The hurricane, swirling over the Atlantic, bothers only fish temperatures in Washington are mild wind is insignificant. On this Saturday, “There’s literally nothing going on,” he explains. Within moments, he can tell if a nice, sunny day is in store, or if the data demand a more exhaustive examination. He glances at the Global Forecast System model, operated by the National Weather Service, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. “The better you know the weather like a close friend…the better you are at your job.” Going through his typical process on a Saturday afternoon, he looks at infrared, visual, and water-vapor imagery taken from a satellite from above Hurricane Sam. “You want to be almost intimate with the weather,” he explains. “Anytime,” Cappucci says, “We just got back from bingo, so it’s been a fun night.”Įvery day, whether he is working or not, Cappucci gets on his computer and pores over weather models.
The energy in the car dissipates-a hurricane of enthusiasm easing away. After about six minutes, he’s thanked for his time. He glances down only to make sure he touches upon the season’s named storms (Grace, Ida, Larry) and the two left on the season’s conventional naming list (Victor and Wanda). Now it’s a Cat 4, almost a Cat 5.” His notes glow under dim overhead lighting, but most of what’s needed is in his head: The storm will miss the north Leeward Islands waves will swell to about three meters offshore those in the northern Lesser Antilles, Bermuda, Canada’s Maritime provinces, and the Avalon Peninsula will likely avoid significant damage. Just 24 hours later, more than 120-rapid intensification to a category one hurricane.
“Thursday morning had winds only 56 kilometers per hour. That’s faster than most tornadoes, and it’s been rapidly intensifying since Thursday,” he says at the fastest possible pace that can be understood. “Right now, Sam is a beastly storm-has winds about 240 kilometers per hour.
BIG WEATHER GIRL TV
He pulls onto the shoulder, grabs the colorful notes blotted with his dauber during a game, and snaps to a level of enthusiasm and resolve that gives the cabin of his Honda Ridgeline the kinetic intensity of a full-blown TV studio. The call comes minutes after the bingo ends, right as he merges onto the highway. At one point, he considers whether he could complete his interview during a bingo game. But its status is so familiar to him, etched into his mind through a lifetime practice of daily analysis of radars, models, and data, that he needs almost no time to prepare for any one radio appearance. In about 15 minutes, Cappucci-now intently daubing his bingo card-is set to receive a call from the BBC in which he will describe the development, trajectory, and possible impacts of Hurricane Sam, a major storm brewing over the Atlantic Ocean. During hurricane and tornado seasons, he travels around the country in an armored truck and reports live for networks across the world. They can see his coverage of local and national weather in The Washington Post and hear his cheery voice on WAMU, the local NPR station, where he’s a member of the Post-affiliated Capital Weather Gang.
When they get home, they might see him on the local Fox station, where he’s featured on-air talent. What few people in the room know is that Cappucci-the exuberant 24-year-old sitting toward the hall’s back left-is the fastest rising star in the world of meteorology. One woman has assembled a shrine for good luck. Players speak only in the moments between rounds and surround themselves with special bags for their ink daubers and auto-filling tablets. Cappucci thanks her for her generosity amid the competition. He is so much younger than his adversaries that a nearby grandmother feels compelled before each game to tell him which bingo sheet to use and how a “bingo” can be achieved. Matthew Cappucci ’19 has never exactly fit in, and at a bingo hall 40 minutes east of Washington, D.C., it is no different.
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