WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.120 Welcome to Meteorology Matters, the podcast that 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:05.719 dives deep into the science chaos and stories 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:08.380 behind the weather that shapes our world. This 00:00:08.380 --> 00:00:11.039 show was created by meteorologist Rob Jones. 00:00:11.619 --> 00:00:14.580 Now let's get into today's episode of Meteorology 00:00:14.580 --> 00:00:17.699 Matters. It's great to be here, especially with 00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:19.899 all the energy in the air right now. Absolutely. 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:23.760 We are recording this on Saturday, January 17th, 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:27.920 2026. And if you are anywhere near South Florida 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:29.679 or, you know, frankly, if you're just tapped 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:31.920 into sports at all right now, you know, the atmosphere 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:34.719 is just electric. It really is. We are less than 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:37.420 48 hours away from the College Football National 00:00:37.420 --> 00:00:39.600 Championship game, which is happening this Monday, 00:00:39.859 --> 00:00:42.539 January 19th, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Right. 00:00:42.679 --> 00:00:45.079 The biggest stage in amateur sports. Usually 00:00:45.079 --> 00:00:46.899 when we look at these huge events from a weather 00:00:46.899 --> 00:00:50.759 perspective, the conversation is pretty dry. 00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:52.840 Yeah, it's logistical. Exactly. It's always, 00:00:53.159 --> 00:00:54.880 is it going to rain during the halftime show 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:57.479 or how will the humidity affect the players? 00:00:57.560 --> 00:00:59.179 That kind of thing. Right. It's a three hour 00:00:59.179 --> 00:01:01.920 forecast basically. But for this deep dive, we 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:05.680 wanted to zoom out way, way out because while 00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:08.159 the football game is the headline, the real story 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:12.599 here is the setting and the home team. When you 00:01:12.599 --> 00:01:15.060 look at the University of Miami, you realize 00:01:15.060 --> 00:01:19.159 their identity The hurricanes isn't just a mascot 00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:20.840 they picked out of a hat because it sounded, 00:01:20.840 --> 00:01:23.439 you know, intimidating. No, not at all. In fact, 00:01:23.659 --> 00:01:26.379 it's arguably the most authentic identity in 00:01:26.379 --> 00:01:28.239 all of college sports. I would agree with that. 00:01:28.379 --> 00:01:32.780 Because it's rooted in, well, in trauma, in survival 00:01:32.780 --> 00:01:35.799 and eventually in scientific mastery. Exactly. 00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:38.760 This is a university and really a whole city 00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:41.939 that is just it's inextricably linked to the 00:01:41.939 --> 00:01:45.069 weather. specifically to tropical cyclones. We're 00:01:45.069 --> 00:01:46.769 talking about a history that goes back to the 00:01:46.769 --> 00:01:49.430 very foundation of the school. It's a story that 00:01:49.430 --> 00:01:51.769 involves a catastrophe that leveled the city, 00:01:52.150 --> 00:01:54.430 a legendary meeting to name the team, and then 00:01:54.430 --> 00:01:56.609 this pivot toward becoming one of the world's 00:01:56.609 --> 00:01:58.909 leading centers for atmospheric research. It's 00:01:58.909 --> 00:02:00.469 a fascinating case study. I mean, you have to 00:02:00.469 --> 00:02:02.909 think about the geography. South Florida is essentially 00:02:02.909 --> 00:02:05.109 a natural laboratory for atmospheric science. 00:02:05.209 --> 00:02:06.870 A peninsula, just stick it out there. Right. 00:02:07.030 --> 00:02:09.669 It's sticking out into extremely warm water. 00:02:09.789 --> 00:02:11.689 sitting right in the bowling alley of the Atlantic 00:02:11.689 --> 00:02:14.490 hurricane basin. So the thesis we're exploring 00:02:14.490 --> 00:02:16.870 today is that the University of Miami, the Hurricanes, 00:02:18.409 --> 00:02:21.530 they really earned that name through blood and 00:02:21.530 --> 00:02:25.430 water. Their identity was forged in the aftermath 00:02:25.430 --> 00:02:27.870 of a catastrophe that happened nearly a century 00:02:27.870 --> 00:02:31.789 ago. And that legacy, it spans from the football 00:02:31.789 --> 00:02:34.050 field all the way to the highest levels of government 00:02:34.050 --> 00:02:37.509 research. So let's unpack this. To really understand 00:02:37.509 --> 00:02:40.870 the hurricanes of 2026, we have to go back a 00:02:40.870 --> 00:02:42.750 full century. We have to start with the catalyst. 00:02:42.909 --> 00:02:44.530 And I'm not talking about a football game. I'm 00:02:44.530 --> 00:02:48.009 talking about the great Miami hurricane of 1926. 