HANSVILLE — “Weather Guru” Cliff Mass will visit Hansville in early June to help educate people on climate change and the peculiarities of Pacific Northwest weather.
“He’s going to give a talk on weather in the Pacific Northwest, which of course is a big deal,” said Judy Tallman, vice president of events for the Greater Hansville Community Center, and the person who dubbed Mass the “weather guru.”
Aside from being a guru, Mass is an atmospheric sciences professor at University of Washington, a weekly weather commentator on a Seattle/Tacoma radio station, author of “The Weather of the Pacific Northwest” and dozens of articles, and he leads the regional development of advanced weather prediction tools, Tallman said.
Greg Johnson, a local resident who operates Skunk Bay Weather, reached out to his colleague Mass to invite him to Hansville for the talk.
“One of the things that I really like about Cliff (is) he is committed to community service,” Johnson said. “He declined a speaker’s fee and he is all about education.
“It’s very important for people to understand things about the weather, because there is a lot of misinformation out there, and there are a lot of people who are just hungry for understanding and learning.”
Johnson said he became acquainted with Mass through weather circles: Mass sometimes uses content from Johnson’s Skunk Bay Weather, and he has asked Johnson to participate in a few Northwest-weather workshops.
Johnson said that the talk will be “very interesting,” but “the real meat of it will be when he opens it up for questions and answers.”
“His interpretation on these questions is incredible,” Johnson said. “He can give you in-depth answers — very, very precise and right to the point, and easy enough for the layman to understand.”
Tallman said talks like the one Mass will give are important, especially for boaters, because they can help people understand how unpredictable Pacific Northwest weather can be.
“(Boaters) have to be very careful about going out,” Tallman said. “(Some are) relatively small boats, 20-25 feet, so they really shouldn’t be out in harsh weather. And the weather can change so quickly in the Pacific Northwest, so they really should be aware. It’s a safety issue.”
Other than that, Johnson said the talk could appeal to those he “affectionately” calls “weather nerds.”
Johnson said that about a year and a half ago, he gave a talk at the community center on a Thursday night when a Seattle Seahawks football game was on, and still about 100 people showed up.
“There are a lot of weather nerds in our area,” he said.
He said “people who are concerned about the environment, people that really appreciate the beauty and want to understand more about it, about the world we live in” would enjoy the talk.
Mass will give his talk at 7 p.m. June 7 in the Greater Hansville Community Center. Tickets may be purchased for $6 through www.brownpapertickets.com or at the Hansville Grocery.
Tallman said part of the ticket sales will be donated to Mass’ research of advanced weather prediction tools.
