Fire and Rain: California’s Changing Weather and Climate

Mike Witiw, after studying meteorology at San Jose State University, had a long career as an Air Force Weather Officer. Early in his career, he spent nearly four years as an airborne meteorologist with the “Hurricane Hunters”. This was followed by assignments to weather units in the United States and Europe as well as shorter stints in the Mideast, East Asia and Central America. He has a master’s degree in Meteorology from St. Louis University and a Ph.D. in Science Education from Florida Institute of Technology. He has taught meteorology at several  colleges and universities including  Florida Institute of Technology, the University of Washington, Tacoma and the University of British Columbia. In 1997, he was awarded the Certified Consulting Meteorologist (CCM) designation by the American Meteorological Society. His consulting experience varies widely and has included expert testimony, forensic consulting, education, training and other matters involving the weather. His projects have included advising on the meteorological aspects of multiple aviation incidents such as the Air France 447 accident, as well as providing meteorological expertise for the development of Honeywell Avionics’ new airborne Doppler weather radar. Additionally, for several years, he  served on the advisory board of NASA’s Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA), for which he authored several problem-based learning modules.

Steve LaDochy is a professor emeritus at California State University, Los Angeles where he taught meteorology, earth sciences and climatology for over 30 years. He has also taught meteorology and climatology at the University of Kansas and University of Winnipeg and mentored over a 150 K-12 teachers in the American Meteorological Society Education program, Datastreme. His research with his students involved urban heat islands, severe storms, air pollution and climate change. Steve spent 13 summers as a faculty researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratories, NASA, collaborating on California climate change projects. He has interned for the National Weather Service, LA County Air Pollution Control District and was a weather forecaster at KNBC. Steve has been interviewed on weather-related topics by newspapers, radio and television.

Jointly, Mike and Steve have published several articles on how California’s changing climate, has affected the changing distribution and amount of fog seen in California coastal areas.