FROM THE PODCAST Eric Berger Co-founder of Space City Weather
"OUR GOAL WITH THE SITE IS TO KIND OF CUT THROUGH THE NOISE AND FIND THE SIGNAL FOR PEOPLE. IT’S WEATHER FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BUSY AND MAYBE ONLY REALLY WANT TO FOCUS ON THE WEATHER WHEN THEY HAVE TO MAKE DECISIONS." ERIC BERGER, SPACE CITY WEATHER CO FOUNDER
The United States is in the middle of Atlantic Hurricane Season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. On the June 24 episode of the Houston Breakdown, Community Impact Newspaper ’s weekly local podcast, host Olivia Aldridge spoke with local weather expert Eric Berger about how Houstonians can prepare for hurricane risk. The founder of local forecasting service Space City Weather also dug into the story of his platform’s rise to prominence during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. BY OLIVIA ALDRIDGE
WHAT DOES SPACE CITY WEATHER DO, AND WHAT HAS YOUR JOURNEY WITH IT BEEN? There’s a million places you can get weather information online, on televi- sion and in apps. What we wanted to be was a place you could go to when you really wanted to know what’s important and what’s not. During this time of year, on places like Facebook and other social media, you’ll often see posts [predicting] a hurricane strike in Texas 10 days from now and a lot of things like that. Our goal with the site is to kind of cut through the noise and nd the signal for people. A LOT OF PEOPLE FIRST CON SULTED SPACE CITY WEATHER DURING HURRICANE HARVEY. WHY DO YOU THINK SPACE CITY WEATHER RESONATED WITH PEOPLE AT THAT TIME? I think it’s the human element. I am rst and foremost a writer; meteorology came much later on for me. I really try to connect with readers. I live in Houston, so whatever is happening to them is probably hap- pening to me and my family as well. I think it’s that we built a connection to readers by talking directly to them, not trying to scare them, but by telling them what we know, what we don’t, what we’re watching, and just being really honest and real with people. DID THE RESPONSE FROM THE PUBLIC TAKE YOU BY SURPRISE? Absolutely. ... I had written about weather at the Houston Chronicle from 2005 to 2015. When I left that
year, I founded Space City Weather as a hobby. Then, two years later with Harvey, it really did, as you said, blow up into something much more than that. So yeah, it surprised me how much people really do appreciate that kind of information and that kind of approach. It certainly just caused [co-founder Matt Lanza] and I to really double down on that and try to be there at all times for people. WE’RE NOW AT THE BEGINNING OF ANOTHER HURRICANE SEASON. WHAT DO YOU THINK WE CAN EXPECT HEADING INTO THESE NEXT FEW MONTHS? This year looks to be busy again for a number of reasons, principally because La Niña, which is in the Paci c Ocean, looks to be present in August, September and October of this year, which is prime time for Atlantic hurricanes to form. So generally, we can expect a busier season, but Houston can get hit during nonbusy seasons [as well]. The most classic example of that is Hurricane Alicia [in 1983]. ... There were just four storms that season. So, busy season, slow season, it doesn’t matter. Really, I think the most important thing for people in Houston to realize is June and July are typically pretty slow. It doesn’t mean we can’t get threats, but usually, nothing too, too serious comes along. Tropical Storm Allison, of course, was an exception to that 20 years ago. ... August and the rst three or four weeks of September are the busiest time. ... So people need to be making their preparations now in expectation of
COURTESY ERIC BERGER
for people to do is to understand the threats to them—their home, where they live and their family. That means knowing [if you’re in an area] that could be vulnerable to storm surge, and that’s driven primarily by your elevation and how close you are to a body of water or a bayou. For most people in the Houston area, storm surge is not an issue, but if you’re in League City or Seabrook or Galveston or places like that, then it certainly is an issue ... Where I am in League City, I would think seriously about evacuating from a Category 4 or 5 hurricane due to storm surge, but a lesser [category], probably not. If you’re in Galveston, not behind the seawall, you might think about evacu- ating from a Category 1 surge because it would overtop roads and maybe be impassable for a few days. ... So you need to understand your vulnerabilities now and prepare accordingly. If, for example, you decide [you] need to evacuate for whatever reason, then ... where would you evacuate? How are you going to make reservations? What are you going to bring? How are you going to make sure your pets are taken care of or your families or your parents or your children? You’ve got to think about all that now because when the moment hits, it’s very stressful.
the threat of storms. Now, that’s not to say you should expect something to happen because Houston only really receives direct impacts from a hurri- cane about once every 10 years, ... so the chances of ooding or windstorm or major storm surge from a hurricane this year overall is fairly low but is certainly not close to being zero. SOMETIMES THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL SAY, ‘WE’RE EXPECTING X NUMBER OF NAMED STORMS THIS SEASON.’ IS THAT SOMETHING YOU CAN GIVE PEOPLE? They’re looking at 17 to 20 named storms this year. [The National Oce- anic and Atmospheric Administra- tion’s] forecast and Phil Klotzbach at Colorado State [University], another noted seasonal forecaster, are also in that range as well. That’s about 50% more activity than normal in terms of named storms forming and the number of hurricanes forming. But if all the storms stay in the Caribbean or remain out to sea in the Atlantic or go to the eastern Gulf of Mexico, it still could very well be a quiet season for Texas. WHAT WOULD YOU ADVISE PEOPLE DO TO PREPARE FOR HURRICANE SEASON? I think the most important thing
This is an excerpt from an interview for “The Houston Breakdown,” Community Impact Newspaper ’s weekly local podcast, lightly edited for length and clarity. The Houston Breakdown is hosted by Olivia Aldridge and released every Friday morning wherever podcasts are available. Listen to the full interview for more of Berger’s insights on topics including space ight in Texas and the importance of building a Spanish-language weather forecasting platform for Houston.
The Houston BREAKDOWN
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KATY EDITION • SEPTEMBER 2022
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