Weatherwise Magazine
For the past two decades, Sean has been a regular contributor to Weatherwise magazine, America’s only general-interest magazine dedicated to weather and climate, published since 1948. Sean’s first feature article for the magazine, “The Wright Weather,” appeared in the November/December 2003 issue to coincide with the centennial of the Wright brothers’ achievement of the first controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight in human history. A key illustration of this article was the U.S. Weather Bureau’s Daily Weather Map for December 17, 1903, the day of the first flight. The idea of writing about a historic event in which weather was a factor—and using the weather map from the day to illustrate it—became the basis of Sean’s popular and long-running column, Retrospect, which explores the intersection of weather and history. The column began appearing in the May/June 2004 issue and has appeared in each issue since. To date, Sean has written more than 100 Retrospect columns on such wide-ranging topics as Washington crossing the Delaware in 1776, the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, the sinking of Titanic in 1912, and Andrew Wyeth’s painting of “Wind from the Sea” in 1947, as well as many high-impact weather events. In 2006, Sean was named a contributing editor of Weatherwise.
Feature Articles
“The Birth of a Weather Service” (January/February 2021)
“A Long Legacy: Weather Observations in Central Park” (January/February 2013)
“Weather on the Flip Side: Looking Back at one of the Weather Bureau’s earliest PR efforts” (November/December 2009)
“He’s Not a Weatherman… But He Plays One on TV” (January/February 2008)
“Fine-Tuning Fujita: After 35 years, a new scale for rating tornadoes takes effect“ (March/April 2007)
“Certification Comes of Age: After 50 Years, the CCM Program Is Just Getting Started” (November/December 2006)
“Name That Storm: From Blizzards To Tornado Outbreaks, There Is More Than One Way To Play The Storm Name Game” (January/February 2005)
“Pieces of Evidence: The Practice of Forensic Meteorology” (May/June 2004)
“The Wright Weather” (November/December 2003)
Retrospect Column
2024
March 12, 1976: Tornado Misses President Ford’s Motorcade (March/April 2024)
January 9–10, 1962: The ‘Greatest Anticyclone’ in United States History (January/February 2024)
2023
December 21, 1931: Plane Crash Kills Great-Grandson of Frederick Douglass (November/December 2023)
September 8, 1860: Sinking of Lady Elgin (September/October 2023)
July 27, 1943: First Documented Flight into a Hurricane (July/August 2023)
May 27, 1931: Tornado Strikes ‘Empire Builder’ Train (May/June 2023)
April 11, 1954: The ‘Most Boring Day’ in Modern History (March/April 2023)
February 23, 1945: Raising the U.S. Flag on Iwo Jima (January/February 2023)
2022
December 5–9, 1952: The Great London Smog (November/December 2022)
September 23, 1815: Great September Gale (September/October 2022)
July 4, 1977: The Independence Day Derecho (July/August 2022)
May 27, 1896: The Great St. Louis Tornado (May/June 2022)
April 6, 1909: Pursuit of the North Pole (March/April 2022)
January 1873: First Issue of Monthly Weather Review (January/February 2022)
2021
December 24, 1913: The First Capitol Christmas Tree Celebration (November/December 2021)
September 1, 1894: The Great Hinckley Fire (September/October 2021)
July 26, 1959: The Man Who Rode the Thunder (July/August 2021)
June 26, 1990: Highest Temperature Ever Recorded in a Major U.S. City (May/June 2021)
April 26, 1986: The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster (March/April 2021)
February 22, 1893: Alfred Stieglitz’s Winter, Fifth Avenue (January/February 2021)
2020
November 8, 1870: First Official U.S. Storm Warning (November/December 2020)
