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THIS CAMPGROUND BELOW THE DAM ON LAKE REDROCK. CAMPERS HERE SAY THEY HAD VIRTUALLY NO WARNING THE STORM WAS COMING NICE AND COLD OUT HERE, TOO. BY THE WAY, THINGS HAVE IMPROVED DRAMATICALLY FROM EARLY THIS MORNING. TRAFFIC IS SOMEWHAT BACK TO NORMAL. THE METEOROLOGIST, JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, TAKING AN AERIAL VIEW OF THE FLOODING ACROSS AREAS OF SOUTH, CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST IOWA FROM INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES TO HEAVY SNOW AND FLOODING. ����vlog CHIEF METEOROLOGIST JOHN MCLAUGHLIN HELPED IOWANS PREPARE FOR OUR STATE’S WILD WEATHER FOR DECADES. NOW, █HE’S BACK AT ����vlog TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE INTENSE STORMS THAT HE TRACKED AND HOW HE HELPED DESIGN SOME CUTTING EDGE WEATHER TECHNOLOGY. JOHN, WELCOME. THANK YOU. AND THAT CLIP ABOUT NOT HAVING A WARNING. YEAH, THAT TOTALLY EXEMPLIFIES EVERYTHING WE DID AT CHANNEL EIGHT TO MAKE SURE THAT STUFF NEVER HAPPENED AGAIN. AND IT DIDN’T. ONCE WE GOT EVERYTHING IN PLACE. WELL, YEAH, LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT. YOU WERE STARTED WITH ����vlog IN 85. I WAS SEVEN YEARS OLD. YEAH, EXACTLY. EXACTLY. THAT BECAME CHIEF METEOROLOGIST IN 1994. YOU WERE WITH US UNTIL 2016, BUT BROADCAST METEOROLOGY TOOK A MAJOR JUMP IN THAT TIME THANKS TO SOMETHING THAT YOU DEVELOPED. YEAH, WE LIKE TO CALL IT LIKE THE GOLDEN ERA OF TV METEOROLOGY, BECAUSE THINGS WERE HAPPENING SO FAST. SO IN THE MID 90S, IT WAS VERY OBVIOUS THAT WE NEEDED SERIOUS RADAR TECHNOLOGY. CHANNEL A WE HAD THE FLOODS OF 93, YOU KNOW, ALL THE STATIONS WERE KIND OF CAUGHT WITH THEIR PANTS DOWN DURING THAT EVENT. WE HAD AN ISSUE WHEN THE WEATHER SERVICE RADAR HAD GONE OFF IN 1994. WE SAID, YOU KNOW, WE NEED OUR OWN TECHNOLOGY, THE ABILITY TO OPERATE EVEN INDEPENDENT OF THE WEATHER SERVICE. SO I WROTE A 20 PAGE PAPER, GETTING DEEP IN THE WEEDS TO DESIGN A RADAR WITH A COMPANY CALLED BARRON OUT OF HUNTSVILLE THAT WOULD DO THINGS THAT NO OTHER RADAR WOULD DO AT THE TIME. AND I GAVE IT TO DAVE AND HE GOES, WOW, THIS IS LIKE TECHNICAL AND PUTS IT IN THE DRAWER. SORRY, DAVE, I KNOW YOU’RE WATCHING, BUT ANYWAY. BUT EVENTUALLY IT CAME OUT. EVENTUALLY IT BECAME TIME TO BUY A RADAR. AND HE GOES, OH, LOOK AT THIS. AND SO I WILL SAY, YOU KNOW, DAVE AND PAUL FREDERICKSON AND THE OWNERSHIP OF ����vlog AT THE TIME TOOK A HUGE CHANCE, SPENDING A TON OF MONEY TO BUILD SOMETHING THAT SERIOUSLY WAS JUST ON PAPER. AND IT BECAME A HIGH DEFINITION SUPER DOPPLER SERIAL NUMBER 001 TOOK OFF. PEOPLE BOUGHT THIS RADAR ACROSS THE COUNTRY, EVENTUALLY OVERSEAS, AND I GOT TO TRAIN AND TRAVEL. AND