
01:28Yeah, absolutely.
01:29I started off based in Texas and we would travel just about anywhere where the big story
01:33would be.
01:34So we work with the team here at AccuWeather's Global Weather Center getting ahead of the
01:38big storms, the hurricane landfalls, and we coordinate with our team of forecasters and
01:42meteorologists here.
01:43We work well with the long-range team as well, super helpful with our plans because we know
01:47especially in recent years, some of these severe weather events, they've been back-to-back.
01:51They've been pretty busy and they can be in different parts of the country.
01:54So being a traveling weather correspondent, trying to stay ahead of those storms and be
01:58in the right spot at the right time can be a little bit challenging, but our team here
02:01helps us with that.
02:02Well, you do it well and we're glad to have a great team here at AccuWeather.
02:06So let's get started.
02:07How did you get interested in wanting to cover some of these big storms and how did you get
02:11interested in the weather in the first place?
02:13It's just been fascinating.
02:14I mean, weather impacts everybody, whether you want it to or not, and a lot of times
02:18weather can be really enjoyable for people, heading to the beach, doing snowstorms, obviously
02:23weather can be tremendously impactful and it can change your entire life, uproot families
02:28in just a matter of minutes.
02:30And growing up, I was just fascinated by the weather.
02:32I grew up in northeastern Pennsylvania, obviously with these jobs, we travel around a lot.
02:36So I got to experience weather in different parts of the country and when I was able to
02:40join AccuWeather in 2019, it was just a remarkable experience and weather, not just impactful,
02:47but just helping people plan their days, plan their weeks.
02:50It's something that we want everyone to be prepared for and we really don't want people
02:53being caught off guard.
02:54So it's just one of those jobs.
02:55It's neat.
02:56We get to travel.
02:57We get to meet a lot of really interesting people and we get to help these families.
03:01And in your earlier career as a news reporter, sometimes you hit on weather, other times
03:05it might be crime or other things.
03:07So what about weather is different than covering traditional news in a local news sense?
03:13News was tough.
03:15Anybody who works in journalism knows that news can be really difficult.
03:18And that's what I gravitated towards after, you know, a decade plus of covering news when
03:22that opportunity came up for weather.
03:24News, you've got people doing difficult things, really tough circumstances.
03:30It's really hard to explain things to people sometimes, whereas the weather, one of those
03:33things that impacts everyone.
03:35And there are so many incredible stories, survival stories, people helping out complete
03:40strangers.
03:41That's what I gravitated towards with weather, really when it brings out the good in people.
03:45That's very good.
03:46And is there an assignment or storm that stands out to you as most memorable among your years
03:51here at AccuWeather?
03:53That's tough.
03:54After being on the road for a few years, traveled to 35 different states here for AccuWeather,
03:58one of the most memorable experiences was covering a snowstorm in Binghamton, New York,
04:03not far from where I grew up.
04:05Obviously, when you travel the country, you get to see a lot, but it's always neat when
04:08you have the opportunity to go home, to run into people that you haven't seen in a long
04:11time.
04:12And covering snowstorms, covering blizzards, that can be a lot of fun.
04:17Obviously, there's a lot of impacts.
04:18We see highways shut down.
04:20You never want to see people out there stranded.
04:22But most times, winter storms aren't as dangerous or as impactful as really bad severe weather,
04:28hurricanes.
04:29Those are always tough to cover because you know people are going to lose things.
04:32People get hurt.
04:33But with a winter storm, you often see people out there enjoying it, having some fun.
04:37They can be a lot of fun to cover, as long as you have the proper clothing.
04:40I believe that.
04:41I believe that.
04:42And you know, sometimes the things that you as a viewer may not see, we wear these earpieces
04:46and microphones are sometimes kind of hidden on our tie or whatever.
04:49But that technology is tough to manage when you're out in the conditions.
04:53We have it easy in the studio.
04:55So when it comes to the nasty, harsh conditions, extreme heat or cold, water is such an issue
05:00with any of this equipment.
05:02And also safety measures that you have to keep in mind for yourself.