00:02:48.150 --> 00:02:50.530 Yeah, and to really feel the weight of that event, 00:02:50.870 --> 00:02:52.930 you have to understand what Miami was like before 00:02:52.930 --> 00:02:55.030 the storm. We have to transport ourselves back 00:02:55.030 --> 00:02:57.250 to the Roaring Twenties. But this wasn't just 00:02:57.250 --> 00:03:00.270 the Jazz Age. In Florida, This was the era of 00:03:00.270 --> 00:03:02.810 the great Florida land bone. The era of anything 00:03:02.810 --> 00:03:05.849 goes. Precisely. It was a time of just unbridled 00:03:05.849 --> 00:03:09.189 optimism and wild, wild speculation. People were 00:03:09.189 --> 00:03:11.610 pouring into the state to buy land off in sight 00:03:11.610 --> 00:03:13.830 unseen. And if we look at the numbers, they're 00:03:13.830 --> 00:03:16.590 just staggering. In 1920, the census counted 00:03:16.590 --> 00:03:19.469 about, what, 42 ,000 people in Miami. OK. By 00:03:19.469 --> 00:03:22.689 1926, just six years later, that number had exploded 00:03:22.689 --> 00:03:25.250 to over 100 ,000. And that's probably a conservative 00:03:25.250 --> 00:03:28.050 estimate, because it doesn't fully account for 00:03:28.050 --> 00:03:30.169 the surrounding settlements like Lemon City or 00:03:30.169 --> 00:03:31.930 Coconut Grove that were being swallowed up by 00:03:31.930 --> 00:03:34.129 the metro area. So you have a population that 00:03:34.129 --> 00:03:36.889 has more than doubled in just half a decade. 00:03:37.009 --> 00:03:40.030 That creates a very specific kind of social environment, 00:03:40.189 --> 00:03:43.199 doesn't it? It creates a dangerous one, a very 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:45.520 dangerous one. You had a city filled with new 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:47.879 residents who were optimistic, focused on getting 00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:51.259 rich, and this is the critical part, woefully 00:03:51.259 --> 00:03:54.180 undereducated about tropical cyclones. Right. 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:56.319 They had no idea what they were in for. None. 00:03:56.800 --> 00:03:58.620 You have to remember the last major hurricane 00:03:58.620 --> 00:04:01.080 to hit that part of Florida had been back in 00:04:01.080 --> 00:04:05.090 1910. So you have a 15 -year gap. In a transient 00:04:05.090 --> 00:04:07.270 boomtown where everyone just arrived, you know, 00:04:07.449 --> 00:04:09.229 last week, 15 years might as well be a century. 00:04:09.669 --> 00:04:12.349 No one has that institutional memory. Exactly. 00:04:12.930 --> 00:04:14.770 Most of these people had never seen the ocean 00:04:14.770 --> 00:04:17.149 turn on them. They saw the beach as a playground, 00:04:17.310 --> 00:04:20.610 not a potential threat. And to make matters worse, 00:04:20.870 --> 00:04:22.889 there was a false alarm earlier that same year. 00:04:23.069 --> 00:04:27.089 Oh, that's not good. No. In July of 1926, a weak 00:04:27.089 --> 00:04:29.670 storm hit the area. It caused some heavy rain, 00:04:29.829 --> 00:04:31.709 knocked over some patio furniture, but that was 00:04:31.709 --> 00:04:33.470 really about it. And instead of that being a 00:04:33.470 --> 00:04:35.589 warning, it actually backfired. It completely 00:04:35.589 --> 00:04:37.230 backfired. There's a quote from a resident at 00:04:37.230 --> 00:04:42.550 the time who joked that the July storm was made 00:04:42.550 --> 00:04:45.389 to order to scare the scoffers. But because it 00:04:45.389 --> 00:04:47.790 didn't do much damage, it had the opposite effect. 00:04:47.910 --> 00:04:50.410 It made them complacent. It solidified this dangerous 00:04:50.410 --> 00:04:52.850 complacency. People thought, oh, a hurricane, 00:04:53.089 --> 00:04:55.079 is that all it is? I can handle that. They were 00:04:55.079 --> 00:04:57.480 inoculated against fear right before the real 00:04:57.480 --> 00:04:59.920 plague arrived. So, okay, let's move to September 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:03.439 1926. The big blow is coming. The storm we now 00:05:03.439 --> 00:05:06.399 call the Great Miami Hurricane. It likely formed 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:08.660 near the Cape Verde Islands around September 00:05:08.660 --> 00:05:11.459 11th. But here's the thing we absolutely have 00:05:11.459 --> 00:05:15.839 to remember about 1926. We were effectively blind. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:20.160 No satellites. No radar. Nothing. no reconnaissance 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:22.259 aircraft flying into the storm to take measurements. 00:05:22.699 --> 00:05:27.000 The storm was a ghost, a complete mystery. It 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:29.339 was known only by a few ship reports out in the 00:05:29.339 --> 00:05:32.339 Central Atlantic. It passed north of Puerto Rico, 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:34.959 so it avoided the normal channels of communication 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:37.230 in the Caribbean. So it just remained a mystery. 00:05:37.370 --> 00:05:39.930 It was a monster category four storm just lurking 00:05:39.930 --> 00:05:41.709 out there in the blue and nobody really knew 00:05:41.709 --> 00:05:44.370 exactly where it was or how strong it was. It 00:05:44.370 --> 00:05:46.250 feels like a horror movie setup. The monster 00:05:46.250 --> 00:05:48.149 is in the house, but all the lights are out. 00:05:48.290 --> 00:05:50.610 That is a perfect analogy. On the morning of 00:05:50.610 --> 00:05:54.110 September 17th, less than 24 hours before impact, 00:05:54.790 --> 00:05:56.850 there were still no hurricane warnings issued 00:05:56.850 --> 00:06:00.050 for Florida. 