I want to know have you ever seen the rain?

I’m Jess Whitehead, Sea Grant’s coastal communities hazards adaptation specialist.

My first experience communicating about coastal hazards to the public was as a child in 1989, relaying reports from the Weather Channel over the phone to my neighborhood friends in Charleston, S.C., who remained home during Hurricane Hugo but lost power. I carried that experience with me through finishing my B.S. in Physics from the College of Charleston, and my M.S. in meteorology and Ph.D. in geography from Penn State.

I will blog about my work for North Carolina Sea Grant, where I focus on how communities and businesses can make better decisions using information about coastal weather and climate hazards. How do droughts and heavy rains affect the local fishing industry? What can communities do to get discounts on flood insurance? When might new experimental storm surge products from the National Weather Service change evacuation routes? What could sea-level rise do to marshes? Join me as we explore topics like these and more in the blog.

When not watching the weather — never mind, I’m always watching the weather — I live in Raleigh with my husband and energetic two-year-old son. For more frequent short-form updates about weather, climate, hazards adaptation, risk communication and my occasional frustrations with #wxmommyproblems, follow me on Twitter at @DrJessWhitehead.

You can reach me at j_whitehead@ncsu.edu or 919-515-1686.