05:05What are some of the challenges regarding the elements that you're facing?
05:08Yeah, that's always a top priority, just trying to keep our equipment dry, prevent it from
05:12being broken.
05:13Because when we're out there in a storm, we've got a story to tell.
05:15We want to update people.
05:16We can't do that if our electronics get fried out in the rain or the snow.
05:20So we improvise a lot of times.
05:22We've got equipment.
05:23But when you're covering a hurricane for days on end, things get soaked.
05:25So you can see here in the video, extra gas.
05:28We use internet satellite kits.
05:30We've used solar panels.
05:31That's impressive.
05:32Yeah, just to power our equipment.
05:33You can see different bags, trash bags, we'll layer.
05:36Because that's the key.
05:37With hurricanes, with storms, when you're out in the water, when you're out in the rain,
05:41you need that opportunity for things to dry off.
05:43That's Mike Scantlin, one of the chasers that I've worked with over the years.
05:47You'll also see video of my wife, Stephanie.
05:49She also helps behind the camera with some of our live coverage, especially during the
05:53hurricane season.
05:54But yeah, a lot of work just to keep things dry and backups.
05:59A lot of backups, because things do get soaked.
06:00And I know that if you are covering a major hurricane after landfall, you can't just recharge
06:06your batteries that night in a hotel.
06:08There may not be power there, so you have to be self-sufficient.
06:10And I know that's part of the game.
06:12Have you ever felt like your life was in danger during any of these weather events?
06:16Again, we treat safety top priority.
06:19All the time.
06:20That said, my first few storm chasing trips, when I first transitioned full-time into chasing
06:26storms with AccuWeather.
06:27Yeah, there were some storms down in Alabama I will never forget.
06:30Tornado chasing with some of the chasers down there who are experienced, who have been doing
06:35this for years and decades.
06:37When I first started out, we teamed up with them.
06:39We would travel in convoys.
06:40And I remember this storm specifically, Alabama, March 2021.
06:44This video is spread up, but you could see there was a tornado that dropped down and
06:48crossed the road right in front of us, taking down some trees.
06:52You never get used to experiencing a tornado.
06:55Your heart is always pounding.
06:57But especially those first few times when you've never seen anything like that before.
07:00It definitely can be scary, but that's why it's so great that we're teamed up with experienced
07:05storm chasers, field meteorologists, people who have been through this before, kind of
07:08to teach the new guys and gals the ropes.
07:11Because you never want to become the story.
07:14We want to cover the story.
07:16You never want to become part of the story.
07:18You did mention teamwork, a big team that works together, whether you're with other
07:23chasers or whether you're here with us in AccuWeather, from the control room to the
07:28facilities, keeping the floor swept and all that stuff.
07:31You have worked with your wife and also some other critters who have actually come along
07:35for the ride.
07:36So how has that worked?
07:38And how long has your wife been involved with covering storms with you?
07:41Well, like a lot of people, in 2019, 2020, rolled around, the pandemic changed everything.
07:47Whether you wanted it to or not.
07:49And you can see the hound dogs in the photo for us being based down in Texas with such
07:53an active hurricane season during 2020.
07:56Also the challenges with the pandemic.
07:58That's when we decided we're going to get a van.
08:00Steph's going to be on the road with us helping to cover these storms.
08:03And when it wasn't too severe, sometimes the hound dogs would come along for the ride.
08:07Obviously, with really impactful storms, we made sure they were safe with family or friends.
08:12Didn't bring them on the road.
08:13But again, traveling to 35 different states, a lot of it on the road.
08:17Those hound dogs have experienced a lot.
08:18You can see them back there in the backseat of one of our cars.
08:20I don't know how many dogs have seen both a tornado, EF3, been through smaller hurricanes.
08:27But yeah, they've had quite a journey.
08:28That's great.
08:29That is impressive.
08:30And we kind of stuck our toe into one of these questions, but we want to dig a little bit
08:35deeper.
08:36Going to our first viewer question now.
08:37It comes from Tyler in North Carolina.
08:39So Tyler writes, what's the difference between covering hard news and weather when it comes
08:45to crime and court cases, as opposed to the weather?
