Paul Domaille - UKweatherworld Executive

I've lived or been based in Guernsey, Channel Islands all my life. My interest in weather started at an early age. I can still vividly remember the telephone junction box blowing off the wall in a thunderstorm when I was about 5! My teenage hobbies included surfing, sailing, diving and flying...all reliant on certain weather conditions. The diving turned into a career and I spent 14 years mainly in the North Sea, but with a few trips to the middle and Far East. I enjoyed some seriously extreme weather in the North Sea and whilst not on shift, in saturation or sleeping I could be found waiting for the next set of fax charts to pop out of the machine or glued to the onboard weather station, looking at the wave height or maximum wind gust!

I currently grow flowers under glass for a living, once again an occupation dominated by weather conditions. Anyone living in or visiting Guernsey during a good winter storm will probably find me at the top of the cliffs with my handheld anemometer !

I have been a member of UKWeatherworld (UKww) since 2004 and look after FROUKs (Friends of UKWeatherworld.) The FROUKS are members who donate a subscription to UKww, who help keep the site running and who get access to a private, fun filled "talk about anything" forum. I also oversee the UKww finances and am part of the UKww Executive team.

Back to top

  Lorraine Evans - UKweatherworld Honourary Executive

I currently reside in Kent and work for the NHS but my true love lies in severe weather. Having lived through the ’87 storm and witnessing a funnel cloud over Somerset whilst I was a youngster, the desire to experience a severe thunderstorm finally got the better of me whilst at University. I was given the unique and rare opportunity to go storm chasing in the USA. At the time (during the spring of 2000), storm chasing was still a relatively unusual hobby to partake in.

A catalogue of fortunate events meant that I was able to hook up with veteran US chase Dave Ewoldt and experience my first Great Plains thunderstorm experience.

The rest is history, as they say and I have chased several times since. I discovered UKWeatherworld (UKww) during the October of 2003 whilst trawling the internet for storm photography. I signed up that same day and have not looked back. I form part of the UKww Executive, forum management team and I also run the UK to USA storm chase forum; a forum dedicated to tracking and reporting on behalf of the UK storm chase teams that head to the USA each year.

Back to top

  

  Michael Hayes (Snow Hope) - UKweatherworld Honourary Executive

Born in 1960 in Belfast to an English mother and a Manx father, I was brought up on the lower slopes of Colin Mountain, 8 miles south west of Belfast. I don’t remember 1963 at all but do remember some of the other snowy winters of the later 60s. And that is when I developed my love for snowy weather!

During my teens I went to RBAI (Inst) in the centre of Belfast and remember staring out of the window on cold winter days to see if it was snowing, or checking the clouds to see if they were snow bearing! My father was a scientist/senior lecturer at Queens University (where I would one day attend) and at my request brought home a foot long mercury thermometer when I was fourteen that I kept about 20 feet from the house. This was when I first started to check how cold it got at night and doing periodic checks on potential wintry days, hoping the temp would drop low enough for the rain to change to snow – I was usually disappointed. I remember recording very cold temperatures in the winter of 1979, minus 13c was the lowest I recorded.

After getting married and having 3 boys, my interest in weather was rekindled and I got my first min/max temp gauge about 10 years ago and currently have a selection of mercury thermometers and electronic stand alone units around the house, garage and in the garden. I discovered the Snow Watch forum on the BBC weather site in December 2001 and discovered TWO in January 2002 – I thought I had died and gone to heaven! It was great to join forums where people were as interested in the weather as I was. I was delighted to be asked to join UKww and enjoy helping to create such an interesting site.

Back to top

  Sam Jowett - UKweatherworld Executive

I was born in Derby back in 1972 and have had a keen interest in the weather for as long as I can remember. Apparently, at the age of 2 I would drive my parents up the wall going on about snow!  My interest continued to grow over the years but unfortunately, during school, I took the wrong subjects to take me on toward a meteorology degree and spent the next half dozen years trying to get back on track. I was lucky enough to take an environmental sciences degree at Nene College, Northampton (now UCN), which contained plenty of weather and climate tuition. I was then accepted to do an Msc in Meteorology at Birmingham but couldn't raise the funds... so there the dream ended...

I now work as a bit of an all rounder in IT, doing support, programming and database admin but retain my passion for weather, for which reason I joined the Royal Meteorological Society in 1996. I've kept weather records on and off throughout my childhood, but finally have a Davis Vantage Pro recording constantly and uploading to the web at photoweather.com. I like pretty much any kind of weather, particularly if it's out of the ordinary, but my biggest passion remains with snow, thunderstorms and severe weather, though I like a bit of (palaeo) climatic research thrown in too. 