24 hours. It wasn't until 11 d .m. 00:06:00.209 --> 00:06:03.459 that night as the barometer began this just precipitous 00:06:03.459 --> 00:06:06.199 fall, that Richard Gray, the official in charge 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:08.519 of the Miami Weather Bureau, finally hoisted 00:06:08.519 --> 00:06:11.860 the hurricane warnings. At 11 Berto PM, the city 00:06:11.860 --> 00:06:14.120 is asleep. Or, you know, it's the roaring 20s, 00:06:14.120 --> 00:06:16.620 so they're probably out partying. And just a 00:06:16.620 --> 00:06:20.379 few hours later, their world ended. The eye of 00:06:20.379 --> 00:06:23.079 the hurricane passed over downtown Miami around 00:06:23.079 --> 00:06:26.879 630 in the morning on September 18th. And this. 00:06:27.980 --> 00:06:30.439 This brings us to the greatest tragedy of this 00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:33.220 entire event, and something that really underscores 00:06:33.220 --> 00:06:35.680 the lack of meteorological knowledge at the time. 00:06:35.779 --> 00:06:38.839 The lull. The lull. The eye passed directly over 00:06:38.839 --> 00:06:40.839 the city. And if you've never been in the eye 00:06:40.839 --> 00:06:43.519 of a hurricane, it is a truly surreal experience. 00:06:43.819 --> 00:06:46.680 I've heard stories. The wind just stops. It stops. 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:49.139 The sun might even come out. It becomes eerily 00:06:49.139 --> 00:06:53.060 quiet. In 1926, this lull lasted for about 35 00:06:53.060 --> 00:06:56.000 minutes. Just long enough to be deceptive. Exactly. 00:06:56.660 --> 00:06:58.379 Residents, who we already established didn't 00:06:58.379 --> 00:07:00.480 understand the mechanics of a cyclone, thought 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:02.540 the storm was over. They thought they had survived 00:07:02.540 --> 00:07:04.839 it. They emerged from their shelters. People 00:07:04.839 --> 00:07:06.839 went out into the streets. There are reports 00:07:06.839 --> 00:07:08.879 that the streets were crowded with people inspecting 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:11.199 the damage, looking at the wreckage. Some people 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:13.079 even started crossing the causeways back to the 00:07:13.079 --> 00:07:15.699 mainland from Miami Beach. They were completely 00:07:15.699 --> 00:07:18.399 utterly exposed. And then the backside of the 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:21.079 storm hits. And it hit with a vengeance. The 00:07:21.079 --> 00:07:23.620 wind shifted to the southeast. And in Miami, 00:07:24.019 --> 00:07:25.920 a southeasterly wind is the worst case scenario. 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:27.839 Because it pushes the water straight from the 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:30.319 Atlantic into the bay. Directly into Biscayne 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:34.480 Bay. This created a massive storm surge. A 10 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:37.379 -foot wall of water swept over Miami Beach and 00:07:37.379 --> 00:07:40.040 extended blocks into the city of Miami. The water 00:07:40.040 --> 00:07:42.379 from the Atlantic effectively met the water from 00:07:42.379 --> 00:07:45.199 the bay. It was a catastrophe. The devastation 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:47.500 statistics. They're hard to wrap your head around, 00:07:47.540 --> 00:07:49.889 even today. They're staggering. The Red Cross 00:07:49.889 --> 00:07:53.329 reported 372 deaths, but historians estimate 00:07:53.329 --> 00:07:55.449 the real number was likely much, much higher. 00:07:55.930 --> 00:07:57.629 Right, because of all the uncounted workers. 00:07:57.889 --> 00:08:00.050 Exactly. So many transient laborers weren't counted 00:08:00.050 --> 00:08:01.949 in official records. It could have been over 00:08:01.949 --> 00:08:06.329 500. And then over 6 ,000 injuries. And the financial 00:08:06.329 --> 00:08:09.620 cost... In 1926 dollars, it was estimated at 00:08:09.620 --> 00:08:12.360 105 million dollars. Which is just a massive 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:14.279 amount of money for that time. It's astronomical. 00:08:14.500 --> 00:08:16.699 If you adjust that for inflation and wealth to 00:08:16.699 --> 00:08:18.800 today's landscape, we're talking about damages 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:22.379 that would exceed 164 billion dollars. Wow. Effectively 00:08:22.379 --> 00:08:25.220 ended the 1920s land boom, the party was over, 00:08:25.579 --> 00:08:28.160 the bubble had burst. And this is where the University 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:31.230 of Miami enters the picture. Because the university 00:08:31.230 --> 00:08:33.669 wasn't founded decades later in memory of this 00:08:33.669 --> 00:08:36.110 storm, it was right there trying to take its 00:08:36.110 --> 00:08:38.389 first breath when this happened. Exactly. The 00:08:38.389 --> 00:08:41.490 University of Miami was founded in 1925. The 00:08:41.490 --> 00:08:44.990 Great Miami Hurricane hit in September 1926. 00:08:45.309 --> 00:08:47.590 It actually delayed the opening of their very 00:08:47.590 --> 00:08:50.190 first fall semester. Talk about a rough start. 