08:49It seems that weather is a little less polarizing most of the time, right?
08:54We want humanity to do well, and there's this sense of people coming together behind a storm.
08:59But in your mind, what's the biggest difference between covering these two things?
09:02A lot of times, safety.
09:03People think covering weather is incredibly dangerous, and we're able to control the scenario,
09:08make sure we're in a safe location, coordinate with crews.
09:11Covering news, that doesn't always happen.
09:13Sometimes when you're near the streets, when you're in the neighborhoods, you never know
09:15what's going to happen.
09:16But when we work with such an incredible team here at AccuWeather, the experts, the technology,
09:22the supercomputer modeling, the satellites, we have a good idea of what's coming.
09:25So when we coordinate with our team, we're able to stay one or two steps ahead of the
09:29storm.
09:30Covering news, sometimes you have no clue what's going to come out on left field.
09:33That's very true.
09:34And sometimes when news breaks, it's a surprise.
09:37With weather, we try to stay ahead of that.
09:39That's the forecast aspect of things.
09:41But you never know when the scanner traffic is going to go sideways in a local newsroom.
09:45Bill, you've had a lot of experiences traveling the nation.
09:49You mentioned 35 states.
09:50Is there an area that you have visited as an AccuWeather national weather reporter that
09:55you would have never been to otherwise?
09:57I would say the Southwest.
10:00There are so many incredible places throughout this country.
10:02I had a bucket list before I started this job.
10:05Never thought I would be hitting 35 different states, see all these different places.
10:09And that's what's nice about some of these road trips.
10:11Yeah, we fly to some assignments.
10:13Sometimes you don't have enough time to drive.
10:14You've got to fly.
10:15But we'll drive when often we can.
10:17And that gives us the opportunity to stop, to see these state parks, to see these petrified
10:22forests and all these state and national parks and these little towns off the side roads.
10:26But America's Southwest and the Pacific Northwest, absolutely beautiful.
10:31Coming up later in WeatherWise, we're going to debunk some popular tornado myths in our
10:36segment, Is This Really a Thing?
10:38We've got some good ones here coming up in just a bit.
10:41Up next, Bill's going to share his most memorable storms to cover.
10:45And we're also answering more of your questions.
10:48And Bill's fun to talk to because if you talk about any location on the map, he's got a
10:52story there and a storm to relate that to.
10:54All that when Ask the Experts returns.
11:05Welcome back to AccuWeather's Ask the Experts.
11:07I'm your host, Jeff Cornish, and we've been talking to Bill Waddell as we're in this episode
11:11finding out what it's like to be out in the field covering the biggest weather events
11:15up close and personal.
11:17And AccuWeather national weather reporter Bill has been sharing some of his experiences.
11:22He's been with us for about five years here at AccuWeather, he's been a reporter for over
11:2615.
11:27So Bill, in this segment, I thought it might be cool to go back and look at and talk about
11:31some of the top weather stories in your mind, maybe the top three that you've chosen as
11:36your most memorable during your time here at AccuWeather.
11:39And we can have a little fun with this, maybe by counting these down here, everybody loves
11:43a countdown.
11:44Sure.
11:45Yeah.
11:46From three to one.
11:47And it's tough narrowing down, you know, 35 different states worth of assignments into
11:50a top three.
11:51I bet.
11:52I'm going to start the top three, we'll start with number three in Oklahoma.
11:55Okay.
11:56And we know Oklahoma's got some monster storms out there.
11:59And this was a tornado chase with storm chaser Mike Scantlin.
12:05Blanchard, Oklahoma, April 2023, looking at that video, I will never forget seeing
12:09this storm swirling above us.
12:11And Oklahoma has incredible hail.
12:13There's Mike right there.
12:15And you might remember this video, a lot of people saw this, the hail that smashed the
12:19windshield about a three inch in diameter hailstone.
12:22Thankfully, that safety glass worked.
12:24But that's something you got to be prepared for in that part of the country.
12:27That's why we tell people do not drive during these severe storms.