October 28, 1886: The Statue of Liberty Dedication (September/October 2020)
August 12, 1891: Campo, California, Cloudburst (July/August 2020)
June 25, 1876: The Battle of Little Bighorn (May/June 2020)
March 28, 1920: Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak (March/April 2020)
January 26–29, 1772: Washington and Jefferson Snowstorm (January/February 2020)
2019
November 26, 1863: Thanksgiving Becomes a Federal Holiday (November/December 2019)
October 19 – November 7, 2003: Halloween Solar Storms (September/October 2019)
August 14–22, 1969: Hurricane Camille (July/August 2019)
June 2, 1945: Washington, D.C., Area Hailstorm (May/June 2019)
March 4, 1909: Inauguration of William Howard Taft (March/April 2019)
January 21, 1937: A Late-January Nebraska Snowstorm (January/February 2019)
2018
November 1846: The Donner Party (November/December 2018)
October 5–21, 1979: Super Typhoon Tip (September/October 2018)
July 13–16, 1863: NYC Draft Riots (July/August 2018)
May 26 – June 4, 1940: Miracle of Dunkirk (May/June 2018)
April 11, 1965: Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak (March/April 2018)
January 10, 1982: The Freezer Bowl (January/February 2018)
2017
December 6, 1907: Halifax Explosion (November/December 2017)
September 11, 1992: Hurricane Iniki (September/October 2017)
August 24–25, 1814: Burning of Washington, D.C. (July/August 2017)
June 22, 1947: Cloudburst Over Holt, Missouri (May/June 2017)
March 4, 1841: Inauguration of William Henry Harrison (March/April 2071)
January 20, 1937: FDR’s Inauguration Washout (January/February 2017)
2016
November 7–11, 1913: The “White Hurricane” (November/December 2016)
September 29–30, 1896: Cedar Keys Hurricane (September/October 2016)
August 1947: Andrew Wyeth’s Wind from the Sea (July/August 2016)
June 6, 1944: D-Day Invasion (May/June 2016)
March 25, 1948: The First Tornado Forecast (March/April 2016)
February 10–14, 1899: Great Arctic Outbreak (January/February 2016)
2015
November 26–27, 1898: The Portland Gale (November/December 2015)
October 20, 1991: Oakland Hills Firestorm (September/October 2015)
August 24, 1893: The Disappearance of Hog Island (July/August 2015)
June 25, 2006: Washington, D.C., Storm Fells Tree on $20 Bill (May/June 2015)
April 14, 1865: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (March/April 2015)
January 19, 1977: The Day it Snowed in Miami (January/February 2015)
2014
December 25–26, 1776: Washington Crosses the Delaware (November/December 2014)
September 26, 1955: Loss of Snowcloud Five Hurricane Hunters (September/October 2014)
July 16, 1969: Launch of Apollo 11 (July/August 2014)
May 18, 1980: Eruption of Mount Saint Helens (May/June 2014)
March 12, 1888: The Blizzard of 1888 (March/April 2014)
January 26, 1978: The Cleveland Superbomb (January/February 2014)
2013
December 17, 1903: Wright Brothers’ First Flight (November/December 2013)
September 13, 1922: A Record Revoked (September/October 2013)
July 23, 1904: Invention of the Ice Cream Cone (July/August 2013)
June 2, 1924: Death of Weather Bureau Balloonist Clarence Meisinger (May/June 2013)
April 4, 1933: Crash of U.S.S. Akron (March/April 2013)
February 12, 1935: Crash of U.S.S. Macon (January/February 2013)
2012
November 11, 1940: Armistice Day Blizzard (November/December 2012)
October 30, 1991: The Perfect Storm (September/October 2012)
August 24, 1992: Hurricane Andrew (July/August 2012)
June 9, 1972: Black Hills-Rapid City Flood (May/June 2012)
April 15, 1912: Sinking of Titanic (March/April 2012)
2011
January 12, 1888: The Children’s Blizzard (January/February 2012)
November 24, 1971: The Mysterious Case of D. B. Cooper (November/December 2011)
September 11, 2001: Attack on America (September/October 2011)
July 4, 1776: The Declaration of Independence (July/August 2011)
May 5, 1961: The First American in Space (May/June 2011)