00:08:50.250 --> 00:08:51.950 You're trying to launch a brand new university 00:08:51.950 --> 00:08:54.649 and your city gets leveled days before classes 00:08:54.649 --> 00:08:56.690 are supposed to start. It's the definition of 00:08:56.690 --> 00:08:59.529 a baptism by fire, or in this case by wind and 00:08:59.529 --> 00:09:02.309 water. The university wasn't just named after 00:09:02.309 --> 00:09:05.110 storms. It was literally born in the wreckage 00:09:05.110 --> 00:09:07.350 of one. I can't imagine. The campus must have 00:09:07.350 --> 00:09:10.909 been a mess. Covered in debris. The economy that 00:09:10.909 --> 00:09:12.830 was supposed to support the school had completely 00:09:12.830 --> 00:09:15.169 collapsed. And that timing, that's what makes 00:09:15.169 --> 00:09:17.649 the whole identity so potent. OK, so let's talk 00:09:17.649 --> 00:09:20.490 about that name, the hurricanes. How did that 00:09:20.490 --> 00:09:22.990 stick? Because usually when a city is destroyed 00:09:22.990 --> 00:09:25.330 by something, people want to forget it. They 00:09:25.330 --> 00:09:27.210 don't want to be reminded of the trauma every 00:09:27.210 --> 00:09:29.399 Saturday on the football field. That's what's 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:32.580 so fascinating. It's this incredible psychological 00:09:32.580 --> 00:09:36.720 pivot. The legend goes that the 1927 football 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:40.720 team held a meeting to choose a name. Now you 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:43.559 have to imagine the scene. The university dignitaries, 00:09:43.740 --> 00:09:46.240 you know, the people concerned with image and 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:48.620 tourism and marketing, they wanted something 00:09:48.620 --> 00:09:50.840 pleasant. Something safe. Right. They were pushing 00:09:50.840 --> 00:09:53.899 for names based on local flora or fauna. I can't 00:09:53.899 --> 00:09:56.279 imagine the University of Miami Hibiscus striking 00:09:56.279 --> 00:09:59.450 fear into the hearts of opponents. or like the 00:09:59.450 --> 00:10:01.549 University of Miami Pelican. Exactly. It doesn't 00:10:01.549 --> 00:10:04.330 quite have that badge. And apparently, the players 00:10:04.330 --> 00:10:06.830 couldn't imagine it either. There's a famous 00:10:06.830 --> 00:10:09.409 story about a player named Porter Norris, who 00:10:09.409 --> 00:10:12.669 was an end on that 1926 team, when he heard these 00:10:12.669 --> 00:10:15.450 soft, nature -based names being suggested. He 00:10:15.450 --> 00:10:17.070 reportedly stood up and said the players wouldn't 00:10:17.070 --> 00:10:19.330 stand for it. Good for him. And he suggested 00:10:19.330 --> 00:10:22.330 hurricanes, specifically because their opening 00:10:22.330 --> 00:10:24.649 game had been postponed by the storm. It's a 00:10:24.649 --> 00:10:27.049 reclaiming of power, isn't it? Precisely. It 00:10:27.049 --> 00:10:30.190 is psychological judo. Instead of fearing the 00:10:30.190 --> 00:10:32.129 force that destroyed their city and delayed their 00:10:32.129 --> 00:10:34.929 start, they adopted it. They took the chaos and 00:10:34.929 --> 00:10:37.269 they made it their own. And it caught on. It 00:10:37.269 --> 00:10:40.250 did. By 1929, the student newspaper had officially 00:10:40.250 --> 00:10:43.899 renamed itself the Miami Hurricane. The identity 00:10:43.899 --> 00:10:46.200 was set in stone. And you can't have the Hurricanes 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:49.480 without the mascot. And Miami has one of the 00:10:49.480 --> 00:10:52.440 most unique and I would say misunderstood mascots 00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:55.500 in all of college sports. Sebastian the Ibis. 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:58.059 Sebastian is an icon. But you're right, on the 00:10:58.059 --> 00:11:00.759 surface, it is a bit confusing. An ibis is a 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:02.940 marsh bird. Right, a long -legged waiting bird. 00:11:03.080 --> 00:11:04.879 It doesn't exactly look like a killer. So why 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:07.779 the ibis? It's all about the folklore. It's rooted 00:11:07.779 --> 00:11:10.120 in folklore that's specific to the Everglades, 00:11:10.179 --> 00:11:12.080 though some people trace the symbolism all the 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:14.440 way back to ancient Egypt, where the ibis was 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:16.879 associated with Thoth, the god of wisdom. OK. 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:18.879 But for the University of Miami, the legend is 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:20.940 that the ibis is the last wildlife to take shelter 00:11:20.940 --> 00:11:23.320 before a hurricane hits. And the first to reappear 00:11:23.320 --> 00:11:25.639 after the storm passes. Exactly. So it's a symbol 00:11:25.639 --> 00:11:28.320 of resilience. It represents the ability to weather 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:31.820 the storm. The Ibis stands firm until the last 00:11:31.820 --> 00:11:34.519 possible second and is the first sign that life 00:11:34.519 --> 00:11:37.360 is going to go on after the destruction. It's 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:39.879 the perfect counterpart to the chaotic energy 00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:42.620 of a hurricane. You have the storm and you have 00:11:42.620 --> 00:11:45.519 the survivor. And Sebastian? Well, Sebastian 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:47.139 hasn't always looked the way he does now. He's 00:11:47.139 --> 00:11:49.860 got quite an evolution. He does. The character 00:11:49.860 --> 00:11:52.980 demands swagger now, but the early versions were 00:11:52.980 --> 00:11:57.529 very humble. In 1957, a dorm called San Sebastian 00:11:57.529 --> 00:12:00.350 Hall sponsored an IDES entry in the homecoming 00:12:00.350 --> 00:12:01.950 celebration. And that's where the name comes 00:12:01.950 --> 00:12:03.590 from. That's where the name Sebastian comes from. 00:12:03.690 --> 00:12:05.970 It was named after the residence hall. I love 00:12:05.970 --> 00:12:08.149 that. It's not named after some mythical hero, 00:12:08.230 --> 00:12:11.490 but a dorm building. And the costume. Mm -hmm. 00:12:11.730 --> 00:12:14.049 Well, the early versions were rough. In 1958, 00:12:14.330 --> 00:12:16.429 a student named John Stormont created a costume 00:12:16.429 --> 00:12:19.350 that was basically glued, sewn, and pinned together. 