More Turbulence in Weather Mediasphere

Ken Kaye reports in the Florida Sun-Sentinel's hurricane blog that long-time Weather Channel tropical expert Steve Lyons is leaving that position. Rick Knabb, formerly a senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center, will replace Lyons for the 2010 hurricane season, which begins in less than 6 weeks. Lyons will be the meteorologist in charge of the San Angelo, Texas office of the National Weather Service.

Dr. Lyons posted the following to his Facebook page:

I've really enjoyed my 12 hurricane seasons at The Weather Channel. I thank all of you for your viewing support, web interactions and for joining my facebook page. I'm returning to the National Weather Service where I will help make weather forecasts that save lives and property. I am extremely excited about my new opportunity; I’ll see you in the Lone Star State soon! Sincerely, Dr. Steve

The Weather Channel's announcement stated, in part,

Geoffrey Darby, executive vice president of programming for The Weather Channel, said, "Rick brings tremendous experience to this role and is no stranger to high profile hurricane activity, having worked with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) during the record-setting 2005 Atlantic season. He will help lead our on-air and cross-platform tropical coverage, providing continuous updates as hurricanes and tropical storms develop."

As a senior hurricane specialist at NHC from 2005-2008, he prepared and issued official forecasts and warnings during the 2005 hurricane season with Hurricanes Dennis, Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Perhaps most notably, Dr. Knabb signed the advisory announcing that Katrina had become a major hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico. He also served as NHC's science and operations officer from 2001-2005.

Most recently, Dr. Knabb has been deputy director and director of operations of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC) and NWS Forecast Office in Honolulu, Hawaii. While there, he led the development and implementation of the first-ever joint CPHC/FEMA hurricane preparedness course for emergency managers. Throughout his career in NOAA, in addition to personally preparing and issuing more than 200 official tropical cyclone operational forecast packages, Dr. Knabb has been involved in emergency management, military and academia collaboration, technology incorporation, and public speaking and media interviews.

Image: New Weather Channel tropical expert Rick Knabb, from Florida Sun-Sentinel