.gif)
Bob Simpson (meteorologist)
Encyclopedia
National Hurricane Research Project
The National Hurricane Research Project was initiated in 1955 by theUnited States Weather Bureau in response to the devastating 1954 hurricane season, whichsaw Hurricane Carol, Hurricane Edna, and Hurricane Hazel bring destruction and...
(1955–1959), and a former director (1967–1974) of the National Hurricane Center
National Hurricane Center
The National Hurricane Center , located at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, is the division of the National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting weather systems within the tropics between the Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian west poleward to the 30th...
. He was the co-developer of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
The Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale , or the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale , classifies hurricanes — Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms — into five categories distinguished by the intensities of their sustained winds...
with Herbert Saffir
Herbert Saffir
Herbert Seymour Saffir was the developer of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, for measuring the intensity of hurricanes. As recently as 2005, Saffir was the principal of Saffir Engineering in Coral Gables, Florida...
.
Born in Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
, he survived the devastating landfall of a hurricane at age six. Fascinated by the weather, he went on to get a bachelor's degree in physics from Southwestern University
Southwestern University
Southwestern University is a private, four-year, undergraduate, liberal arts college located in Georgetown, Texas, USA. Founded in 1840, Southwestern is the oldest university in Texas. The school is affiliated with the United Methodist Church although the curriculum is nonsectarian...
in 1932, and a graduate degree in physics from Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
in 1935. Finding no work as a physicist during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, he taught music in Texas high schools. In 1940,he was hired by the United States Weather Bureau. First assigned as an observer at Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...
, he was then temporarily assigned to Swan Island
Swan Islands, Honduras
The Swan Islands, or Islas Santanilla, are a chain of three islands located in the northwestern Caribbean Sea, approximately ninety miles off the coastline of Honduras, with a land area of .-Detailed location and features:...
. After the Pearl Harbor attack, he was promoted to forecaster at the New Orleans office. After a year, he was enrolled at the University of Chicago for graduate studies. After a stint as a hurricane forecaster in Miami under Grady Norton
Grady Norton
Grady Norton was an American meteorologist. He is widely recognized as the original director of the National Hurricane Center even though that position would not be created during his lifetime....
, he was assigned to help create the Army Air Force weather school in Panama. There he had his first flight into a tropical cyclone. After the war, he persuaded Air Force Hurricane Hunters
Hurricane Hunters
The Hurricane Hunters are aircraft that fly into tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic Ocean and Northeastern Pacific Ocean for the specific purpose of directly measuring weather data in and around those storms. In the United States, the Air Force, Navy, and NOAA units have all participated in...
to allow him to fly along on what he called 'piggy back missions', where he would take scientific observations using the primitive instruments.
Following VJ day and the dissolution of the weather school, Simpson returned to Miami. He was then assigned to Weather Bureau headquarters, working directly for Dr. Francis Reichelderfer. In 1949, Reichelderfer assigned Simpson to Hawaii to be in charge of consolidating the Weather Bureau's Pacific operations. There he founded a weather observation station on Mauna Loa, studied Kona lows, and flew a research mission into Typhoon Marge aboard a specifically equipped Air Force weather plane. He continually urged Weather Bureau management to fund modest levels of hurricane research, but budgets during the early 1950s didn't allow this. Then the devastating 1954 Atlantic hurricane season
1954 Atlantic hurricane season
The 1954 Atlantic hurricane season caused over $750 million in damage, the most of any season at the time. The season officially began on June 15, and nine days later the first named storm developed. Hurricane Alice developed in the Gulf of Mexico and moved inland along the Rio Grande,...
changed the minds of several New England congressmen, and a special appropriation was passed to improve the Weather Bureau's hurricane warning system. Reichelderfer appointed Bob Simpson to head up the National Hurricane Research Project
National Hurricane Research Project
The National Hurricane Research Project was initiated in 1955 by theUnited States Weather Bureau in response to the devastating 1954 hurricane season, whichsaw Hurricane Carol, Hurricane Edna, and Hurricane Hazel bring destruction and...
(NHRP) in 1955.
For the next four years, Simpson navigated NHRP through the shoals of bureaucratic uncertainty. Once NHRP was assured longevity in 1959, Simpson left the Project to finish his doctorate in meteorology at the University of Chicago, studying under his friend Dr. Herbert Riehl
Herbert Riehl
Herbert Riehl was a German-born American meteorologist who is widely regarded as the father of tropical meteorology...
