How you can support your trusted LOCAL weather source of 20 years

In a previous blog post, we outlined a series of changes that are in the works or recently completed in our organization. These include the addition of Richard as co-owner and meteorologist at Cirrus Weather Solutions, introducing new live streaming coverage via YouTube during inclement weather, and updates to the MWN and StormWatch+ apps. 

All of these changes - from new offerings to rebuilt apps and beyond - do not come without a cost. Operating MWN and StormWatch+ fulfills a passion Richard and I have to serve you and keep you safe, but also requires a great deal of commitment - of both time and financial resources - and it often interrupts daily life. (Our wives aren't exactly keen on us pulling from the household budget, while also breaking away from a family meal to "answer the weather bell"!) Our monthly expenses must continue to be maintained. Servers in the cloud that won't crash while pushing thousands of severe weather notifications aren't inexpensive. Neither is maintaining current versions of the tools we use to provide you the best possible forecasts and the most accurate severe weather updates. We also have plans for additional expansion that require a certain level of investment. 

That said, we have a couple of guiding principles that we refuse to violate:

1. We will NOT interrupt your access to potentially life-saving information with a paid advertisement.

2. We will NEVER sell your personal information in the name of profit (or even just to pay the bills). 

We are greatly appreciative of the amazing support you have offered over the years. It keeps us going when storms are bubbling at 2am and waking you up! But with only a couple of exceptions, nearly everything we have offered to this point has been without charge and without asking for anything in return, other than a referral to your friends and family. To be perfectly honest, we have stretched the dollars we receive, primarily through app purchases, a long way! 

So to that end, we are using this #901Day - a day in which "all things local" takes center stage - to announce the launch of our Patreon page. If you are not familiar with Patreon, it is a way to recognize the efforts of content creators of all types with small monthly donations. Think of it as a tip jar for great service. We're not looking to fund an MWN Owner's Cruise, nor are we going to take home a giant profit! We simply want to be able to continue to offer the reliable, trusted weather information you have come to appreciate, and also expand to a larger audience - with more tools at our disposal - to make the service even better. And we ask for your support in making this happen.

It's very easy to participate and we are intentionally making it very inexpensive as well. We will be able to recognize our donors in various ways (for those that choose), plus offer some perks for those who go a little above and beyond. All three "tiers" of support are less than you would spend for a single fast casual meal for one person! The point is, when many people band together to make seemingly insignificant contributions, great things can happen. We look forward to doing just that - using any donations you are kind enough to contribute to expand our offerings and to keep even more people safe and informed.

We are humbled by your ongoing support, and sincerely appreciative of your consideration in this new way!

By the way, we've recorded a video message that provides a little more detail on our history, and our future, and explains why each small commitment is important to the overall mission. We'd love for you to check it out here.

Gratefully,

Erik Proseus & Richard Hoseney

MWN Meteorologists

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Follow MWN on Facebook and Twitter for routine updates and the latest info!
Complete MWN Forecast: MemphisWeather.net on the mobile web or via the MWN mobile app
Download our iPhone or Android apps, featuring StormWatch+ severe weather alerts!

MWN is a NOAA Weather Ready Nation Ambassador

Meteorologist Erik Proseus is an NWA Digital Seal Holder

Changes ongoing and upcoming at MemphisWeather.net!

A lot has been going on behind the scenes this year for MemphisWeather.net. While most changes take place "under the hood," some will manifest themselves to our followers and friends over the coming few months. We thought it would be a good time to shine the light on a few of them:

Staff addition to Cirrus Weather

For at least a few years, I've been keeping my eyes open for the right person to help expand the MWN offerings, grow the brand, and honestly, take a bit of the load off once in a while, especially during active weather periods. In the fall of 2020, I brought on a friend and local meteorologist in a contracting role to write a few blog posts, cover inclement weather for MWN occasionally, and help maintain the StormWatch+ brand. The "trial period" was highly successful and this past spring, our business relationship was formalized. Meteorologist Richard Hoseney joined me as co-owner of Cirrus Weather Solutions, LLC!

