Adam McWilliams, Weekend Meteorologist for Jackson channel 16, WAPT, spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club’s September 24, 2019, meeting. McWilliams is a native Jacksonian and a graduate of both Hillcrest High School and Mississippi State University (2012). His MSU degree is in Broadcast Journalism. He began broadcast journalism at Hillcrest when he was in the first grade and continued through high school. When he was 16, he was an intern with WAPT’s Chief Meteorologist, David Hartman. Before coming to 16 WAPT, Adam was the weekend meteorologist and reporter for WXVT-TV in Greenville, MS.
McWilliams talk was entitled “Are Hurricanes Getting Worse.” He quickly proved that question to be false by showing a record of hurricanes over the past 80 years. He did say that with the oceans becoming warmer, hurricanes are accompanied by greater rainfall due to the ability of warmer air being able to hold more moisture and to discharge greater amounts as rain.
McWilliams said that our ability to forecast the paths of hurricanes has improved greatly in the last 10-15 years and that as a result of better warnings are available. He also cited lessons that could be learned from Hurricane Katrina in 2005: Prepare early, prepare often. Other things that he said that exacerbate our ability to prepare for a hurricane are that most people have discontinued their telephone landlines and many people do not have transistor radios. His point was that cell phones will likely not be operating during and after hurricanes because of infrastructure damage, but that a battery-operated transistor radio can help you get warnings and post-storm information.
We thank Adam for his presentation and for his service to our community. He (center) is shown below with Rotarians Matt Monsour (left) who introduced him and Jeff Adcock
