Q and A with Meteorologist Johnny Parker from Mississippi

Johnny Parker completed a B.S. Geosciences/Operational Meteorology from Mississippi State University in 2016.
Johnny works each day to overcome the challenges of cerebral palsy with the help of his faith, family and friends.

He operates Parker Weather Service and has worked in the private weather sector creating customized weather maps for ZoomRadar . Interestingly, he’s also worked to create customized denim blue jeans for the Mississippi based, Blue Delta Jean Company.
He can be reached at :
jwp@parkerweatherservice.com or on Twitter @JohnnyParker012

What was your most memorable weather event

The April 2011 Super Outbreak was my most memorable event. It solidified my career choice
in meteorology and created a resolve to help save as many lives as possible during inclement
weather events. My home was destroyed in that outbreak and our small town lost 16 residents. I
was still in high school at that time, but I had been operating a daily weather text and email
service for a couple of years. The situation that afternoon was deteriorating quickly. I will never
forget the last weather text I sent to all my local subscribers. It was sent about 15 minutes before
the tornado struck. It said, “GET TO A SAFE PLACE NOW!”

What is your favourite and least favourite type of weather?

My least favorite type of weather would have to be the Summer heat and humidity.
Mississippi has plenty of both during the summer. My favorite type of weather is any type of
storm (thunderstorms/snowstorms/hurricanes, etc.) where the atmosphere can really surprise you.

If you weren’t a meteorologist what would you most like to be?

If the meteorology hadn’t worked out, I would have loved to do work in the video game
industry and be a graphic designer. I am a Star Wars fan and enjoy studying the creation of those
worlds, ships, and characters.

From a purely meteorological point of view, where would you most like to live?

Great question! This is a tough one for me, but I would like to live in Wyoming since they see
most all types of weather. I also enjoy tracking tropical storm development, so I think living on
Guam would be very interesting for studying the power of typhoons. However, it would be hard
to beat living on the International Space Station for an incredible view of Earth’s weather
systems.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

I have cerebral palsy and my speech is significantly impaired. I do not drive, which also
presents certain challenges. I hope that more opportunities for remote work will be available for
physically challenged meteorologists like myself. It is difficult at times to verbalize my
thoughts on weather systems, but I keep up a lively social media presence and I still issue FREE
daily weather texts and emails to subscribers through my website, parkerweatherservice.com . I
also enjoy weather photography and am always trying to get good pictures. So far, I’m mostly
just using a camera phone, but some of those can be pretty good.

If you are interested in being a Featured Meteorologist on StormHour please contact mark@stormhour.com or via DM on Twitter