Curriculum Vitae
James K. (Jim) Purpura
Consulting Meteorologist
WeatherCurrents.com
Professional Experience
2011 to present – Consulting Meteorologist, Forecaster, Weather Currents
á Provide a variety of forensic services assisting the legal community insurance, and energy companies.
á Provide specialized forecasts of upcoming high impact events to Emergency Services personnel and other community leaders.
á Assess weather risk for public venues, communities and individuals, with emphasis on all-hazard planning.
á Assess customer needs for routine and urgent weather information, develop communication solutions.
á Prepare daily forecasts for California cities of Riverside, San Bernardino, Moreno Valley, Jurupa Valley, Beaumont, Perris, and Simi Valley.
á Write weather news features for WeatherCurrents.com site. Content is shared with news providers including Inland News Radio Network, Southwest Riverside News Network, and San Diego Union Tribune.
á Provide media interviews on weather news stories.
2003 to 2011 – Director, National Weather Service, San Diego, Ca
á Served as Meteorologist-In-Charge of the San Diego Forecast Office, serving a population of over 10,000,000 customers in the County Warning Area. As Director, supervised an office of 25 people through 24/7/365 operations
á Provided daily forecasts, as well as severe/hazardous weather watches, warnings, and advisories to customers via Internet, Weather Radio, and other means. Hazardous weather in southern California includes severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, and tsunamis.
á Worked with local TV, radio, and print media to provide interviews on weather stories of general interest.
á Worked with Discovery Channel on episode of Survive This! (2006), describing tornado winds, damage and tornado safety plans.
á As Director, my office was awardedÉ
o
The
Department of Commerce Gold Medal (Exceptional Performance during the Floods of
January 2005.)
o
The
Department of Commerce Silver Medal (Exceptional Performance during the
Wildfires of 2003.)
o
The
Department of Commerce Bronze Medal (Exceptional Performance during the
Wildfires of 2007.)
á Nominated for Department of Commerce Distinguished
Career Award by the National Weather Service
2002 to 2003 - Director,
National Weather Service, Corpus Christi, Texas
á Served as Meteorologist-In-Charge of
the Corpus Christi Forecast Office, serving 16 diverse counties in south Texas
from the Gulf of Mexico to the Rio Grande. Supervised an office of 25 people
through 24/7/365 operations.
á Provided daily forecasts, as well as
severe/hazardous weather watches, warnings, and advisories to customers via
Internet, Weather Radio, and other means.
á Provided leadership during land
falling Tropical Storm Fay (2002) and Hurricane Claudette (2003).
á Worked with local TV, radio, and
print media to provide interviews on weather stories of interest.
1990 to 2002 – Warning Coordination Meteorologist,
National Weather Service, Norman, Oklahoma
á Served as the first WCM –
Warning Coordination Meteorologist – in the National Weather Service,
during its time of Modernization and Restructuring. Norman was the
demonstration project for the future operation of the NWS.
á Provided aggressive, proactive
customer outreach, matching customer needs with services provided by the NWS.
Worked to improve services based on customer input.
á As the most active severe weather
office in the NWS, issued hundreds of tornado, severe thunderstorm, and flash
flood warnings.
á Worked with Emergency Managers and
the Public to provide training on severe weather safety, with emphasis on a
preparedness plan. Made hundreds of Storm Spotter Training presentations, and
trained thousands of spotters.
á Received a personal Department of
Commerce Gold Medal for developing a severe weather warning system and providing
training on its use to deaf and hard of hearing residents of Oklahoma.
1985 to 1990 – Forecaster, National Weather Service,
Chicago, Illinois
á Prepared public, aviation, and marine
forecasts as well as tornado, severe thunderstorm, and flash flood warnings for
a service area of 8,000,00 people in northeast Illinois and northwest
Indiana.
á Served as National Weather Evaluation
Officer to NWS Offices in Rockford, Moline, Peoria, Springfield, and Cairo,
Illinois.
á Served as AFOS System Manager. (AFOS was
the computer system used by the NWS.)
(Resume available upon request.)