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:22.259 They actually called it icky. Icky? That doesn't 00:12:22.259 --> 00:12:24.799 exactly scream national champion. No, the swagger 00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:27.179 definitely came later. But it's important to 00:12:27.179 --> 00:12:29.639 note that performing as Sebastian today is a 00:12:29.639 --> 00:12:32.720 very serious business. There are strict physical 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:34.820 requirements. I've heard this. You have to be 00:12:34.820 --> 00:12:36.519 a certain height. Right. You have to be between 00:12:36.519 --> 00:12:38.659 five foot eight and six foot three to fit the 00:12:38.659 --> 00:12:40.759 suit properly. And there's a code of silence. 00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:43.620 Like a superhero's secret identity. Exactly. 00:12:44.179 --> 00:12:46.100 The students who perform as Sebastian are not 00:12:46.100 --> 00:12:48.139 allowed to reveal their identity until they graduate. 00:12:48.590 --> 00:12:52.190 It maintains the mystique. The character demands 00:12:52.190 --> 00:12:55.110 a certain attitude, that famous U -swagger. You 00:12:55.110 --> 00:12:57.149 have to be able to command an entire stadium 00:12:57.149 --> 00:12:59.870 without ever saying a word. Okay, so we have 00:12:59.870 --> 00:13:03.480 the name. Born from the 1926 disaster, we have 00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:06.419 the mascot symbolizing resilience in the face 00:13:06.419 --> 00:13:09.500 of that disaster. But the University of Miami's 00:13:09.500 --> 00:13:12.139 connection to weather goes way, way deeper than 00:13:12.139 --> 00:13:14.799 just Saturday football games. This place is a 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:17.279 legitimate scientific heavyweight. It is. And 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:19.179 this is where we shift from symbolism to hard 00:13:19.179 --> 00:13:21.360 science. We had to talk about the Rosenstiel 00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:23.779 School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. 00:13:24.039 --> 00:13:25.840 Which is located out on Virginia Key, right? 00:13:25.860 --> 00:13:29.049 Yes, just off the mainland. And it is a powerhouse 00:13:29.049 --> 00:13:32.590 for oceanographic and atmospheric research. Their 00:13:32.590 --> 00:13:34.909 entire mission is fundamentally about understanding 00:13:34.909 --> 00:13:37.629 the natural processes that affect weather and 00:13:37.629 --> 00:13:39.529 climate. And because of where they're located, 00:13:39.570 --> 00:13:41.370 I mean, literally in the tropics, surrounded 00:13:41.370 --> 00:13:45.409 by warm water, they specialize in tropical meteorology, 00:13:45.850 --> 00:13:48.909 cloud processes, and climate dynamics. So basically, 00:13:48.990 --> 00:13:51.250 they studied the very monsters that the football 00:13:51.250 --> 00:13:53.149 team is named after. And they don't do it alone. 00:13:53.490 --> 00:13:56.389 There's a massive partnership there called CMOS. 00:13:56.600 --> 00:13:58.879 That's the Cooperative Institute for Marine and 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:01.620 Atmospheric Studies. Right. And CMIS is a center 00:14:01.620 --> 00:14:03.700 of excellence that's linked directly with the 00:14:03.700 --> 00:14:05.740 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 00:14:05.940 --> 00:14:09.320 Or NOAA. NOAA, yes. This partnership is crucial 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:13.019 because it focuses on what we in the field call 00:14:13.019 --> 00:14:16.399 transitioning research into operations. What 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:18.740 does that mean in plain English for us? It means 00:14:18.740 --> 00:14:20.899 they aren't just doing theoretical math on a 00:14:20.899 --> 00:14:22.919 whiteboard just for the sake of publishing a 00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:25.330 paper. They're taking that science and turning 00:14:25.330 --> 00:14:28.529 it into practical, usable tools that help forecast 00:14:28.529 --> 00:14:31.049 storms. They're working on improving the models 00:14:31.049 --> 00:14:33.269 that predict where a hurricane will go and how 00:14:33.269 --> 00:14:35.389 strong it will get. They're doing the work that 00:14:35.389 --> 00:14:38.549 helps prevent another 1926 scenario where people 00:14:38.549 --> 00:14:41.429 are caught completely unaware. And speaking of 00:14:41.429 --> 00:14:43.350 forecasting, there's a really cool historical 00:14:43.350 --> 00:14:44.830 nugget here that I think a lot of people just 00:14:44.830 --> 00:14:48.259 don't realize. For a long, long time, the National 00:14:48.259 --> 00:14:50.759 Hurricane Center, the place that the entire country 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:53.559 looks to when a storm is brewing, was literally 00:14:53.559 --> 00:14:57.639 on the UM campus. It was. This is a fascinating 00:14:57.639 --> 00:15:01.659 chapter in meteorological history. In 1943, hurricane 00:15:01.659 --> 00:15:04.080 forecasting officially became centered in Miami. 