More recently I've been bitten by the storm chasing bug and have joined the staff of TORRO (the TORnado and storm Research Organisation).  Most storm chases have been restricted to the UK, though one 1400 mile round trip took me through France into Luxembourg and during 2004 I lived the dream of chasing in tornado alley.  There's still so much more to see though, this is just the beginning and through my involvement in UKww I see and learn more all the time.  It's a privilege to be part of the team...

Back to top

   

  Andy Mayhew - UKweatherworld Executive

I was born in Suffolk in 1966 and have since drifted around various parts of England, as well as the Scottish Highlands, working initially for a large insurance broker and then running pubs for a number of years.  At present I live on my own  in Evesham, Worcestershire where I run my own retail business.   Although  I don't remember when I first became interested in the weather, I was certainly keeping temperature records in my early teens.  However, as I got older other interests took over for a while and it's only recently that I've taken a more serious interest in the subject once again.  Nonetheless, for the past 20 years I have had a very good reason for needing to know the weather: as a regular hill walker, and one who's preference was for long, solo, winter treks in the Scottish Highlands (including a 3 month, 1,000 mile trek during the winter of '89),  I can certainly say I have experienced all the very worst (and some of the very best) that the British climate has to offer!

In January 2003 I began issuing my own weekly mountain weather forecasts.  In addition to current and future weather, I am also studying the climatic and geological changes that happened at the end of the last Ice Age and their impact on the development of human civilisation.  I am also Newsletter Editor for the Mountain Bothies Association (a charity which maintains simple shelters in the hills for walkers to use).

And in the evenings I like to relax with my pipe, a good malt whisky, and listen to some Jethro Tull or Bruce Springsteen...

Back to top

 

  Stuart Robinson - UKweatherworld Executive

I am a self confessed storm chaser and severe weather watcher.
While others spend their time relaxing on a foreign beach I like to chase down and experience up close Tornados, Supercell Thunderstorms and Hurricanes. So far I have seen 13 tornadoes and experienced two hurricanes

I recall that during May and June 2003 I spent 5 weeks and travelled over 15,000 miles chasing supercells and tornados within the American Great Plains often seeing nothing more than clear blue sky’s as the “cap” failed to brake, however on some rare occasions conditions do come together and tornadic supercells form. 

Hurricane chasing is a lot less sophisticated than tornado chasing as it involves getting very wet along with long periods with out sleep! It is my intension to one day actually get inside the eye of a hurricane and be able to look up and see blue skies so far this has eluded me but it has not been with out trying.

When not out chasing storms I run and maintain my own amateur weather station at home, publishing the information to the internet. For a living I am a self employed Computer Consultant for clients in and around the midlands. I live in Mountsorrel, North Leicestershire with my partner and weather widow, Alison.

Back to top

 

   Dave Wiseman (Dave W) - UKweatherworld Executive

Brought up in Portsmouth, Plymouth and Falmouth I was always particularly close to our maritime climate and it was perhaps why I developed an interest in the weather -and in particular how it effects peoples lives- very early on. By the age of thirteen I was keeping a weather log and by fifteen regularly submitting my monthly weather readings to the early Climatological Observers Link. After joining the Met Office and working in the vastly different environments of Kew Observatory and London Heathrow in the early eighties.

I left the Met Office to concentrate on developing my career in different directions. I now own my own Weather company 'Wiseweather' and a subsidiary called 'Homesweep', concentrating on the effects of domestic and industrial pollutants as well as having recently completed an MA in Information and Communication Technology in Education.

I was very pleased to be invited to join the UK Weatherworld Team ten years ago now as an Executive Manager, having been a regular contributor to various weather forums on the web for nearly twenty years now from its very early days on 'Prestel' and 'closed user groups' when weather chart reception was by grainy black and white radio-fax. Things may have changed dramatically technically but I still enthusiastically look forward to the development of Siberian highs in the winter, Spanish plumes in the summer and intense cyclo-genesis in the Autumn as much as I used to when I was a youngster of fifteen and look forward to doing so when I'm seventy years old as well!

Back to top

 

  Paul Blight (PJB) - UKweatherworld Management Team

Born in Devon in the middle of the famous 1976 Summer I suppose it was only to be expected that I would develop a fascination with the weather, little did I know that 27 years later my birthday would come to hold the record for the hottest day on record in the UK - 10th August 2003.