. On completing his degree, he returned to Washington to become the Weather Bureau's Deputy Director of Research (Severe Storms), where he helped establish the National Severe Storms Project (later to become the National Severe Storms Laboratory
National Severe Storms Laboratory
The National Severe Storms Laboratory is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather research laboratory located at the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma....
). In 1961, he obtained a National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
grant to study seeding hurricanes with silver iodide. He put together an experiment using NHRP and United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
aircraft to seed Hurricane Esther. The encouraging results led the Weather Bureau and the Navy to start Project STORMFURY
Project Stormfury
Project Stormfury was an attempt to weaken tropical cyclones by flying aircraft into them and seeding with silver iodide. The project was run by the United States Government from 1962 to 1983....
in 1962, with Simpson as Director. He headed up the Project for the next three years, including the seeding of Hurricane Beulah in 1963. He married Joanne Malkus in 1965 and persuaded her to take over as Director of STORMFURY for the next two years as he became Director of Operations for the Weather Bureau.
In 1967, Simpson became Deputy Director of the National Hurricane Center
National Hurricane Center
The National Hurricane Center , located at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, is the division of the National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting weather systems within the tropics between the Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian west poleward to the 30th...
(NHC). Simpson reorganized NHC, making it separate from the Miami Weather Bureau office, and established the position of 'hurricane specialist' for NHC's senior forecasters. He directed NHC from 1968 to 1974, during which time he co-developed the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
The Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale , or the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale , classifies hurricanes — Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms — into five categories distinguished by the intensities of their sustained winds...
with Herbert Saffir
Herbert Saffir
Herbert Seymour Saffir was the developer of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, for measuring the intensity of hurricanes. As recently as 2005, Saffir was the principal of Saffir Engineering in Coral Gables, Florida...
, established a dedicated satellite unit at NHC, studied neutercanes, and began issuing advisories on subtropical storms. His controversial remarks to Vice President Spiro Agnew
Spiro Agnew
Spiro Theodore Agnew was the 39th Vice President of the United States , serving under President Richard Nixon, and the 55th Governor of Maryland...
in the wake of Hurricane Camille
Hurricane Camille
Hurricane Camille was the third and strongest tropical cyclone and second hurricane during the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season. The second of three catastrophic Category 5 hurricanes to make landfall in the United States during the 20th century , which it did near the mouth of the Mississippi River...
led to an upgrade of the Air Force and Navy Hurricane Hunter squadrons, and persuaded NOAA to improve their hurricane research aircraft.
He retired from government service in 1974, turning NHC over to his Deputy Director Neil Frank
Neil Frank
Dr. Neil Frank, Ph.D. is an American meteorologist and former director of the National Hurricane Center in Florida. He was instrumental in advancing both the scientific and informational aspects of hurricane forecasting. He retired as Chief Meteorologist at KHOU-TV in Houston. Dr...
. The Simpsons returned to Washington, where they established a weather consulting firm, Simpson Weather Associates in Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
. At this time he became a Certified Consulting Meteorologist. Both he and his wife joined the faculty of the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
in the Environmental Sciences department. In that capacity, he participated in several international scientific experiments, such as GATE, MONEX, ITEX, and Toga COARE. He co-authored the book "The Hurricane and Its Impacts" with Herbert Riehl, and recently was senior editor and contributing author to "HURRICANE! Coping with Disaster."
He is an Honorary Member of the American Meteorological Society
American Meteorological Society
The American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
(AMS) and a Fellow of the Explorers Club of New York. He is the recipient of Gold Medals from both the U.S. Department of Commerce and from France, and of the Cleveland Abbe Award from the AMS. Simpson and his wife currently reside in Washington, DC.
Other significant references
- Robert Simpson, “Structure of an Immature Hurricane,” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Vol. 35 No. 8 (October 1954): 335-350.
- Robert Simpson, “Hurricanes,” Scientific American (1954): 32-37.
- Robert Simpson, “Liquid Water in Squall Lines and Hurricanes at air temperatures lower than -40°C,” Mon. Wea. Rev. (1963): v.91 687-693.
- Robert Simpson and Joanne Malkus, “Why Experiment on Tropical Hurricanes?,” Trans. NY Acad of Sci (1966): v.28 n.8.
External links
- An Interview with Dr. Robert Simpson - The Mariners Weather Log, April 1999
- An interview of Dr. Simpson by Ed Zipser