Jim Purpura

Consulting Meteorologist/Forecast Meteorologist

• Work as an expert witness including court cases (testimony and deposition) involving observational data, radar data, weather event reconstruction. Interpretation of meteorological data, including surface, upper air, and radar.
• Prepare daily weather forecasts for 16 communities in southern California, including San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Simi Valley.
• Author feature article on current weather and various weather topics of interest.
• Clients include Solar City (BP), City of Temecula, City of Riverside

National Weather Service

• Director, San Diego Weather Service Forecast Office (2003-2011) and Corpus Christi, Texas, Weather Service Forecast Office (2002-2003)
• Helped lead NWS Modernization as 1st Warning Coordination Meteorologist in NWS (Norman, Oklahoma, 1990-2002)
• Received U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Medal, its highest honor, in 2004, for work in developing a warning system for the deaf/hard of hearing
• Nominated for the NOAA Distinguished Career Award (2011)

Recent Publications/Presentations

• Vortex 2 and the National Weather Service (to be submitted to NWA Electronic Journal of Meteorology.
• Fire at the Urban Interface: The San Diego Wildfires of 2007, invited presentation, American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting
• NWS/USGS Debris Flow Program, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

Curriculum Vitae (html, pdf)

Fee Schedule (upon request)