Richard was born and raised in the Mid-South, and has always been a fan of the weather since getting involved with Storm Spotter training from the NWS here in Memphis.  He attended Mississippi State and earned his Bachelor's Degree in Meteorology in 2005, interning back in 2003 at FOX 13 with Jim Jaggers.  He chased some prominent hurricanes too! Richard was in Gulfport during Hurricane Katrina, in Orange (Texas) during Hurricane Rita, and in Pascagoula during Hurricane Ivan.  

After graduating, he met his wife who is originally from eastern Oklahoma.  They moved to Oklahoma where Richard worked at a locally-owned radio group as their staff meteorologist, covering everything from severe weather to ice storms to flooding, and formed a partnership with the county's Emergency Management in assisting the storm spotters during severe weather.  While in Oklahoma, Richard got into aviation, obtaining his private pilot certificate and his own plane. (And now he pilots #MWNDrone1 as well!)  In 2018, Richard and his wife moved back to the Mid-South after accepting a job as a meteorologist at FedEx.  He loves the Mid-South and enjoys forecasting the weather, especially severe weather. Richard has been actively working on several projects to improve the services offered by MWN over the past few months. You'll be seeing more of the fruits of his labor soon! Speaking of which...

MWN Live Streams

One of the projects Richard has taken on that we think you all will benefit greatly from is the addition of severe weather live streams via YouTube. We've been tweaking the software setup and training behind the scenes in order to begin offering you the opportunity to "look over our shoulder" and see detailed views of radar and other tools we use during severe weather. There will also be a live chat where you can ask us questions and get explanations on what you see out your window, or just over the horizon! We might even bring on one of our meteorology student interns at times to help out! 

Our goal is to enhance MWN's content in a way that provides real-time updates for the storms affecting YOU. We'll basically be making our hyperlocal, no-hype coverage more widely available - via your mobile device or even your smart TV! And it will be done with no ads, no fees, and no preempting your favorite shows. We'll let everyone know via our Facebook and Twitter feeds when we start a broadcast, but the best way to find out is to subscribe to our YouTube channel then click the bell for notifications when we go live! Be watching for a debut broadcast soon!

Changes to the Cirrus Weather app offerings

A significant shift has taken place over the past year in our mobile app sector. Most of you are aware that we offer two mobile apps - MemphisWeather.net and StormWatch+. These apps (including Android and iOS versions of each) have been the work of a single app developer since their inception over 10 years ago. Our "app guy" is unbelievably smart. He has shown his dedication to all of you for a decade and receives all of the credit for your ability to get your daily dose of MWN, and also to receive valuable severe weather alerts that ensure your safety and sanity. We are eternally grateful for his tireless and dedicated efforts. 

But maintaining what is effectively four apps was becoming a challenge, so we mutually agreed to move in new directions. Fortunately, after searching for just the right match, we are excited to have secured a new development firm based in our home state of Tennessee, Rise Above Creative! This transition will mean a change in our mobile app offerings though (which, to be honest, was the path we were headed down anyway).

The StormWatch+ app is currently being rebuilt from the ground up in an easier-to-maintain format. Once it is "re-launched" in a couple months, we will be integrating your trusted MWN content into the StormWatch+ app. This will simplify things for us significantly, while still allowing us to provide the most-used content from MWN in app form. In addition, you'll gain access to reliable nationwide weather information that some of you have been asking for in the MWN app, as well as maintaining the super-fast and pinpoint-accurate SW+ Alerts severe weather notifications that many of you already use in either the MWN or StormWatch+ apps. As always, all of this will be available without a single advertisement in the app and with a tight grip on your personal data!

We'll be communicating further as the transition time nears, but for right now, there is nothing you need to do. We look forward to a streamlined experience for our app users and getting all of the information you need in a one-stop shop!

That's the gist of it! We hope these changes and additions are well-received, and we always appreciate your support as well as your inquiries. We would appreciate you taking a minute to hop over to our YouTube page and clicking subscribe (then don't forget to click the bell!), and we'll keep you posted on app updates as they draw near!

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Follow MWN on Facebook and Twitter for routine updates and the latest info!
Complete MWN Forecast: MemphisWeather.net on the mobile web or via the MWN mobile app
Download our iPhone or Android apps, featuring StormWatch+ severe weather alerts!