I moved to Bournemouth in 1999 and I found UKww soon after it was created and have been a member ever since. I was offered the role of Education Manager in 2004 which I accepted, my remit being to try to promote the educational role UKww can play, as well as increasingly the level of knowledge of the members for which I gain pleasure in increasing the level our understanding in our complex atmosphere.

My main interests lie in Synoptic & Satellite Meteorology and Numerical Modelling, and you will find my posts often in the Synoptic Forum during interesting Weather Events.  I am also a contributor to the UKWW Warnings team.

Back to top

 

  Andy Davies (Uskys) - UKweatherworld Management Team

Weather has fascinated me throughout my lifetime yet until the age of the internet these fascinations were kept secret.

My main area of my interest is with current weather conditions and historical statistics. It's only recently I have had a weather station but this is a very big hit with me enabling countless statistics for me to analyse .

I am lucky to be living at a very exposed location quite high up on a mountain in the Brecon Beacons National Park. Being a keen Naturalist I am continually being kept busy with wildlife popping out from the forests. The most intriguing being the Alien Big Cats  which sometimes come very close...if not a bit too close to my house,  within 200m. These Cats are probably Panthers ( black leopards ) yet luckily, so far, don't seem to be interested in me as part of their diet - they generally give the impression of sheep  being the tastiest.

Some other hobbies of mine are ( not that i get time to follow them all ) Metal detecting, DIY and cartography. I enjoy looking at aerial photographs and reading up on psychic abilities/conspiracies or anything super mundane. 

Weather wise, I always treat the conditions with the utmost respect having nearly perished when I was 14 after foolishly getting caught in a blizzard whilst on a cycle ride with a friend. I am frightened by extremes of weather, particularly high winds yet I thoroughly enjoy them.

Back to top

 

  Dave Hancox - UKweatherworld Management Team

Hi I'm Dave Hancox and I moved to Scotland from Wolverhampton in 1978. I lived in Brechin/Montrose Angus until 1996 and relocated to Dalmellington, Ayrshire. I have always been in awe of storms, clouds , atmospheric optics, meteor showers, northern lights and more recently noctilucent clouds. I joined Ukww in 2006 and found it a great place to share information, keep up to date on developing weather and space events which I like nothing better than to photograph.  I can disappear at all hours, just to photograph and record the wonders of the weather. I have learned a lot from Ukww members and continue to do so, I am currently a forum manager and look after the Space Weather section. I can also be found in the FROUKS area, where I enjoy seeing others non weather related photography and no holds barred humour. You are sure to receive a warm welcome when you post on Ukww so come on in.

Back to top

 

  Howard Kirby - UKweatherworld Management Team

Born in 1974 I developed a fascination with the weather from an early age. Having a naturally curious mind I was constantly bombarding my parents with questions such as "what makes the wind blow?" and "why does it thunder?". I was too young to remember the summer of 1976 but do vividly recall the deep snow of Jan 1982. There was also a tornado in my village in Dec that year which destroyed part of a house. It was later rated as a T5 by TORRO.

When I was 11 my Father suggested I kept weather records, as he did when he was a teenager, so after purchasing some instruments I began. My aim when I was growing up was to "become a weatherman" which was probably more of an obsession than a specific career goal! After an indifferent A Level campaign I realised studying Meteorology wasn't a realistic option and so decided on an Earth Science degree from Aberystwyth.

I joined Ukweatherworld in March 2004 after rekindling a passion for weather photography. The availability of digital cameras meant the "snap-rate" could increase beyond recognition. Ironically as a youngster I would hide under the duvet at the first sign of a flash or rumble, nowadays I'm looking for the car keys and grabbing the camera kit at the mere prospect of a thunderstorm. After joining Ukww I soon became a Moderator of the Weather Photography Forum, helping to run monthly competitions and giving assistance to members. Now a Manager with a broader role in running the forums my responsibilities have inceased but its my no means a chore. Its a honour, in fact there's no other weather forum I'd rather be part of more than Ukweatherworld.

Back to top

  John Mason - UKweatherworld Management Team

I joined UKWeatherworld (UKww) many years ago and have been a regular ever since. I started by moderating the thunderstorm and, later, the climate forums before getting involved with the warnings section of the site, where a small team works together to issue severe weather alerts whenever deemed necessary. I originally became involved through an interest in storm photography, having recognised that an important factor for success in that field is good forecasting. The experienced meteorologists who post on here have taught me an awful lot over the years and I try to help newcomers likewise, wherever possible. My stamping-ground is the hills and coast of Mid-Wales, where I live and work. I'm a geologist by trade but living in a rural area requires one to take whatever's going so I do things like scientific interpretation, web design and so on in order to pay the bills.

