MPR ‘Weather Lab’ and Climate Cast Friday at 10 am

This is going to be a fun week in the MPR Weather Lab.

I'm working on a special weather show concept that will air Friday at 10 am on MPR News and network stations. The first half hour features a new show idea with the working title, Weather Lab with Paul Huttner.  It is what it sounds like; a place where weather geeks and experts gather to talk about all things weather.

What's the big weather story of the week? What's the meteorology behind the next storm? Will it be an active severe weather season? What the latest severe weather research? How well is your local TV meteorologist communicating weather science? What are the economic impacts of the storm? What's the Butterfly Effect of a storm in California for Minnesota's weather? What does chaos theory tell us about our ability to predict the weather going forward? What's the latest in the supercomputer forecast model weather wars?

Weather Lab features A-List experts in meteorology as guests, as we break down the big weather stories of the week. I'm excited to say we have some really top level national guests booked on the show for this Friday. Weather Editor Jason Samenow from the incredibly popular Capital Weather Gang, Mashable's renowned Science Editor Andrew Freedman, and Slate's widely read meteorologist Eric Holthaus will join me as we break down the meteorology of the atmospheric rivers flooding California and the south.

I also envision a two-way conversation with you, the weather enthusiast. I want to give Minnesota weather enthusiasts a voice in the show. What weather topics do you want to hear about? Are seasonal trends important to you? If you had some of the best meteorologists on the planet on your front porch, what questions would you ask them? What kinds of discussions do you want to hear about our local and national weather? Please feel free to comment or ask questions on this post or by email at phuttner@mpr.org, and I can take some of what you (my fellow weather geeks) want to hear and incorporate your questions and comments into the show on Friday. We will also be establishing a place for you to record your questions so we can hear them in your own voice on air.

We envision Weather Lab as the kind of public radio science content you tell us you love. It's going to be a lot of fun for anyone who cares about weather in Minnesota.

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Climate Cast at 10:30 am

We're going to roll Climate Cast into the 10 am hour this Friday after the Weather Lab show.

I am very excited to say I'll have my former WCCO-TV colleague and Twin Cities TV News anchor legend Don Shelby on this week's Climate Cast.

We'll talk about Don's experiences with reporting climate change from an investigative journalistic approach during his tenure at WCCO-TV. Don's groundbreaking reporting from the Arctic allowed us as viewers to witness some of the early signs of climate change firsthand. We'll talk with Don about the state of climate change reporting on your local TV newscast. We'll also have Ed Maibach from George Mason University, a nationally renowned expert talking about why the majority of local TV meteorologists are behind the curve on climate science reporting.

This should be a great discussion!

I hope you'll tune in Friday at 10 am for Weather Lab and Climate Cast on MPR News. As always your calls are welcome during the show at 651-227-6000 or 800-242-2828. Also please feel free to drop a question here, if I can get it into the show for one of our guests I will. Please leave your first name and the community you represent.

This is a great opportunity to create a unique place for Minnesota's #1 conversation topic on radio, the weather. Spread the word to your fellow weather geeks, and please join the conversation!