MWN is a NOAA Weather Ready Nation Ambassador

Meteorologist Erik Proseus is an NWA Digital Seal Holder

Reviewing the past decade at MemphisWeather.net

As we come to the end of the 2010's and get ready to start messing up the 3rd digit when we write or type the year 201 2020, I thought it might be interesting to take a look back at the last 10 years at MemphisWeather.net (MWN).

From weather website to trusted weather source

The past decade has witnessed a complete transformation of MWN. What was then (in 2009) a fairly primitive website providing some local weather information mainly for my family and friends (and their first, and maybe in a few cases second, order acquaintances) has now become a full-featured independent source of weather information for the eight-county Memphis metropolitan area reaching thousands of you routinely.

The rise of social media

It was in early 2009, now approaching 11 years ago, that MWN first appeared on Facebook and Twitter, just about a year after this blog was started. While those mediums have remained steadfast, others have come (hello IG!) and gone (sayonara Google+)! Social media has completely transformed our way of communicating with you! In fact, we're ending the decade with nearly 41,000 followers of MWN's Facebook and Twitter accounts alone!

Tweet #1! ↓

MemphisWeather.net is now tweeting! Follow MWN at twitter.com/memphisweather1.

— MemphisWeather.net (@memphisweather1) April 30, 2009

Social media nowcasting

These social platforms are now the primary way of communicating our weather information to you and allow you to just hit "reply" to get your questions answered or comments seen! The dawn of the social media age also brought about our own rendition of "wall-to-wall" severe weather coverage, called nowcasting, to a hyper-local (Memphis-centric) audience. I am proud to say that MWN was one of the first in the nation to begin providing this "second screen" weather coverage nearly a decade ago! The model has been copied or borrowed in many forms and fashions successfully all across the country. Severe weather nowcasting on MWN social media platforms continues to this day for all severe and winter weather events that affect the Memphis metro! (We're working on a few more of those winter ones! :-) )

8:40am Storms continue to move in from the southwest. Pea to marble size hail is possible with some of the stronger storms, as well as ponding of water due to heavy rainfall. A storm producing heavy rain and lightning will be moving into the city in the next 15 minutes. /CS pic.twitter.com/q0ZXwvNm0m

— MemphisWeather.net (@memphisweather1) December 16, 2019

#TeamMWN

I've been able to keep the lamps trimmed and burning on the social media side thanks to the amazing work by a team of dedicated social media interns. Employing the assistance of a revolving team of (typically) Mississippi State University meteorology students, these young people learn the ropes of practical meteorological application in the social space as they hone their academic skills in the classroom, making for well-rounded meteorologist candidates upon graduation.

Several have moved right into broadcast, private or public sector weather positions with the skills they learned at MWN in their tool belt! I'm proud of each of them for their dedication to you all, as well as the promising futures each of them have individually in their chosen career path! Thank you to all current and former members of #TeamMWN! And #HailState!

MWN mobile application

Besides social media and the full-featured website that provides most of the information we disseminate, the MWN mobile app - first released early in 2011 - provides a one-stop shop for viewing all of our content, including the most popular products from our website (like the MWN Forecast and StormView Radar) as well as all of our social media feeds. It has also gone through multiple iterations with new features and updated designs along the way. The app has proven to be a great addition to the stable of services offered by MWN. I hope that all of you reading this have it on your phones at this point! (If not, click here to learn more and download!)

Launch of Cirrus Weather Solutions, LLC and StormWatch+

Also in about a month, on National Weatherperson's Day (February 5), Cirrus Weather Solutions, LLC will turn 10 years old! Cirrus operates as the umbrella organization for MWN, JacksonWeather.net (MWN's regional sister site covering the rest of west TN), and StormWatch+, the severe weather alerting tool built into the MWN mobile app and also available as its own national mobile application.

StormWatch+ was deployed initially eight years ago and has gone through multiple iterations since then. In fact, the latest upgrade to the national app, version 4.0, was just released to iOS users the day after Christmas and our first Android app to hit the national market is just around the corner! We've got big plans for our apps in 2020 that we're excited to announce in the near future!