April 14, 1935: Black Sunday (March/April 2011)
January 15, 1919: Boston Molasses Flood (January/February 2011)
2010
November 11, 1935: Explorer II Stratospheric Balloon Flight (November/December 2010)
October 8, 1871: The Great Chicago Fire (September/October 2010)
July 10, 1913: Highest Temperature Ever Recorded in North America (July/August 2010)
May 20, 1932: Amelia Earhart’s Solo Transatlantic Flight (May/June 2010)
April 26, 1884: Earliest Known Tornado Photograph (March/April 2010)
January 15, 2009: Miracle on the Hudson (January/February 2010)
2009
December 31, 1907: First New Year’s Eve Ball Drop in Times Square (November/December 2009)
September 16, 1903: The Vagabond Hurricane (September/October 2009)
August 9, 1945: The Dropping of the Atomic Bomb Over Nagasaki (July/August 2009)
May 29, 1953: First Successful Ascent of Mount Everest (May/June 2009)
March 1, 1910: The Wellington Avalanche (March/April 2009)
February 19, 1871: First Official U.S. Weather Forecast (January/February 2009)
2008
December 1, 1918: First Official Aviation Weather Forecast (November/December 2008)
September 21, 1938: The Great New England Hurricane (September/October 2008)
July 4, 1956: The Unionville Cloudburst (July/August 2008)
May 17, 1875: First Running of the Kentucky Derby (May/June 2008)
April 18, 1906: The Great San Francisco Earthquake (March/April 2008)
February 2, 1886: The First Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania (January/February 2008)
2007
December 7, 1941: The Attack on Pearl Harbor (November/December 2007)
October 12, 1962: The Columbus Day Storm (September/October 2007)
August 15-18, 1969: Woodstock (July/August 2007)
May 6, 1937: The Hindenburg Disaster (May/June 2007)
March 18, 1925: Tri-State Tornado (March/April 2007)
February 3, 1959: The Day the Music Died (January/February 2007)
2006
November 27, 1997: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (November/December 2006)
October 14, 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis (September/October 2006)
July 16, 1945: First Atomic Bomb Test (July/August 2006)
May 10, 1869: Completion of Transcontinental Railroad (May/June 2006)
April 1, 1960: Launch of first Weather Satellite, TIROS I (March/April 2006)
January 28, 1922: Knickerbocker Snowstorm (January/February 2006)
2005
November 7, 1940: Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse (November/December 2005)
September 2, 1935: Labor Day Hurricane (September/October 2005)
August 1, 1941: First Appearance of Fronts on Daily Weather Map (July/August 2005)
May 20, 1927: Charles Lindbergh’s Solo Transatlantic Flight (May/June 2005)
April 22, 1878: First White House Easter Egg Roll (March/April 2005)
January 20, 1961: Kennedy Inaugural Snowstorm (January/February 2005)
2004
November 10, 1975: Sinking of Edmund Fitzgerald (November/December 2004)
September 8, 1900: Galveston Hurricane (September/October 2004)
July 13, 1977: NYC Blackout (July/August 2004)
January 28, 1986: Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster (May/June 2004)
Book Reviews
The Weather Machine: A Journey Inside the Forecast (May/June 2020)
The Encyclopedia of Weather and Climate Change: A Complete Visual Guide (September/October 2010)
Weather Matters: An American Cultural History Since 1900 (July/August 2009)
Weather by the Numbers: The Genesis of Modern Meteorology (May/June 2009)
Freaks of the Storm From Flying Cows to Stealing Thunder: The World’s Strangest True Weather Stories (July/August 2006)
Restless Skies: The Ultimate Weather Book (September/October 2005)
Weather Front Department
“Hurricane Heist” (November/December 2004)
“Rating the Weather” (July/August 2004)
“Send It Via Cloudmail” (March/April 2004)
Weather Talk Department
“Extra, Extra... Hurricane Headlines” (September/October 2005)