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in the
Environmental Sciences department. In that capacity, he participated in several international scientific experiments, such as GATE, MONEX, ITEX, and Toga COARE. He co-authored the book "The Hurricane and Its Impacts" with Herbert Riehl, and recently was senior editor and contributing author
423:
In 1967, Simpson became Deputy
Director of the National Hurricane Center. Simpson reorganized NHC, making it separate from the Miami Weather Bureau office, and established the position of 'hurricane specialist' for NHC's senior forecasters. He directed NHC from 1968 to 1974, during which time he
374:
changed the minds of several New
England congressmen, and a special appropriation was passed to improve the Weather Bureau's hurricane warning system. Reichelderfer appointed Bob Simpson to head up the National Hurricane Research Project in 1955.
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aboard a specifically equipped Air Force weather plane. He continually urged
Weather Bureau management to fund modest levels of hurricane research, but budgets during the early 1950s didn't allow this. Then the devastating
392:. On completing his degree in 1962, he returned to Washington to become the Weather Bureau's Deputy Director of Research (Severe Storms), where he helped establish the National Severe Storms Project (later to become the
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For the next four years, Simpson navigated NHRP through the shoals of bureaucratic uncertainty. Once NHRP was assured longevity in 1959, Simpson left the
Project to finish his doctorate in meteorology at the
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at age six; one of his family members drowned. Simpson graduated with honors from the Corpus
Christi high school in 1929. Fascinated by the weather, he went on to get a Bachelor of Science degree in
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357:. In 1949 Reichelderfer assigned Simpson to Hawaii to be in charge of consolidating the Weather Bureau's Pacific operations. There he founded a weather observation station on
342:, he was assigned to help create the Army Air Force weather school in Panama. There he had his first flight into a tropical cyclone. After the war, he persuaded Air Force
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and the dissolution of the weather school, Simpson returned to Miami. He was then assigned to
Weather Bureau headquarters, working directly for Dr.
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in 1965 and persuaded her to take over as
Director of Stormfury for the next two years as he became Director of Operations for the Weather Bureau.
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to allow him to fly along on what he called 'piggy back missions', where he would take scientific observations using the primitive instruments.
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484:. At this time he became a Certified Consulting Meteorologist. Both he and his wife joined the faculty of the
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in 1962, with
Simpson as Director. He headed up the Project for the next three years, including the seeding of
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330:. After the Pearl Harbor attack, he was promoted to forecaster at the New Orleans office. As part of a
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Robert
Simpson, "Liquid Water in Squall Lines and Hurricanes at air temperatures lower than -40°C,"
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699:"Meet Dr. Joanne Simpson: Chief Scientist Emeritus for Meteorology, Earth Sun Exploration Division"
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grant to study seeding hurricanes with silver iodide. He put together an experiment using NHRP and
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476:. The Simpsons returned to Washington, where they established a weather consulting firm,
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He retired from government service in 1974, turning NHC over to his Deputy Director
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Robert Simpson and Joanne Malkus, "Why Experiment on Tropical Hurricanes?,"
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Analysis of a Large Scale Atmospheric Disturbance in the Lower Mesosphere
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in 1943 and 1944. After a stint as a hurricane forecaster in Miami under
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until his death at the age of 102 after a stroke on December 18, 2014.
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and from France, and of the Cleveland Abbe Award from the AMS. Simpson
408:. The encouraging results led the Weather Bureau and the Navy to start
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830:"HRD wishes a happy 100th birthday to its founder, Dr. Robert Simpson"
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Robert Simpson, "Evolution of the Kona Storm; a Subtropical Cyclone,"
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191:
659:
787:"Robert Simpson, co-creator of 1-to-5 hurricane model, dies at 102"
258:(NHRP) from 1955 to 1959, and a former director (1967–1974) of the
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Staff (September 1958). "Director of NHRP: Robert H. Simpson".
855:"Robert Simpson, co-developer of hurricane scale, dies at 102"
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of New York. He is the recipient of Gold Medals from both the
250:(November 19, 1912 – December 18, 2014) was an American
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Robert Simpson, R. Anthes, M. Garstang, J. Simpson (eds.),
586:"Directors of the National Hurricane Center 1943 to present"
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co-developed the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale (SSHS) with
683:
Robert H. Simpson, "Exploring Eye of Typhoon Marge 1951,"
286:, Robert Simpson survived the devastating landfall of the
428:, established a dedicated satellite unit at NHC, studied
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in 1933, and a Master of Science degree in physics from
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Robert Simpson, "Structure of an Immature Hurricane,"
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in 2012. Simpson, whose wife died in 2010, resided in
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302:in 1935. Finding no work as a physicist during the
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561:(2014), Boston: American Meteorological Society.
715:Robert Simpson, "The Disaster Potential Scale,"
456:) to improve their hurricane research aircraft.
685:Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
523:Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
436:. His controversial remarks to Vice President
254:, hurricane specialist, first director of the
761:(1981): 'LSU Press: Baton Rouge, LA', 398 pp.
701:. Goddard Space Flight Center. Archived from
8:
444:led to an upgrade of the Air Force and Navy
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36:
25:
615:
613:
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559:Hurricane Pioneer: Memoirs of Bob Simpson
334:scholarship, he did graduate work at the
318:. First assigned as a junior observer of
306:, he taught music in Texas high schools.
19:For other people with the same name, see
888:An interview of Dr. Simpson by Ed Zipser
687:Vol. 33 No. 7 (September 1952): 286-298.
