I’ve had lots of conversations about the weather, but

never like this. I was sitting in the living room of Robert and Joanne

Simpson – pioneers of meteorology – talking about clouds. They’d

positioned their couch so they could view  - from their top floor

apartment – the miles and miles of clouds floating over the Potomac

River and deep into Virginia. But where I simply saw lazy, drifting puffs of white, the Simpsons saw much, much more.

You’ve heard Robert Simpson’s name before – on a yearly

basis in fact. He’s the “Simpson” in the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane

scale. That’s who I originally went to interview. You probably haven’t

heard of Joanne Simpson, but she’s every bit the trailblazer her husband is.

• She was the first woman to earn a PhD in meteorology.
• She co-authored the study that explained the “hot tower “ mechanism of hurricanes. Thanks to her, we understand the engines that make hurricanes run.
• She developed the first computer cloud model in the 60s.
• She led research into whether humans could actually modify the weather.

This was a woman who – through her research – touched the

lives of millions of people and continues to do so every time we hear a

weather report. She passed away on Thursday in Washington, DC.

Here’s a clip from the interview about her accomplishments:

And this was our conversation on clouds:

Thanks Joanne – I haven’t looked at clouds the same way since.