Storm Chasing

NWS meteorologist Sandy LaCorte keeps an eye on Cape Fear’s weather

Weather wasn’t always SANDY LACORTE’S friend.

As a child, a tornado warning issued near her home in western North Carolina caused her family to hide in their basement. That experience brought on fear and anxiety attacks. But that fear eventually led her to want to understand weather patterns. And, as a teenager, that understanding led to a passion for the science.

Now, locals benefit daily from her expertise as one of the meteorologists who works at the Wilmington office of the National Weather Service.

She and the other meteorologists rotate shifts so there is always a staff member watching local radar screens and monitoring the many models that help predict our weather. LaCorte might be searching for signs of storms, lightning strikes, or funnel clouds. Or, she might be communicating with local news outlets and others in interactive chatrooms to discuss the developments and on-the-ground happenings in their coverage area from Southeastern North Carolina to Northeastern South Carolina and the coastal waters.

That intensity just increases during hurricanes or winter weather. LaCorte can spend hours of her shift during a hurricane completely focused on the minute details of the radar screen.

“We like to have a lot of people on hand. You don’t want to get burnt out looking at radar,” she says. “You just don’t want to miss anything. It can be exhausting.”

Earlier this month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, of which the NWS is a part, updated its 2017 hurricane forecast and predicted a higher likelihood of an above-normal season as well as an increase in named storms and major hurricanes.

LaCorte could be in for a few busy months.

Although much of the local NWS office’s work takes place at an office near the Wilmington International Airport, LaCorte is also a big believer in outreach.

“I know what can happen with weather,” she says.

And, it’s important to her to help educate people about the right way to behave in certain situations.

“The National Weather Service has a ton of slogans,” she says. “‘Turn around, don’t drown’ is one they use to tell people to avoid driving on flooded roads. They think they can make it on that road,” she says. “But, the road might not be there anymore. We just hope people are paying attention.”

She talks to school classes and civic groups about weather basics, such as the difference between watches and warnings, which are much more serious.

“If it’s a warning, shelter needs to be taken immediately,” she says.

LaCorte knows just how valuable that education can be. While as a student, first at University of North Carolina at Asheville getting a degree in atmospheric sciences and then pursuing her master’s at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, she tried to take advantage opportunities to learn more. She was a storm chaser, for example, and studied tornados with a project at the University of Oklahoma.

“There were some moments,” she says. “I know that one time, we got too close. There were people praying in our car.”

Still, she wasn’t worried. “I knew we were going to be OK.”

LaCorte completed an internship with the National Weather Service at another office before graduating and taking a position monitoring the coastal weather here.

“There’s a lot that I’ve learned in my journey thus far, not only the science but about working in the field and life in general,” she says. “If I can share my experience with someone and it helps them in their journey, it’s a great feeling.”

One of the things LaCorte enjoys most about her work is that she’s always learning something new.

“I love weather,” she says. “I love the tornado out in the field. But, I also know the potential for harm it can cause. For me, it’s about balancing that passion for the science with that knowledge.”

To view more of photographer Chris Brehmer's work, visit chrisbrehmerphotography.com.