A Forecast for the 2026 Hurricane Season

About this episode:  

Strong El Niño activity in the Pacific could mean a quieter Atlantic hurricane season, but recent events like tropical storm Arthur show that extreme weather can still impact the U.S. this summer. In this episode: Hurricane specialist Michael Lowry returns to the podcast to give an update on the 2026 hurricane season, the promising role of AI in storm forecasting, and the state of meteorology amidst federal funding cuts.

Guest: 

Michael Lowry is a hurricane specialist and storm surge expert for WPLG-TV in Miami, FL. He previously served as a senior scientist at the National Hurricane Center and as disaster planning chief at FEMA.

Host: 

Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the Public Health On Call podcast, an editor for Expert Insights, and the director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 

Show links and related content: 

• AI Weather Models Changing the Hurricane Forecast Game—Eye on the Tropics

• Remnants from Tropical Storm Arthur drench Gulf states, flooding homes and forcing evacuations—CBS News

• Congressional committees push back on Trump administration's proposed NOAA budget cuts—ABC News

• The Texas Floods and the Future of Forecasting—Public Health On Call (July 2025)

• Climate Change and Meteorology: 2025 Update—Public Health On Call (June 2025)

Transcript information:

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