When getting your information from online sources, there’s a saying that goes “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet”. But when it comes to reliable local weather information for Newton County, there’s one Union resident that’s making his mark on social media with his knowledge of weather forecasting.
On Facebook, you know him as Storming Norman, the source for up-to-date weather information for our county and the surrounding area. But when he’s not studying over weather models and posting the latest updates on upcoming weather events, he’s Bryan Norman, Special Education Teacher at Tucker Elementary School, and the current President of the Newton County Chapter of the Mississippi State Alumni Association.
Norman previously retired from Union High School after 26 years, where he taught history and coached tennis. And while obviously having a heart for being an educator, Norman has a second love for weather, which began after his experiencing a hurricane as a child.
It was at the age of around six years old that Norman remembers his interest being piqued by a hurricane that was targeting Mobile, Alabama, where he was living at the time.
“There was a hurricane approaching Mobile, it was around 1976 or so,” said Norman. “I can just remember us getting ready for that and from pretty much then on, I was hooked on the weather.”
From there, weather became a part of his life. He kept the tv dial on “The Weather Channel” when it first got popular in the late 80’s and early 90’s.
After graduating high school, Norman attended Mississippi State University, where he majored in education and got his minor in broadcast meteorology. And after graduating, he began his career at Union High School.
According to Norman, he never had an idea that he would eventually have an outlet to share his love of weather. He adds that the success of Storming Norman was all by accident after a co-worker convinced him to set up his own page dedicated to weather in 2012.
“I started posting on my regular Bryan Norman account for a couple of years and it had a couple of hundred followers,” Norman said. “An IT guy at our school asked me to allow him to set me up a separate page. So, he came up with the name, did the page, and it kind of went from there; from a couple of hundred followers to, as of today, over 20,000 followers. I never thought it would come to something like this, it just kind of happened.”
As for how Norman gathers his information to share with his followers, he said there’s several reliable websites that he uses, including government-based sites and climate prediction centers, while he tries to stay away from apps.
“I get a lot of information from NOAA, which is a good place to go, and WeatherBell is another good source. None of them really are based in Mississippi, so you have to put your own spin on it,” he said. “I don’t rely on apps a lot because they change so much and so rapidly. You can look at them to kind of see a pattern that’s going on, like if you see snow ten days out on your app, well it’s probably not going to snow, but it kind of gives you what the pattern is going to.”
Norman adds that while there’s a lot of useful weather information on the internet, folks should be wary of the ‘fake-news’ reports that are out there.
“If you see somebody post something like ten inches of snow in twenty days, a lot of that stuff is clickbait,” said Norman. “There’s a lot of good, useful information on the internet, but you’ve got to stay away from stuff like that.”
Another fun aspect of predicting weather, said Norman, is comparing the different weather models. He likes to look at the Global Forecast Model (GFS), which is the American based model, the Canadian model, and the European model, and you really have to know what you’re looking at because they jump around a lot, especially during winter weather.
“Probably the most reliable model is the European. It and the Canadian model goes out to ten days, while the GFS goes out to sixteen days,” Norman said. “And that causes the problem. If someone sees that snow is predicted on day sixteen of the GFS, then someone is going to post it on their weather page about the big storm that’s coming.”
And while weather forecasting has come a long way in knowing what to expect with a coming weather pattern, Norman said every now and then, you’re going to be wrong.
“Like tonight, there was supposed to be a colder weather pattern. It’s coming, but it’s kind of been delayed,” he said. “Sometimes you hit it, sometimes you don’t.”
As for the future of Storming Norman, Norman said he’s going take things as it comes along.
He started conducting Facebook Live sessions, where he talks about the upcoming weather and takes questions. He’s also started offering subscriptions for his page. And he said that there’s a possibility that he may start looking for sponsors.
But for now, he’s happy with helping the local area be weather aware, especially since we are in a volatile area when it comes to severe weather.
“In Mississippi, it can get very dangerous,” he said. “I recently posted that we’ve had more tornado warnings posted by the Jackson National Weather Service since 2002. We’ve basically doubled any other weather service in the United States.”
He added that the state has also had two of the worst hurricanes hit the coast in the last fifty years in Camille and Katrina.
“No more than I love the weather, it’s a passion to keep people informed and safe,” said Norman. “And I’ve come to realize that some people really have a phobia about weather and get really scared and uptight. It’s a great motivation to be there for them and let them know it’s going to be ok.”