When not chained to the computer or pointing my camera at atmospheric violence, I'm busy looking after my veg-garden, sea-fishing or reading the latest climatology papers; another area of great interest to me. I also enjoy hanging out in my local pub but it's even more expensive than storm-chasing these days!

Back to top

 

  Duncan Railton - UKweatherworld Management Team

Growing Up in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire I have always had a fascination for the weather ever since the great storm of 1987. Although only 9 years old I remember vividly the events of that night and the devastation that followed. I also remember the storm of 1990 and how I looked forward to it with great anticipation! I always wanted to study meteorology, but ended up opting for a degree in Physics and Astronomy (another passion) at Sheffield University, in the city where I live today, working in IT. For now at least my passion for the weather is a hobby, though an important one.

I found UK Weatherworld searching google for "current weather conditions" during a particularly violent storm in 2003. Since then I have been a regular contributor to the forums and became first moderator of the synoptic forum then a forum manager. In the last year or so I have been astonished by how much I have learned about meteorology and climatology from the members of the site, and I am continuing to learn. The more I do the more interested I get! My favourite weather is anything dramatic; snow, gales, thunderstorms, and I can be found getting rather excited when any of those come near Sheffield!

Back to top

Cindy Short (Cindy) - UKweatherworld Management Team

I’ve lived in New Orleans all of my life, and dealing with tropical systems is a way of life here. I’ve experienced several hurricanes including Andrew, Georges, Elena, Cindy (you knew that was going to be a little witch!) and Gustav. The tropical forecasts and discussions here at UKww are the best on the net, the pros here study tropical systems and post in depth analysis and take the time to explain their thoughts to those who may be in the path of a system. That means quite a lot to those who are trying make a plan of action! Tropical systems are my main area of interest, but I also follow severe weather, we tend to get a lot of that here in NOLA as well. In the real world I work for a major law firm. I work long hours so I don’t have a lot of free time. I am dedicated to physical fitness and I also enjoy reading.

Back to top

   Liz Treanor (Scrapemedic) - UKweatherworld Management Team

I’m Liz Treanor, known as Scrapemedic because I am a medic and I scrape people up; mainly in North West London. Came to UKww when I thought I heard a tornado go over the house, and now, I know what a straight line wind on a gust front is, D’oh! I have learnt much more about the weather and climate and well, just about anything to do with the nature of the environment in which we live since arriving here.

My work and hobbies take me outside a lot: gardening and skiing to name but two, but I am also interested in how the weather and humans interact, so any type of weather has some value to me.
Stateside chasing is on my to do list but that hasn’t stopped me from experiencing a close run with a tornado, right in our back yard and I love the fact that Britain has all the weather types but not all the terror!

My role here is as a forum Manager, but with so many very informed people here it’s not a tough life.

 

 

Back to top

 Rob Bale (robb) - UKweatherworld Moderator Team

Born on the Wirral in 1949 but now living in Chester.  Always had an interest in the weather, so much so that one of my school reports from primary School actually commented that I would probably do much better if I didn't keep loooking out of the window so much.

Actually went for an interview for a job at the Met Office at Liverpool Airport just before I took my 'O' Levels.  Got the job subject to attaining certain grades, however at that time there were other distractions that were more appealing than studying and I didn't get the required grades.  Biggest mistake I've ever made in my life and still regret it today.

Working now at West Cheshire College at Chester and it was from here that I had another flirtation with a weather job.

Around 1997 I got down to the final 6 to be shortlisted for a weather presenters job on the new to be launched Weather Channel on Sky. Went for interview in London at ITV studios and had an actual weather presenting screen test.  On arriving I discovered I was the only guy and the other 5 were not only attractive females but 20 years younger with some TV experience as well. We were given a written weather scenario that included the current synoptic set up I think. If I recall it was a cold front moving SE across the country with associated rain affecting the London area and Wimbledon.  Didn't really need to memorise anything as it was a situation I'd seen thousands of times before.  That was the easy part, however standing in front of a TV camera for the very first time was very daunting. Got through it but the outcome was inevitable.  Some of the feedback was that I'd put in too much "technical stuff" and should have mentioned the need for brollies etc and stoppage of play at the tennis. A very enjoyable day however and one which I'll always remember.