WHAT IT DID FOR OUR RATINGS, HAVING, YOU KNOW, THE TOP GUN PEOPLE HERE AT ����vlog WHO COULD ACTUALLY RUN THE THING, THERE WAS NO MORE TALKING ABOUT STORMS THAT HIT WITH NO WARNING. YEAH. YOU KNOW, AND I GUESS IF WE DEEP DIVE A LITTLE BIT DEEPER, WHAT KIND OF INFORMATION DID THIS ALLOW YOU TO PASS ON TO VIEWERS THAT YOU WEREN’T ABLE TO DO BEFORE? WELL, FIRST OF ALL, IT HAD THE ABILITY TO SEE DOWN TO ABOUT 125M. AND SO LIKE A ONE KILOMETER RESOLUTION, WHICH WE WERE GETTING AT THE TIME FROM THE WEATHER SERVICE RADAR, AND WE COULD GET UPDATES AS SOON AS EVERY 20S RATHER THAN EVERY 5 TO 6 MINUTES. SO AN EVENT LIKE LAST NIGHT UP IN SPENCER, RATHER THAN WAITING LIKE, OH, WONDER WHAT THE WINDS ARE. LOOKS LIKE IT’S 80 AT THE AIRPORT. WE’LL KNOW MORE IN FIVE MINUTES. YOU KNOW, IT’S LIKE, SWEET BY SWEEP BY SWEEP. WE’RE GETTING THAT INFORMATION. AND WITH VERY HIGH RESOLUTION, WE WERE ABLE TO SAMPLE AT EVERY HALF DEGREE AS THE BEAM WENT AROUND WHERE THE WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT THE TIME WAS ONE DEGREE, BECAUSE THE PROCESSOR COULD DO TWICE DURING THE ONE RADIO. BUT ANYWAY, SO WE WERE SEEING TINY STUFF AND, YOU KNOW, PICKING IT OUT, SAYING WHERE THE SCHOOL WAS, WHERE THE CASES WERE, WHERE THE CHURCHES WERE, AND PEOPLE THEY MAY NOT KNOW A COUNTY THEY’RE IN, BUT THEY KNOW THREE BLOCKS FROM THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. AND THAT WOULD MAKE PEOPLE TAKE ACTION. YEAH, YEAH. AND I MEAN, YOU’RE OBVIOUSLY A HOUSEHOLD NAME STILL HERE. I MEAN, STILL I HAVE PEOPLE COME UP TO ME NOW SAYING, HOW’S JON DOING? I’M SORRY. I’M SORRY TO HEAR THAT. NO, IT’S HONESTLY IT’S GREAT. AND IT’S REFRESHING BECAUSE, I MEAN, WITH WHERE WE CAME FROM AS A STATION, YOU BUILT US TO HEAR AND TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE. THAT HAS JUST BEEN WELL, YOU KNOW, GOD WORKS EVERYTHING OUT IN THE RIGHT TIMING. AND AS I WAS MOVING OUT, CURTIS TOOK OVER. AND THEN YOU HAVE ASSUMED THE POSITION. AND LET ME JUST TELL YOU, BUDDY, YOU HAVE GROWN. YOU ARE A CHIEF. THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE THAT. SO WITH WITH THE LOCAL FOCUS, I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY YOU’RE A HUGE NAME HERE, BUT YOU TOOK THAT AND BECAUSE WE WERE THE FIRST WITH THE RADAR, YOU WERE ABLE TO GO AND TEACH THAT ACROSS THE COUNTRY. YEAH, IT BECAME ALMOST A SICKNESS. WHEN I’M AN INSTRUCTOR AT HEART, WHETHER IT’S AIRPLANES OR RADAR OR WHATEVER. AND I WANTED PEOPLE ALL OVER THE COUNTRY TO KNOW WHAT WE’RE DOING IN DES MOINES, HOW WE WERE DOING IT. SO WE HAD CLASSES, WE HAD SEMINARS. I WENT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER ASSOCIATION AMS CONFERENCE EVERY YEAR FOR 20 YEARS. I PRESENTED PAPERS AND WE HAD AN ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN HUNTSVILLE, WHERE THE WEATHER COMPANY WAS SO LITERALLY THERE’S HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF BROADCASTERS THAT LEARNED ABOUT RADAR FROM US. AND THEN WATCHING AS THEY COVERED THEIR OWN SEVERE STORMS AND WOULD CALL ME LIKE, MAN, IF IT WASN’T FOR THE CLASSES THAT YOU TAUGHT, I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO HANDLE THIS THE WAY I DID. WE HAVE ABOUT A MINUTE, 45 LEFT, AND THERE’S TWO KEY QUESTIONS WE WANT TO GET TO. FIRST ONE IS THE FACT THAT YOU ALSO ARE A PILOT. AND SO WE SAW A VIDEO OF YOU FLYING. I’M GUESSING IT WAS A HELICOPTER THAT YOU WERE IN. HOW DID THAT HELP YOU WITH YOUR SEVERE COVERAGE? BEING ABLE TO BE UP THERE AND DELIVER IT FIRSTHAND? WELL, I THOUGHT CHANNEL A WOULD GET A HELICOPTER AND IT NEVER DID. SO I JUST STARTED MY OWN COMPANY, IOWA HELICOPTER, AND IT WAS GREAT BECAUSE WE WOULD DAMAGE SURVEY WITH THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. YOU KNOW, WE COULD TELL YOU WHERE THE STORMS WERE, HOW WIDE THEY WERE, HOW INTENSE THE TORNADO WAS. SO BEING A PILOT, BOTH AIRPLANES AND HELICOPTERS AND DOING METEOROLOGY WENT VERY WELL TOGETHER. WOW. AND YOU’RE STILL FLYING TODAY? YES, I AM, I ACTUALLY, I WANTED TO FLY JETS WHEN I WAS LIKE 40, BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED. BUT NOW I ACTUALLY GOT TYPE RATED A YEAR AGO TO FLY JETS. SO I’M FLYING A PRIVATE JETS ON THE SIDE. I LOVE IT. SO WE’RE GOING TO CALL YOU THE NEXT TIME WE NEED TO HIT THE ROAD. OPEN THE CHECKBOOK. WELL, YOU KNOW, AND TO JASON’S POINT, A LOT OF PEOPLE LOVE YOU. THEY LOVE YOU ON THE AIR. THEY STILL LOVE YOU. THEY STILL ASK ABOUT YOU. THEY CARE ABOUT YOU. YOU’VE KEPT A LOT OF FAMILIES SAFE THROUGH THE YEARS WITH YOUR WORK. AND THE BIGGEST THING YOUR YOUR HEALTH IS WHAT ENDED YOUR CAREER HERE EARLIER THAN MUCH EARLIER THAN ANY OF US WANTED. SO YOU’RE HERE. YOU LOOK FABULOUS. TELL US HOW YOU FEEL AND HOW YOU DOING? YEAH. SO FOR THE FIRST COUPLE OF YEARS, I HAD TO LEAVE. IT WAS LITERALLY A DISASTER. I BARELY HAVE A MEMORY. I HAD TO BE DRIVEN EVERYWHERE TO DOCTOR’S APPOINTMENTS. CLEVELAND CLINIC. BUT OVER THE LAST 4 OR 5 YEARS, THINGS HAVE GRADUALLY IMPROVED. AND I’M NOT SAYING I’M BACK TO NORMAL, BUT I’M NORMAL ENOUGH AGAIN THAT I CAN ACTUALLY BE PRODUCTIVE. WELL, WE’RE GLAD TO HEAR THAT. WE LOVE HAVING YOU HERE, JOHN. YOU’VE MADE AN INCREDIBLE IMPACT WITH WEATHER COVERAGE ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND HERE, TOO. I’M JUST HAPPY TO BE HERE WITH THE PRIDE OF WALL LAKE. IOWANS. ANY TIME, MAN. ANY TIME WE DID IT HERE, THE OPEN THE PART WE JUST HEARD THAT YOU’RE GOING TO FLY US AROUND. SO YEAH. WONDERFUL. IT’S BEEN A PLEASURE. YES. TH