Hawaii Gets New Hurricane Forecaster

The National Weather Service’s Honolulu Forecast Office is getting a new director of operations.

Richard Knabb is currently a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fla.

He will manage the forecasters and day-to-day operations at the National Weather Service’s largest office. He will also be the deputy director of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center, overseeing forecasting during hurricane season.

Central Pacific Hurricane Center director Jim Weyman says Knabb will play a vital role in issuing timely and accurate warnings of dangerous weather.

Knabb has experience in Hawaii, having been a research meteorologist and lead forecaster at the University of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea Weather Center from 1999 to 2001.