00:15:04.519 --> 00:15:07.899 But in 1964, the National Hurricane Center and 00:15:07.899 --> 00:15:10.259 the Miami Weather Bureau Office moved into the 00:15:10.259 --> 00:15:12.620 University of Miami computer building in Coral 00:15:12.620 --> 00:15:14.960 Gables. So you had the federal government's top 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:17.720 hurricane experts sharing a hallway with university 00:15:17.720 --> 00:15:20.100 researchers. Exactly. It created this incredible 00:15:20.100 --> 00:15:22.840 synergy, this feedback loop of ideas and data. 00:15:23.340 --> 00:15:25.610 And they stayed there until 1995. What happened 00:15:25.610 --> 00:15:28.149 in 95? Well, the reason they moved was Hurricane 00:15:28.149 --> 00:15:31.210 Andrew in 1992. Andrew damaged the radar in the 00:15:31.210 --> 00:15:33.210 facilities, and they realized they needed a true 00:15:33.210 --> 00:15:35.529 bunker. a hurricane -hardened facility which 00:15:35.529 --> 00:15:37.230 they eventually built at Florida International 00:15:37.230 --> 00:15:40.529 University. But for those crucial decades, the 00:15:40.529 --> 00:15:43.690 60s, 70s, 80s, the heart of hurricane hunting 00:15:43.690 --> 00:15:46.110 was beating right there in Coral Gables. And 00:15:46.110 --> 00:15:48.590 just think about how much the technology changed 00:15:48.590 --> 00:15:50.929 during that time. If you look at the snapshots 00:15:50.929 --> 00:15:53.490 of history from that era, it's just wild to see 00:15:53.490 --> 00:15:55.850 how far we've come. It's a journey from analog 00:15:55.850 --> 00:15:59.340 to digital, truly. In the 1950s, before they 00:15:59.340 --> 00:16:02.000 even moved to the campus, all the weather data 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:04.360 was moving via teletype machines. Clack, clack, 00:16:04.360 --> 00:16:06.840 clack. That old sound. That's it. And telephone 00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:11.460 circuits. Then in 1959... The radar era really 00:16:11.460 --> 00:16:15.740 begins. The very first WSR57, which stands for 00:16:15.740 --> 00:16:18.980 Weather Surveillance Radar 1957, was commissioned 00:16:18.980 --> 00:16:21.080 at the Miami office. And I've seen pictures of 00:16:21.080 --> 00:16:22.820 this. It doesn't look anything like the computer 00:16:22.820 --> 00:16:24.960 screens we have now with the colorful maps. No, 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:27.679 not at all. Forecasters used grease pencils. 00:16:28.259 --> 00:16:30.200 They would literally trace the storms directly 00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:32.419 on the radar screens. They'd physically draw 00:16:32.419 --> 00:16:35.019 the outer bands and the eye on the glass to track 00:16:35.019 --> 00:16:38.179 the movement. That feels so tactile, so hands 00:16:38.179 --> 00:16:40.500 -on. It was. And then you move into the 60s and 00:16:40.500 --> 00:16:43.379 70s and the satellite era arrives. You get Tyros, 00:16:43.500 --> 00:16:45.600 Nimbus, the Go -Away satellites. Suddenly we 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:47.360 aren't blind in the Atlantic anymore like they 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:49.980 were in 1926. We can see them coming. But even 00:16:49.980 --> 00:16:52.480 then, the images were received via phone lines 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:55.759 on these special processors. It was an instant 00:16:55.759 --> 00:16:57.879 high -def video like we get on our phones today. 00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:00.659 And there was the famous wall map. The wall map. 00:17:00.899 --> 00:17:03.480 In the operations area, They had this massive 00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:06.839 map where legends like Dr. Neil Frank would track 00:17:06.839 --> 00:17:09.299 the entire season's activity. It was the focal 00:17:09.299 --> 00:17:11.460 point of the whole room. It was where the story 00:17:11.460 --> 00:17:14.119 of the hurricane season was told pin by pin, 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:16.900 line by line. There is one other piece of tech, 00:17:17.160 --> 00:17:19.240 or maybe old school tech is a better word for 00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:21.859 it, that I think is really cool. The amateur 00:17:21.859 --> 00:17:25.359 radio station. WX4NHC. Sounds like a license 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:27.680 plate. It's a call sign. It was established in 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:30.500 1980 at the National Hurricane Center. And even 00:17:30.500 --> 00:17:33.440 today, in the age of satellites and supercomputers, 00:17:33.640 --> 00:17:36.339 this is vital. When a storm is within 300 miles 00:17:36.339 --> 00:17:39.619 of landfall, ham radio operators activate. Why? 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:41.880 I mean, what can they do that a satellite can't? 00:17:42.099 --> 00:17:45.339 Ground truth. That's the key. Satellites can 00:17:45.339 --> 00:17:47.819 tell you cloud top temperatures. Radar can tell 00:17:47.819 --> 00:17:50.559 you rain density. But a ham radio operator can 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:53.390 say... I am looking out my window and a tree 00:17:53.390 --> 00:17:56.309 just snaps, or the water is up to my front step 00:17:56.309 --> 00:17:59.849 right now. They provide eyewitness damage reports 00:17:59.849 --> 00:18:02.430 and real -time data that fills in the gaps of 00:18:02.430 --> 00:18:04.349 what the remote sensing is seeing. It brings 00:18:04.349 --> 00:18:07.130 the human element back into the data. Exactly. 