Cirrus Weather also contracts with multiple outdoor events in the Memphis area for on-site weather consulting services that are collectively attended by well over 200,000 patrons each year. These venues have chosen to ensure their guests' safety and comfort by hiring a professional to monitor local weather and serve as the meteorological subject matter expert in the execution of their operational safety plans.

MWN By the Numbers - 2019

Here are some quick facts for the year as we look towards 2020:

• 75 - MWN Blog posts authored
• 543 - MWN Forecasts written
• 17 app updates released (MWN iOS/Android and StormWatch+ iOS)
• 8 - MWN Social Media Interns (served at some point during the year)
• 22,293 - Facebook Fans 
• 1,155 new fans in 2019
• 18,587 - Twitter followers 
• 876 new followers in 2019
• 8.9 Million Twitter post impressions

To end, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all of you who have chosen to make MWN one of your trusted local weather sources for the Memphis area over the past decade! We look forward to making 2020, and the rest of the next decade, even better in service to all of you!

Erik Proseus
MWN Meteorologist

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Follow MWN on Facebook and Twitter for routine updates and the latest info!
Complete MWN Forecast: MemphisWeather.net on the mobile web or via the MWN mobile app
Download our iPhone or Android apps, featuring StormWatch+ severe weather alerts!

MWN is a NOAA Weather Ready Nation Ambassador

Meteorologist Erik Proseus is an NWA Digital Seal Holder

National Weatherperson's Day and the anniversary of Super Tuesday

Today is National Weatherperson's Day. Yes, it really is a recognized day, and no, Hallmark has nothing to do with it (have you ever seen a Happy National Weatherperson's Day card??).

National Weatherperson's Day occurs on the birthday of John Jeffries, one of America's first weather observers in the late 18th century, and recognizes the mostly behind-the-scenes efforts of thousands of forecasters who work to make sure that you are informed on both a routine basis, but mostly in those times that really matter. While the most visible work is done by broadcasters who appear on your televisions each day, an even bigger force of nature is working out of the limelight to produce the data that is used, the models that are our guide, and the watches and warnings that get relayed to the you, the public, to keep you safe. The U.S. is fortunate to have the best weather forecasts and warnings, that are also the most widely available, in the world. Kudos to all who share a similar passion and dedication to their craft as I! (For more on the role of the National Weather Service in the weather enterprise, see this Weatherperson's Day article.)

Super Tuesday Outbreak Anniversary

February 5th is more than just National Weatherperson's Day though. It is also the anniversary of one of the largest tornado outbreaks on record. On Super Tuesday, 2008, and into the wee hours of February 6th, 87 tornadoes touched down from the Mid-South into the Ohio Valley, killing 56 and injuring hundreds. At the time, it was the deadliest U.S. tornado outbreak since 1985, rivaling the 1974 Super Outbreak and, later, the 2011 Super Outbreak.

Storm reports from Super Tuesday 2008. Red dots are tornadoes. Graphic courtesy SPC.

Locally, an EF-2 tornado touched down in Southaven, MS and traveled northeast into the city of Memphis in the Hickory Hill area, causing heavy damage to the Hickory Ridge Mall and the surrounding area, all while being captured on live TV by a skycam operated by WREG-TV. Further northeast, Jackson, TN will never forget the EF-4 that struck Union University, rendering 80% of the residential living accommodations uninhabitable, but taking no lives despite the dormitories being full of students.

Doppler Radar returns (precip left, wind velocity right) from the DeSoto/Shelby Co. tornado as it crosses the state line. The inverted green triangle shows the approximate position of the strongest radar-detected rotation.

Cirrus Weather Solutions' Birthday

Two years later (2010), on this very day, I officially opened a new business in the state of Tennessee, Cirrus Weather Solutions, LLC. It seemed an appropriate day to officially commence operation of a business devoted to keeping Mid-Southerners informed on weather regimes that affect the region and safe during severe weather events. Since then, Cirrus Weather Solutions has served as the umbrella organization for MemphisWeather.net, JacksonWeather.net, and StormWatch+, a mobile service that pushes precise, and fully customizable, severe weather notifications to the public and which was a natural by-product of Cirrus' mission to protect, inform, and educate.

