Craig Setzer Talks Hurricanes, Tornadoes & Even Sharknado In Reddit AMA
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- June 1 is the official start of hurricane season and CBS4 Chief Meteorologist Craig Setzer took time out of his extremely busy schedule to hop on Reddit for an AMA (Ask Me Anything) to answer questions about hurricanes, the weather, and a few other odds and ends that came up as well.
One person asked if Craig ever feared for his life while on the job because of the weather?
It was an easy answer for Craig since he's in Florida, the lightning capital of the U.S.
"When out in the weather, chasing or doing live shots, I'm always worried about lightning. There is no warning, it just strikes. And usually I'm wired up to a mic and earpiece so I feel like I'm a natural lightning conductor."
So what about hurricane season?
Craig was asked why NOAA thinks we're going to have an above average hurricane season?
The answer is simple: El Niño.
"So the hurricane season for the Atlantic is largely influenced by the state of El Niño and the early forecast was for a moderate to strong El Niño. In that case we would see few Atlantic storms. But now it looks like El Niño may not be strong, and other conditions in the Atlantic like slightly lower air pressure and slightly warmer water in the middle of the ocean could lead to an above normal season."
How does La Niña play a role?
"La Niña creates favorable conditions in the Atlantic for hurricanes by reducing wind shear that typically disrupts hurricanes. In fact, Florida sees about 40% more hurricane threats during La Niña years than El Niño years."
Not every question in the AMA was about weather.
One person asked about the craziest thing Craig has ever seen on the job.
"Ha! In TV or in the weather field? In TV some crazy stuff happens behind the scenes. The craziest was when I first started and I was supposed to have maps behind me, instead I was in a farm field. Also once on a live shot the lawn sprinklers came on and I was soaked within seconds.....ON LIVE TV! With weather I used to chase tornadoes and I've seen some crazy weather stuff."
There was even a question about the climate and what is Craig most concerned about for Miami?
For him, the answer was simple.
"Hmmm, climate wise we are most sensitive to sea level so I guess that would be my greatest concern. Rising of course would be bad."
And then there were the jokesters.
One person asked whether Craig thinks there will be a Sharknado scenario happening any time soon?
Being the good sport that he is, Craig replied, "Hmmm, Sharknado season is almost over so I think we are done for now."
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