LATEST EPISODES

November 14, 2024: Into The Eye: A Roanoke native shares her experience as a NOAA Hurricane Hunter. Chief meteorologist talks with Rebecca Keller a Virginia Tech graduate and NOAA researcher.

July 10, 2024: Meteorologist Leo Hirsbrunner speaks with Extension Agent Shawn Jadrnicek about the different types of soil for gardening and what else we can grow through the rest of the summer months.

June 28, 2024: Meteorologist Catherine Maxwell speaks with a Dermatologist and a Senior Policy Advisor with the Environmental Protection Agency on the harmful effects the sun can pose on our bodies, what exactly the UV index is and why it’s an important forecasting tool.

June 7, 2024: Firefly or lightning bug? Whichever way you call them there could possibly be a decline in spotting the glowing beetle. An entomologist with Virginia Tech gives us perspective on what might be causing the decline.

June 3, 2024: What’s the Buzz about this year’s cicadas? There’s a lot of talk about a historic cicada emergence in 2024, but it’s not for everyone. Meteorologist Bradford Ambrose talks with Entomologist Douglas Pfeiffer about the difference between annual and periodical cicadas, what to look out for this summer, and what research is showing about the broods being tracked in our hometowns.

April 8, 2024: The total solar eclipse is April 8, 2024. Chief meteorologist Brent Watts talks with NASA’s Anita Day about the eclipse and how scientists are using the opportunity to study the sun.

March 19, 2024: This year’s abnormally warm winter has initiated plants and trees to bloom early, a trend that scientists are describing as the new standard. Meteorologist Payton Major dives into the environmental consequences of an early spring.

March 6, 2024: From understanding the watches and warnings to the hidden dangers in floodwaters, meteorologists Brent Watts and Leo Hirsbrunner are breaking down fact vs fiction to make sure you’re prepared for the next big weather event.

February 12, 2024: NASA Launches Satellite How Tiny Particles In The Atmosphere And In The Ocean Impact Our Climate. NASA Atmospheric Scientist, Kirk Knobelspiesse joins us to discuss PACE: The Planketon, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem mission. We chat about how this satellite will help us better understand how microscopic particles in the air and in our oceans impact our changing climate.

January 25, 2024: Salt Season: Freshwater ecosystems compromised by increased salt demands. Whether it’s products you use around your home or the safety of our roads when the weather gets icy, researchers at Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland are finding the human demand for salt comes at a cost to the environment. Chief meteorologist Brent Watts talks with Stanley Grant and Megan Rippy from Virginia Tech’s Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory about what happens when all that salt hits our streams and what is being done to mitigate future threats

December 6, 2023: Aftermath Of This Year’s Hurricane Season. This hurricane season in the Atlantic ranks fourth for the most named storms in a year since 1950. Meteorologist Catherine Maxwell along with Dr. Stephanie Zick, Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech who specializes in tropical meteorology, dive into why we saw an uncharacteristically above average El Niño season.

November 1, 2023: First Alert: The Winter Weather Outlook. Chief meteorologist Brent Watts and Meteorologist Leo Hirsbrunner share the winter forecast and the weather players that could make or break our odds of an active, snowy winter.

September 28th, 2023: Fall has arrived! Meteorologist Payton Major chats with Dr. John Seiler, a forestry professor at Virginia Tech and tree physiology expert, to find out when we can expect fall colors to arrive and how drought could be stressing out trees.

September 7, 2023: Dr. Tina Dura, Assistant Professor of Natural Hazards at Virginia Tech, joins the podcast to discuss one of the largest earthquakes to impact the U.S. Meteorologist Payton Major dives into what’s happening underneath the surface in the Pacific Northwest, where the Cascadia Subduction Zone has been building up tension for over 300 years.

August 24, 2023: NASA Ambassador Tony Rice joins the podcast with updates on what’s causing those lines of lights in the night sky, the rarity of the Blue Supermoon, and setting expectations on what you’ll see during the upcoming fall solar eclipse.

August 3, 2023: The biggest wildfires in the modern era are producing the worst air quality in decades across the United States. Chief meteorologist Brent Watts looks into the unhealthy air quality it’s creating as well as the impacts on wildlife, where birds may suffer the most. In this episode of Slight Chance of Science, he speaks with Dan Salkovitz at the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and Haley Olsen-Hodges with the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center.

July 26, 2023: The Hokie Storm Chasers saw some incredible storms and want you to experience all that happened on this years trip to the Great Plains.

July 13, 2023: Paul Walsh, CEO, N.A at Meteomatics, joins Chief Meteorologist Brent Watts to showcase new developments in groundbreaking drone technology now being used to gather weather data around the world.

June 14, 2023: Meteorology students at Virginia Tech take to the road again this summer for the annual Hokie Storm Chase. Meteorologist Catherine Maxwell will join their 2-week journey and provides us with a sneak peak of what they can expect plus memories and history of past storm chases.

May 17, 2023: Meteorologist Catherine Maxwell tags along with Ferrum College researchers at Smith Mountain Lake to learn more about the water sampling process and how the data is used to ensure our water is safe for the community.

May 2, 2023: Sea-level rise is not just an ocean problem, but also an inland problem. Virginia Tech researcher Elizabeth Hunter talks with Chief Meteorologist Brent Watts on a NASA-funded study that will use new technology to detect where the landscape is changing, and what landowners are doing in response to the changes in water levels and migrating species.

April 4, 2023: Meteorologist Leo Hirsbrunner talks with Dr. Morgan Wilson, ornithologist at Hollins University, to find out which birds are migrating in April, when you should get the hummingbird feeders out, and best practices for feeding birds during the warm season.

March 22, 2023: Meteorologist Catherine Maxwell sits down with two guests to talk about how seasonal affective disorder affects humans and our pets.

February 27, 2023: Severe Weather Awareness Week in Virginia runs March 6-10. Meteorologist Christian Johansen takes you inside the National Weather Service Office in Blacksburg to learn the science behind storm forecasting, severe weather safety and a preview of “StormWise,” the weather team’s upcoming severe weather special.

January 18, 2023: Did you know that weather plays a crucial role for K9’s? Meteorologist Catherine Maxwell chats with Sergeant Heath Hyatt, K9 officer with Christiansburg Police Department and master K9 trainer for Virginia, about the struggles and benefits weather can bring to solving the case.

January 4, 2023: The latest episode dives into some big weather events the Commonwealth saw during the year of 2022. Chief Meteorologist Brent Watts brings us the recap!

December 12, 2022: In this episode of Slight Chance of Science, Dr. Jim Beard, retired curator with Virginia Museum of Natural History, looks at Virginia’s ancient volcanoes and where he believes an eruption could occur in the far distant future.

November 30, 2022: In this episode, we’re looking back at the 2022 Hurricane Season and bringing in a special guest from the National Hurricane Center who also happens to be a Southwest Virginia Native. We’ll also dive into some of the new technology that is being used to track these powerful storms, including unmanned drones.