12:29You could see within a matter of minutes after that hailstorm hit our windshield, it dropped
12:33a tornado right in coal hit homes.
12:36This was one of those tornado outbreaks through the night in pink.
12:39You could see the lightning lighting up the sky.
12:41And unfortunately, places here like Shawnee, Oklahoma, getting hit by tornadoes.
12:44But that was a chase.
12:46We saw at least five or six tornadoes just in that single day.
12:50Storm chasing during the day is tough at night in Oklahoma, incredibly dangerous.
12:55That's why it's so important when we cover these storms and stories to be with experts,
13:00to be with people who've done this before.
13:02Yeah, the lightning, the thunder, the hail and tornadoes in Oklahoma, unlike any place
13:06else on the earth.
13:07Very wild.
13:08And to be there right after.
13:09I've been to tornado damage an hour or two after, but never right after.
13:14That's a pretty precarious spot to be.
13:16And I'm sure a little eerie is trying to determine if people are OK or not.
13:19Absolutely.
13:20And we do take the time on that chase.
13:21We stopped several times, jumped out of the vehicle, checking on people in the homes or
13:24see if, you know, sometimes debris gets stuck on top of storm shelters.
13:28A lot of people down there in Oklahoma have them, which is great, but we've got to make
13:31sure they're OK and make sure they have a way to get out.
13:33OK.
13:34Well, what do you have as your number two, second most memorable story?
13:37Number two, some of the wildfires out in California that I will never forget.
13:42It was the Glass Fire out in Napa Valley, 2020.
13:46As you remember, that was a busy year in America for extreme weather.
13:49And being in such a picturesque area, so many beautiful vineyards, wineries, absolutely
13:54heartbreaking just to see how fast those fires would move, how just a slight shift in wind
13:59direction would be obviously horrifically devastating.
14:03We saw a school that burned down.
14:05This was a neighborhood where homes burned down.
14:07And thankfully, most people were able to get to safety.
14:10That's why our advanced warnings telling people about these hazards and threats, getting them
14:14out of harm's way, because, you know, with storms, a lot of times you could shelter,
14:18you could get to a basement, get to a safe place.
14:21Wildfires, they're just one of those extreme hazards where you need to get out of the way
14:25as fast as possible.
14:26I have a whole new respect for wildfires after covering the Glass Fire.
14:30I believe that.
14:31And you've seen this and experienced this like 99 percent of us, thankfully, never do.
14:36And well, as we go down the list here, we'll start the drum roll.
14:40What was your number one most memorable weather story, at least to this point?
14:44That was a tough one.
14:45But again, 2020, that intense hurricane season, Hurricane Laura down in Louisiana, that was
14:52just an unforgettable hurricane season.
14:56Back to back storms and landfalls in Louisiana.
14:58That was tough.
14:59But Laura knocked out windows in our vehicle.
15:02This was when we had a chance to go out after dark in the eye of the storm when those winds
15:06calmed down.
15:07You only have a few minutes to be out there assessing the damage.
15:09And of course, our hotel took damage, windows, doors blown out where I was sheltering.
15:14We had water coming into the hotel room.
15:15We ended up in the stairwell with families who ended up stuck there.
15:19And of course, these were pandemic days.
15:20So we had other things to worry about on top of the storm.
15:23But the power of the wind, billboards being knocked down to homes.
15:26And you can't forget that high rise in Lake Charles, Louisiana, with all of the windows
15:30blown out and all of the flooding.
15:32That was a really tough storm to cover.
15:34I will never forget the intense heat and humidity right after that hurricane.
15:39People, volunteers, contractors, first responders all dealing with really tough heat and humidity
15:44after the storm.
15:45But a lot of good came out of this.
15:47A lot of people across Louisiana came out to help their neighbors, help strangers.
15:51And that's one of the experiences.
15:53I wish people got to see a little bit more of the good with these storms.
15:55And we love sharing those stories.
15:57But these volunteers that come in, some of them will drive hundreds, if not a thousand
16:01miles away to help these families after seeing the impacts from these storms.
16:05So a lot of heartache.
16:06I know that community, they're still working to fully recover.
