Meet your Mets: Senior Meteorologist Dustin

 Welcome Senior Meteorologist Dustin! 

Dustin has been working at NWS Reno since October, and it has been great to have him back. Here's a little bit more about his NWS journey. 

As a Florida native, Dustin has been fascinated by the weather from a very early age. His interest and inevitable career path were cemented by a few significant events during his childhood. In particular, 1998 stood out as a devastating year for Central Florida which saw both the deadliest tornado outbreak and worst wildfire season in Florida's history. Combined with the 2004 & 2005 hurricane seasons, Dustin was determined to work as a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Shortly after receiving his B.S. in Meteorology from Florida State University with a Minor in Mathematics, Dustin began taking online courses to pursue a certificate in computer programming. During this time, he received a temporary Pathways Meteorologist position at the National Weather Service office in Reno, NV where he got his first glimpse of operational forecasting, launching weather balloons, and dealing with living in a snowy climate for the first time in his life. After completing his stint at NWS Reno in the summer of 2016, he was offered a permanent full-time position at the Tampa Bay, FL National Weather Service office where he had previously volunteered at after graduating college.

Photo: Dustin exploring one of the many stunning Oregon waterfalls.

In addition to his typical duties and responsibilities as a meteorologist, Dustin has served as the Acting Observation Program Leader for nearly five years. This has entailed installing and maintaining NWS-owned equipment used to track the climate across West Central and Southwest Florida, fostering new relationships and training volunteer observers, and quality controlling weather data. The most rewarding part of his job, however, has been serving as the Liaison to Port of Tampa - Florida's largest port and a major core partner to the National Weather Service. Since 2018, he has developed and led three unique and challenging tabletop exercises to the Port in order to fine-tune their preparation, response, and recovery efforts in the unfortunate event that tropical cyclone impacts the area. The attendance of these exercises has attracted well over 100 participants, including but not limited to: port tenants, emergency management, first responders, media, and other Federal agencies. Exchanging hurricanes for fire weather and alligators for mountain lions, Dustin is beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to move back out west where he can serve the residents of Nevada and Eastern California as NWS Reno's newest Senior Meteorologist.


Location: Reno, NV, USA

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