Thank you all for making MemphisWeather.net one of your trusted weather sources! Your feedback (positive and "constructive") allows MWN to bring you the best weather information available for Memphis and the Mid-South. Social media provides an outlet for instant feedback so that we can refine our processes, even during severe weather events, and our mobile apps are one more way we can reach as many as possible when inclement weather threatens. I can't thank you enough for following along and providing feedback, downloading the apps, and supporting our mission!

Erik Proseus
MWN Meteorologist


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Follow MWN on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+
Visit MemphisWeather.net on the web or m.memphisweather.net on your mobile phone.
Download our iPhone or Android apps, featuring StormWatch+ severe weather alerts!

MWN is a NOAA Weather Ready Nation Ambassador

Meteorologist Erik Proseus is an NWA Digital Seal Holder

Introducing Cirrus Weather Solutions

Many of you who know me, visit MemphisWeather.net, and/or read this blog on a semi-regular basis know the passion that I have for the weather - following it, reporting on it, studying and analyzing it, and marveling at it. It's been "in my blood" since middle school (perhaps even earlier) and is something that brings me joy each day. Perhaps it's because no two days are exactly the same or because there is so much that is unknown that it provides plenty of opportunities for personal and professional growth along the way.

While my horizons have expanded, so too have my weather offerings to Mid-Southerners - via the websites, blog, and expeditions into social media. As I looked for new ways to bring you the weather information that you require and have requested, I realized that I needed to become better organized in the manner in which I provide this worthwhile information and to more properly formalize the efforts I have undertaken.

Thus, it is with great pride that I officially introduce Cirrus Weather Solutions, a private meteorological firm I started, that will serve many purposes, not the least of which is as the umbrella organization for MemphisWeather.net and JacksonWeather.net. Cirrus Weather Solutions was actually founded on February 5, 2010 - National Weatherperson's Day and the two-year anniversary of the Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak. Strong tornadoes on that presidential primary election day devastated portions of the Mid-South, including Southaven, MS and Hickory Hill, parts of rural northeast Shelby County, as well as the Union University campus and surrounding areas in Jackson, TN. It seemed like an appropriate day to officially commence operation of a business devoted to keeping Mid-Southerners informed on weather regimes that affect the region.

MemphisWeather.net (or MWN) is one-of-a-kind - the only internet-based media entity that focuses solely on Memphis and Mid-South weather. It serves the Memphis metropolitan area (specifically Shelby, Tipton, Fayette, DeSoto, Marshall, and Crittenden counties) with more weather information than you can shake a stick at! While other companies/organizations and traditional media maintain a web presence to deliver SOME of their weather information, MWN relies on the internet and other electronic means to deliver ALL of its products and services to the local and regional community, making them easily accessible and always available.

JacksonWeather.net (JWN) serves essentially the same purpose as MWN, only for the remainder of west Tennessee, with a special focus on the Jackson/Madison County area. JWN once again delivers superior products and services to the good people of west Tennessee and is accessible around the clock. Between the two sites, hundreds of thousands of visitors a year have come to rely on the accuracy, timeliness, and breadth of weather information available for all of west TN and the Memphis metro area.

Cirrus Weather Solutions will allow me to make even greater improvements to these sites, as well as enable future expansion efforts to take place. Part of the master plan is to eventually add additional (city)weather.net sites, specifically serving more locales in greater detail. I encourage you to keep up with the latest services and new and improved products by following the MWN Blog, as well as the MWN Facebook and Twitter sites. By following MWN on social media, you will be the first to hear about new products and services from Cirrus Weather Solutions and will likely get a chance to test some of these before the general public sees them.

You can also get on the inside track by joining the MWN Updates mailing list. Sign up to be on this in-house mailing list on the front page of MemphisWeather.net. Your information will never be given or sold to anyone else! I also encourage everyone who follows MWN or JWN to pass the web addresses on to their friends, family, and co-workers in the area. More visitors will mean a greater ability to provide all with the best weather services possible!

If you have any questions or comments, or wish to advertise on a Cirrus Weather Solutions-owned website, feel free to get in touch with me through the contact page on MemphisWeather.net. You will receive an initial response within 24 hours.

I look forward to continuing to serve Mid-Southerners with the best weather information possible for many years to come!

Erik Proseus
Owner, Cirrus Weather Solutions