16:09But there's a lot of good in these storms when people come together.
16:11Well, we have time for our next viewer question.
16:14Bill, your top three lists, they're very memorable.
16:16I remember covering them with you, but from the comfort of the studio.
16:19So this one comes from Debbie in Virginia.
16:22Debbie writes, do you have a favorite type of weather event to cover?
16:26Whether it be hurricanes, blizzards, tornadoes.
16:27We don't send you out in partly to mostly sunny most of the time.
16:31No, it doesn't work that way.
16:32Unless it's about pool safety or something like that.
16:34Yeah, it is incredible to see Mother Nature in action, to see those tornadoes forming
16:39off in the distance, ideally in a rural area in a cornfield where it's not going to hurt
16:42anyone.
16:43But when it comes to storms and covering weather, again, those winter storms and the blizzards,
16:48there's just something about it.
16:49There's something about people bundling up, getting the kids out there.
16:53And again, this was Binghamton, New York.
16:54This was my wife's first experience, I believe 32, 33 inches at least of snow out there in
17:00that part of Binghamton, New York.
17:02And she had a struggle getting through those snow drifts.
17:05I'm about six foot three.
17:06My wife's a foot or so shorter than me.
17:09She was working the camera at the time.
17:11And these neighbors, we saw folks out there just shoveling.
17:16And it was tough because we had to shout through the snow drifts.
17:18We couldn't reach them and found out this lady, her husband was out of town.
17:22She was literally snowed in in her home.
17:25And we were able to talk with her, make it through the snow drifts.
17:28And one of her neighbors came through, again, strangers helping strangers, came through
17:31that snowblower to help her out.
17:33Wow.
17:34Pretty amazing.
17:35Well, Bill, we hate to report that our time has run out, so thanks for making some time
17:38for us here in your busy schedule as we look forward to seeing you help us tell the story
17:43of the future as well.
17:44Coming up next, we're going to tackle some popular tornado myths in our weather-wise
17:48segment.
17:49Is this really a thing?
17:50We'll be right back after the break.
18:05Welcome back to AccuWeather's Ask the Experts.
18:06I'm your host, Jeff Cornish.
18:08It's time for weather-wise, and in this version, we ask, is this really a thing?
18:12In other words, are common ideas about weather fact or fiction?
18:15Let's begin with this.
18:16You've heard that tornado alleys in the Great Plains.
18:19Is this really a thing?
18:20The area people call Tornado Alley used to be confined to Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, a
18:25little bit of Nebraska.
18:26In recent decades, we've learned that there are about as many tornadoes farther east as
18:30well, including in Tennessee, Kentucky, and parts of Mississippi and Alabama.
18:35Better radar data now pinpoints areas where storm damage can be surveyed after the storm,
18:40giving meteorologists a more comprehensive idea of where tornadoes occur.
18:44Changes in climate also may be responsible for this eastward expansion.
18:48Experts say warmer air moving northward from the Gulf of Mexico is one reason for that
18:52eastward expansion of Tornado Alley.
18:55Next up, highway overpasses are not completely safe during tornadoes.
18:59Well, that's true.
19:01Stopping under a bridge for shelter from a tornado is very dangerous.
19:05Flying debris can accelerate under an overpass as wind is channeled through the narrow passageway.
19:10With lower visibility during a storm, other travelers can easily plow into a crowd of
19:15stopped vehicles under the overpass, so it really is a thing.
19:18Highway overpasses are not tornado safe.
19:21Finally, tornadoes can't happen in the mountains.
19:24Well, tornadoes can actually form in the mountains.
19:26They've been observed in the Appalachians and even at elevations up to 12,000 feet in
19:30the Rocky Mountains.
19:31So this is not a thing, because yes, tornadoes can happen in the mountains.
19:35Thanks so much for joining us here on AccuWeather's Ask the Experts.
19:38I'm Jeff Cornish.
19:40Don't forget, when you have a question about weather, space, or science, you can write
19:43us or send us a video question at AsktheExperts at AccuWeather.com.
19:47You can also call 888-566-6606.