642:An interview of Dr. Simpson by Ed Zipser
577:
314:On April 16, 1940, he was hired by the
884:- The Mariners Weather Log, April 1999
774:(2003): 'AGU: Washington, DC', 399 pp.
525:Vol. 35 No. 8 (October 1954): 335-350.
489:to "HURRICANE! Coping with Disaster."
326:, he was then temporarily assigned to
262:(NHC). He was the co-developer of the
7:
882:An Interview with Dr. Robert Simpson
757:Herbert Riehl and Robert Simpson,
365:, and flew a research mission into
256:National Hurricane Research Project
180:National Hurricane Research Project
468:Simpson in 2013 at the age of 101.
432:, and began issuing advisories on
14:
987:People from Corpus Christi, Texas
967:Department of Commerce Gold Medal
492:He was an Honorary Member of the
394:National Severe Storms Laboratory
151:Department of Commerce Gold Medal
388:, studying under his friend Dr.
997:National Weather Service people
772:Hurricane! Coping with Disaster
740:. NOAA Press. November 19, 2013
734:"101st Birthday of Bob Simpson"
557:Robert Simpson and Neal Dorst,
494:American Meteorological Society
21:Robert Simpson (disambiguation)
972:Southwestern University alumni
674:Vol. 9 (February 1952): 24-35.
528:Robert Simpson, "Hurricanes,"
372:1954 Atlantic hurricane season
264:Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale
130:Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale
1:
200:A Study of Piezo-electricity
992:People from Washington, D.C.
982:University of Chicago alumni
759:The Hurricane and Its Impact
626:United States Weather Bureau
332:United States Weather Bureau
316:United States Weather Bureau
234:Other academic advisors
834:Hurricane Research Division
784:Emily Langer (2014-12-20).
398:National Science Foundation
288:1919 Florida Keys hurricane
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496:(AMS) and a Fellow of the
478:Simpson Weather Associates
18:
962:American men centenarians
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919:National Hurricane Center
915:
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697:Rob Gutro (1 June 2005).
594:National Hurricane Center
482:Charlottesville, Virginia
448:squadrons, and persuaded
396:). In 1961 he obtained a
260:National Hurricane Center
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185:National Hurricane Center
157:
35:
977:Emory University alumni
957:American meteorologists
296:Southwestern University
99:Southwestern University
672:Journal of Meteorology
660:Mauna Loa Observatory.
486:University of Virginia
469:
153:, Cleveland Abbe Award
622:Weather Bureau Topics
548:Trans. NY Acad of Sci
467:
386:University of Chicago
355:Francis Reichelderfer
336:University of Chicago
284:Corpus Christi, Texas
113:University of Chicago
66:Corpus Christi, Texas
416:in 1963. He married
859:The Washington Post
796:. Washington, D.C.
793:The Washington Post
530:Scientific American
647:2008-08-29 at the
470:
434:subtropical storms
402:United States Navy
324:Brownsville, Texas
935:
934:
926:Succeeded by
567:978-1-935704-75-1
442:Hurricane Camille
410:Project Stormfury
404:aircraft to seed
344:Hurricane Hunters
248:Robert H. Simpson
245:
244:
159:Scientific career
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78:December 18, 2014
62:November 19, 1912
52:Robert H. Simpson
1004:
917:Director of the
910:Preceded by
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705:on 17 June 2008.
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510:Washington, D.C.
446:Hurricane Hunter
414:Hurricane Beulah
406:Hurricane Esther
304:Great Depression
300:Emory University
223:Doctoral advisor
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183:Director of the
178:Director of the
126:Tropical cyclone
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106:Emory University
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87:Washington, D.C.
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42:Simpson in 1956.
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440:in the wake of
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537:Mon. Wea. Rev.
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532:(1954): 32-37.
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498:Explorers Club
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426:Herbert Saffir
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272:Joanne Simpson
268:Herbert Saffir
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122:Known for
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738:Press Release
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390:Herbert Riehl
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367:Typhoon Marge
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16:Meteorologist
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897:Find a Grave
862:. Retrieved
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838:. Retrieved
836:. 2012-11-19
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813:. Retrieved
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742:. Retrieved
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516:Bibliography
491:
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382:
348:
340:Grady Norton
313:
310:Early career
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175:Institutions
158:
109:(M.S., 1935)
102:(B.S., 1933)
80:(2014-12-18)
952:2014 deaths
947:1912 births
912:Gordon Dunn
864:19 December
717:Weatherwise
438:Spiro Agnew
430:neutercanes
379:Late career
328:Swan Island
320:meteorology
237:W. S. Nelms
169:Meteorology
941:Categories
929:Neil Frank
923:1967–1974
840:2012-12-05
815:2024-02-01
810:1330888409
744:2022-03-04
601:2024-02-01
573:References
506:turned 100
474:Neil Frank
460:Retirement
361:, studied
349:Following
278:Early life
128:research,
58:1912-11-19
802:0190-8286
363:Kona lows
359:Mauna Loa
95:Education
723:169-180.
719:(1963):
645:Archived
552:v.28 n.8
550:(1966):
543:687-693.
539:(1963):
282:Born in
292:physics
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597:. 2024
565:
452:(then
351:VJ day
213:(1962)
211:
204:(1935)
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192:Theses
165:Fields
147:Awards
137:Spouse
89:, U.S.
68:, U.S.
589:(PDF)
294:from
266:with
866:2014
806:OCLC
798:ISSN
721:v.27
563:ISBN
541:v.91
502:U.S.
454:ESSA
450:NOAA
74:Died
48:Born
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480:in
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