Featured Meteorologist Brad Sowder
In addition to his studio forecasting, Brad is a featured storm chaser during severe weather
Q and A with StormHour Featured Meteorologist – Brad Sowder
Certified Broadcast Meteorologist – Fox San Antonio
Brad Sowder – Fox San Antonio
In addition to his studio forecasting, Brad is a featured storm chaser during severe weather, giving viewers a close up look at storms live from the field.
Question 1. What was your most memorable weather event?
May 2013 – There was dangerous, severe weather nearly everyday the last two weeks of the month – with my family having to take shelter, numerous violent tornadoes, including Moore and El Reno, these were some of the scariest weather events I had ever experienced. We had just moved to Oklahoma 6 months prior, and being my first storm season in Oklahoma, I seriously wondered if I had really messed up in moving my family to what seemed to be such a dangerous place.
The EF5 2013 Moore tornado as it passed through south Oklahoma City.
Question 2. What is your favourite and least favourite type of weather?
Favorite: Playing in the snow – working during snow events can get a little busy
Least: High heat with extreme humidity
Question 3. If you weren’t a meteorologist what would you most like to be?
Hard answer when this is all you’ve wanted to do since you were a kid. But if I was forced into something else, I would most likely be an outdoor recreational guide. My wife says I’d be a lawyer since I like to argue, so I guess I have options.
Question 4. From a purely meteorological point of view, where would you most like to live?
Colorado’s front range – every weather event is huge.
Question 5. Is there anything else you’d like to share?
The future of multi-media (broadcast) meteorology remains very bright. Even with all of the current weather platforms available, the public still wants the human experience. That said, we have to remain excellent communicators face to face and not become the rest of the digital noise. We always need to be willing to change because everything else is changing whether we want it to or not. If we don’t move with the current culture, we will no longer be relevant.
More about Brad
Prior to joining Fox, Brad served as Meteorologist for KOCO 5 News and KOAA News 5 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Chief Meteorologist for KJCT News 8 in Grand Junction, Colorado.
He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Atmospheric Sciences/Meteorology from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He holds CBM seal #284 from the American Meteorological Society, the highest level certification for broadcast meteorologists. KOCO 5’s First Alert Weather team is independently certified as delivering the most accurate forecast in Oklahoma City by WeatheRate, an independent scientific organization that measures accuracy in weather forecasts across the country.
Throughout his career, Brad has forecast and covered all kinds of severe weather, from summer wildfires to winter blizzards to tornadoes. He enjoys keeping up with the latest developments in severe weather forecasting and coverage technology.
Brad enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter and is active in his church. He also enjoys the outdoors with cycling, mountain biking and winter sports among his favorites and describes himself as both a weather nerd and a tech junkie.