00:18:07.349 --> 00:18:09.450 It's like crowdsourcing survival information. 00:18:09.569 --> 00:18:11.910 It's incredible. That is incredible. Now, before 00:18:11.910 --> 00:18:14.589 we move on, I want to address a bit of a rumor, 00:18:14.990 --> 00:18:17.390 a myth. Really? That's been floating around. 00:18:17.450 --> 00:18:19.789 Ah, we talked about Kate. We are talking about 00:18:19.789 --> 00:18:22.349 Hurricane Kate. If you dig into the UM lore, 00:18:22.930 --> 00:18:25.730 sometimes you see references, even in some student 00:18:25.730 --> 00:18:28.230 newspapers, like an article from 2007 referring 00:18:28.230 --> 00:18:31.170 to that 1926 storm as Hurricane Kate. Yeah, we 00:18:31.170 --> 00:18:33.009 need to debunk this immediately. There was no 00:18:33.009 --> 00:18:35.670 Hurricane Kate in 1926. So where in the world 00:18:35.670 --> 00:18:38.539 does that come from? It's most likely a retrospective 00:18:38.539 --> 00:18:41.000 error or maybe confusion with a much later storm. 00:18:41.740 --> 00:18:44.059 But historically, it is completely impossible. 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:46.380 Because we weren't naming storms back then. Correct. 00:18:46.539 --> 00:18:50.019 In the 1920s, storms were tracked by their latitude 00:18:50.019 --> 00:18:53.339 and longitude. This will be the storm at 25 North 00:18:53.339 --> 00:18:56.440 80 West. Exactly. Which, as you can imagine, 00:18:56.680 --> 00:18:59.380 is cumbersome. And it's really prone to error. 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:01.799 If you have two storms active at the same time, 00:19:01.819 --> 00:19:04.039 say one in the Gulf of Mexico and one in the 00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:06.900 Atlantic, and a radio broadcaster says the storm 00:19:06.900 --> 00:19:09.700 at 25 North, a listener might get confused about 00:19:09.700 --> 00:19:12.000 which storm they actually mean. That sounds really 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:14.759 dangerous. It was. Confusion spreads rumors and 00:19:14.759 --> 00:19:17.519 can lead to bad decisions. That is actually why 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:19.940 naming started in the first place. It was to 00:19:19.940 --> 00:19:22.059 streamline communication and avoid that very 00:19:22.059 --> 00:19:25.059 confusion. The U .S. officially began using female 00:19:25.059 --> 00:19:28.940 names in 1953. 1953, so almost 30 years after 00:19:28.940 --> 00:19:32.579 the 1926 storm. Right. And then in 1979, they 00:19:32.579 --> 00:19:34.740 added male names to the Atlantic list to be more 00:19:34.740 --> 00:19:37.359 equitable. So CATE is definitely a modern invention 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:40.539 or just a mistake. The 1926 storm is simply known 00:19:40.539 --> 00:19:42.819 as the Great Miami Hurricane. And speaking of 00:19:42.819 --> 00:19:45.059 names, you mentioned retired names earlier. It's 00:19:45.059 --> 00:19:47.980 a similar concept of memory, right? Yes. When 00:19:47.980 --> 00:19:51.000 a storm is particularly deadly or costly, the 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:53.119 names retired from the six year rotation out 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:57.180 of sensitivity. Names like Andrew, Katrina, Ian, 00:19:57.460 --> 00:20:00.400 Helene, or Milton. You won't see those names 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:02.839 used for an Atlantic storm again. It's a way 00:20:02.839 --> 00:20:05.119 of honoring the history and the tragedy associated 00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:07.779 with them. Okay, so we've got the history, the 00:20:07.779 --> 00:20:09.880 science, the myth busting. Now let's bring it 00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:12.549 all back to the present, back to the field. Because 00:20:12.549 --> 00:20:15.150 this Monday, the Hurricanes take the field. And 00:20:15.150 --> 00:20:17.490 when they do, they're carrying all of this history 00:20:17.490 --> 00:20:19.970 with them. They really are. The Hurricanes name 00:20:19.970 --> 00:20:22.549 isn't just a label on a jersey. It's evolved 00:20:22.549 --> 00:20:25.210 into a style of play, a philosophy. It's that 00:20:25.210 --> 00:20:27.849 championship DNA you hear about. Exactly. If 00:20:27.849 --> 00:20:29.730 you look at their history, the national championships 00:20:29.730 --> 00:20:34.089 in 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, and that legendary 00:20:34.089 --> 00:20:37.099 2001 team, those teams didn't just win. They 00:20:37.099 --> 00:20:39.339 swarmed people. They played with the chaotic, 00:20:39.339 --> 00:20:41.799 high -pressure energy that really mirrored the 00:20:41.799 --> 00:20:44.220 storm they were named after. The 1983 championship 00:20:44.220 --> 00:20:46.299 is the perfect example, the miracle in Miami. 00:20:46.660 --> 00:20:49.500 A true underdog story. They were playing Nebraska, 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:52.960 a team that was considered unbeatable, just one 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:54.819 of the greatest college teams ever assembled. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:58.130 And Miami... This program that had almost been 00:20:58.130 --> 00:21:00.849 dropped just a few years prior rose up like a 00:21:00.849 --> 00:21:03.549 sudden storm and shocked the entire world. It 00:21:03.549 --> 00:21:05.630 was a turning point for the program. And the 00:21:05.630 --> 00:21:07.869 atmosphere they create. I mean, the entrance 00:21:07.869 --> 00:21:10.630 smoke. That is one of the best traditions in 00:21:10.630 --> 00:21:13.150 all of college football and has such a great 00:21:13.150 --> 00:21:15.930 origin story. It started back in the 1950s. A 00:21:15.930 --> 00:21:18.069 man named Bob Nolette, who was the transportation 00:21:18.069 --> 00:21:20.529 director at the time, wanted to spice up the 00:21:20.529 --> 00:21:23.069 entrance. So you use fire extinguishers to create 00:21:23.069 --> 00:21:25.930 this white cloud. And it looks exactly like a 00:21:25.930 --> 00:21:29.029 storm surge or a cloud wall rolling in. It mimics 00:21:29.029 --> 00:21:31.670 the chaos and the power of a hurricane landfall. 00:21:31.950 --> 00:21:34.670 The players running through that whiteout. It's 00:21:34.670 --> 00:21:36.630 intimidating. It signals to everyone in the stadium 00:21:36.630 --> 00:21:38.529 that the storm has arrived. And then there's 00:21:38.529 --> 00:21:40.970 the four fingers tradition. At the start of the 00:21:40.970 --> 00:21:43.670 fourth quarter, players and fans hold up four 00:21:43.670 --> 00:21:46.109 fingers. What does that symbolize to you from 00:21:46.109 --> 00:21:48.190 this meteorological perspective we've been talking 00:21:48.190 --> 00:21:51.210 about? Well, in football terms, it means the 00:21:51.210 --> 00:21:54.079 game is won or lost in the final period. It's 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:57.200 about endurance and finishing strong. But if 00:21:57.200 --> 00:22:00.579 we connect it to our theme today, surviving a 00:22:00.579 --> 00:22:03.079 hurricane is all about endurance. It's about 00:22:03.079 --> 00:22:05.519 getting through the first eye wall, getting through 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:08.559 the deceptive lull, and then surviving the backside 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:11.000 of the storm. You have to last until the very 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:13.039 end. You have to win the fourth quarter of the 00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:15.259 storm. Exactly. Holding up those four fingers 00:22:15.259 --> 00:22:18.309 is a statement. It says, we are still here. We 00:22:18.309 --> 00:22:20.529 are still standing and we're going to finish 00:22:20.529 --> 00:22:22.869 this. That is really powerful. It ties it all 00:22:22.869 --> 00:22:26.190 together so perfectly. It does. It shows that 00:22:26.190 --> 00:22:29.450 this identity is so cohesive. From the tragedy 00:22:29.450 --> 00:22:33.329 of 1926 to the research labs at Rosenstile to 00:22:33.329 --> 00:22:36.589 the smoke in the tunnel, it is all one continuous 00:22:36.589 --> 00:22:38.970 story. So as we wrap up this deep dive, let's 00:22:38.970 --> 00:22:41.329 just look at the big picture here. The big picture 00:22:41.329 --> 00:22:44.339 is resilience. The University of Miami is truly 00:22:44.339 --> 00:22:47.119 a storm -built institution. The city was leveled 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:49.500 in 1926. It could have folded. The university 00:22:49.500 --> 00:22:51.779 could have failed before it even properly opened. 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:54.619 But instead, they took the name of the very thing 00:22:54.619 --> 00:22:57.180 that destroyed them. They wore it on their chests. 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:02.140 And then they decided to study it, to master 00:23:02.140 --> 00:23:04.759 the science of it. And now they represent that 00:23:04.759 --> 00:23:07.809 city on the national stage. Precisely. The name 00:23:07.809 --> 00:23:09.509 stands for so much more than a football team 00:23:09.509 --> 00:23:12.750 It represents a city's ability to rebuild to 00:23:12.750 --> 00:23:15.450 adapt and to eventually study and understand 00:23:15.450 --> 00:23:18.799 the very forces that threaten it It's a cycle 00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:22.079 of destruction and creation, of chaos and knowledge. 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:24.339 So whether you're watching the game this Monday 00:23:24.339 --> 00:23:26.700 or watching the skies during hurricane season, 00:23:26.940 --> 00:23:29.559 remember, meteorology matters. It certainly does. 00:23:30.059 --> 00:23:31.640 If you want to track the weather yourself or 00:23:31.640 --> 00:23:33.579 just learn more about hurricane history, make 00:23:33.579 --> 00:23:35.859 sure to follow meteorologist Rob Jones. You can 00:23:35.859 --> 00:23:38.259 find him on Instagram at meteorologist. That 00:23:38.259 --> 00:23:40.059 is a nice and easy one to remember. Great handle. 00:23:40.299 --> 00:23:43.299 On TikTok, look for TV meteorologist and on YouTube, 00:23:43.480 --> 00:23:45.539 follow Rob Jones hurricane. You can find the 00:23:45.539 --> 00:23:48.009 full Meteorology Matters podcast. playlist there 00:23:48.009 --> 00:23:50.170 as well. And please, if you enjoyed this discussion, 00:23:50.369 --> 00:23:52.130 take a second to like, follow, comment, and rate 00:23:52.130 --> 00:23:54.609 the podcast. It really does help us keep these 00:23:54.609 --> 00:23:57.250 conversations coming. We appreciate you listening. 00:23:57.910 --> 00:24:01.269 Enjoy the championship game, stay curious, and 00:24:01.269 --> 00:24:03.430 we will catch you on the next one. Stay safe 00:24:03.430 --> 00:24:03.769 out there.