So here I am still at West Cheshire College where I basically have 2 jobs.  One as technician in the Science department and the other as a web editor in Marketing.I've set up 3 weather stations at the College plus a satellite receiving station and many people use our freely available data and images. Got married to the lovely Jennifer in December 2010, honeymooned in New York over Christmas and got stranded by the big blizzard there on 26/27December. Interests include walking, gardening, pub quizzing and drinking.  Going to buy two cycles soon, so you can add cycling to that list. Love the extremes in weather and I'm lucky enough to remember those special weather events that we talk about over and over again - winters 62/63,  78/79, 81/82 and summers 59, 75 and 76

Back to top

Kevin Bradshaw (Summer '85) - UKweatherworld Moderator Team

I was born in Manchester in 1972 and moved to Perth in Western Australia in 1974. It was the thunderstorms that hit the city, that sparked my interest in the weather, they were often spectacular and during the night quite often caused power cuts.  I returned back to Britain during the good summer of 1984, so the transisition from winter in Australia to summer in Britain was not to bad but the following winter was cold and I suffered not being used to the conditions. Watching snow fall for the first time during that winter increased my fascination in the weather.

My other interests include history, astronomy, music, facts and trivia. I would often cut out interesting trivial facts in newspapers and keep them in a scrapbook when I was young and this spread into other subject such as astronomy and meteorology.  It was reading about the winter of 1947 that sparked my interest in historical weather events and being a collector of trivial info and historical facts, it wasn't long before I started collecting info on historical weather events.

My username on this site comes from my first full summer in this country since coming back from Australia, summer 1985 and it was one of the coolest and wettest of recent times.

Back to top

 L. David Cooke - UKweatherworld Moderator Team

"Hey All" has been Dave's lead line for over 12 years of Climate Change discussions stretching from from 12 years ago on Yahoo News Boards to now on UKWW. As Dave says it all started in April 1970 on the first Earth Day and he was assigned to pickup garbage on the school grounds. From there an interest in Ecology and his childhood love of Earth Sciences merged.

Dave's first interests in sciences was nurtured by family and friends dedicated to Science and it's application. Though he lost his father at an early age, the love of Science and Engineering was instilled in his bones. To this end, logic that is supported by empirical evidence is as important as theoretical possibilities, though he still expects the theoretical puzzles to fit together, logically.

Growing up on Florida's East Coast has created a strong respect for Severe Weather, having had a Tornado go through his backyard at age 8 and later at age 12, another through his front yard. After dodging Hurricanes until 1979 Dave finally decided it may be time to move to well inland in NC, (his fathers home state, only to be visited by Hurricane Hugo 6 years later.)

In NC Dave worked for a major Telecommunications company, eventually achieving his career laureate as a Network and Information Systems Engineer. In his off time he merged his interests in Weather and Alternative Energy to design and build models of his first Wind Turbine. Dave has been an advocate of Alternate Energy systems since 1973 and he first read "Mother Earth News". He is a firm believer that to "Keep Moving Forward", that discovering new energy resources are more important then conservation.

Dave has, in his career, been placed in a number of teaching or advocacy roles. It was discovered early in his career he was a natural teacher. Though his career was cut short by health issues, and he had to withdraw from achieving his personal goal of attaining his Undergraduate from Elon College, he has found an ability to merge his gifts and interests throughout his life. He has apparently found his calling with his friends at UKWW in the Climate Change and Earth Sciencs Forums. When not Moderating, Dave can be found researching technology on the Internet, playing video games on his Wii with his grandchildren, reading or dreaming of returning to sailing, (his first love, as it blended weather, wind energy and transportation).

Back to top

   Glyn Jones (Bazmundo) - UKweatherworld Moderator Team

I'm 32 and currently work all the hours Royal Mail sends, manually assisting the address recognition software, touch-typing taken to the extreme! Originally from Greater Manchester, I found a nice corner with a delicate rural beauty/urban degradation balance on the outskirts of Stoke-on-trent. I'm not after a career in anything (or so the recession tells me), rather preferring to specialise in low-cost urban subsistence survival; so that I have time to watch the world from my laptop. I always opted for the natural sciences and studied a degree in Astrophysics out of sheer curiosity and something to feed my constantly whirring brain cogs.

I'm a Moderator for the Space Weather and Country File sections of the forum, one obviously but the other because I find the effects of weather and seasons on the natural landscape utterly fascinating.

Severe weather and the power of wind and hydrology always interested me and forecasting had to creep in, considering how tactical astronomy in the UK needs to be! Once I found UKww my interest in atmospheric physics piqued, and I learned more and more about the processes driving everything from storms to snowfall. A couple of years on and I've chased US supercells, joined the UKww Warnings Team and help the Skywarn UK organisation.

 

Back to top