Museum of Discovery and Science Fort Lauderdale, FL
Robert Molleda
Meteorologist-in-Charge, National Weather Service in Miami/South Florida
Extreme Weather— What do meteorologists really do?
Program Description
Robert Molleda, the Meteorologist-in-Charge of the National Weather Service's Miami/South Florida Forecast Office, will lead a presentation on the behind-the-scenes work of meteorologists!
How do meteorologists "predict the weather"? What technology do they use? How does the National Weather Service play a role in ensuring public safety and overseeing emergency management? Learn all this and more in this exciting talk during the Museum's annual Eye of the Storm FREE Admission Day. Event is included with FREE Museum Admission.
Presented At
Museum of Discovery and Science Fort Lauderdale, FL
Film Synopsis
An up-close look at some of the most astonishing and potentially deadly natural phenomena, tornadoes, glaciers, and wildfires while showing how they are interconnected and changing our world in dramatic ways.
Weather has always been one of the most dynamic and complex forces shaping our planet, but now it's intensifying in varied and complex ways. Extreme Weather takes us to the frontlines where few have gone.
Among the melting tidewater glaciers of Alaska, National Geographic Emerging Explorer Dr. Erin Pettit leads a young team of researchers into the splash zone at the face of Dawes Glacier aboard a boat custom-designed to get as close as possible to the calving ice. Using a variety of instruments, her team works to measure the rate of melting to help build a more accurate model of global ocean level rise.
Photo credit: National Geographic
About the Speaker
Robert Molleda is the Meteorologist-in-Charge of the National Weather Service in Miami/South Florida. Robert’s career has taken him through many South Florida tropical cyclones, from Category 5 Hurricane Andrew in 1992 to the record-breaking 2005 and 2020 hurricane seasons. He has worked in every aspect of hurricane forecasting from assisting hurricane forecasters with data collection to writing forecasts, as well as conducting local and national media interviews, and briefing government officials on expected storm impacts. He is also intimately familiar with South Florida weather forecasting, with experience ranging from aviation and marine forecasting to public and fire weather.
Robert began his NWS career at the Miami forecast office as student intern in 1989 and entry-level meteorologist (Meteorologist Intern) in 1991, then was promoted to a forecaster position at NWS Knoxville/Tri Cities, TN in 1994. He returned to NWS Miami as a forecaster in 1995, then in 1998 transferred to the National Hurricane Center’s Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch (TAFB) as a marine forecaster and Hurricane Support Meteorologist. He has served as the Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) and now serves as the Meteorologist-in-Charge for the Miami/South Florida Forecast Office. Robert received an Associate of Arts Degree from Miami Dade College (1988), and a Bachelor’s Degree in Atmospheric Science from Florida State University (1991).
As part of the Weather Ready Nation initiative, Robert leads the local NWS public awareness and outreach program; conducting weather-related information and safety presentations to a wide range of community groups including: local, regional, and federal government, civic organizations, business groups, and schools.