Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe today! RSS
My TikTok feed started serving me weather predictions that sounded less like forecasts and more like threats. Naturally, I panicked. Natural disasters terrify me, and a stranger telling me we’re doomed this winter wasn’t exactly helping.
So I called someone a Philadelphian can trust: Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz.
Yes, we’re TikTok mutuals. Please allow me this moment.
On the latest episode of Apocalypse…Now?, the Philadelphia weather legend joins me to talk about El Niño, extreme weather, climate change, and the question this podcast was practically built to ask: Will El Niño bring the apocalypse?
The man behind the Hurricane
If you grew up around Philadelphia, Glenn probably needs no introduction. For everyone else, he’s the meteorologist whose nickname and bow ties became fixtures of local television.
But before the Philadelphia fame, there was a camera, a hurricane, and Glenn getting knocked around in the wind. In our conversation, he shares how his early storm-chasing work helped earn him the “Hurricane” nickname—and how a request from his boss turned bow ties into his signature look.
We also talk about his lifelong fascination with weather and how forecasting technology has changed throughout his career. Apparently, some people see a storm approaching and want to get closer. I prefer to ask questions from inside.
El Niño, explained without the TikTok panic
What’s happening in the Pacific, and why does it matter to people nowhere near it?
Glenn walks me through El Niño, the ocean warming pattern that can influence weather around the world. We discuss the heat beneath the ocean’s surface, why winter forecasting gets complicated, and why rain, snow, drought, and flooding aren’t distributed equally.
If you’ve ever wondered how one weather pattern can mean very different things in different places, this conversation is for you. It’s also for anyone whose algorithm has decided their new hobby is disaster anxiety.
What actually worries a meteorologist?
The conversation goes beyond a single weather cycle. I ask Glenn what happens when El Niño meets a warming climate—and which longer-term trends concern him most.
We get into warming air and oceans, dangerous heat, and the human consequences of a changing climate. Because behind every dramatic weather headline are people dealing with what happens next.
There are also jokes. This is still Apocalypse…Now?, and I’m legally incapable of processing existential dread without making it everybody else’s problem.
Listen to “Here Comes the Hurricane”
Come for a Philadelphia icon. Stay for a conversation about weather, climate, and whether I should be this nervous.
Listen to the episode in the player above, or search for Apocalypse…Now? in your podcast app.
Want the video version and bonus episodes? Join me on Patreon. Your support helps me work toward hiring an editor and getting episodes out faster.
You can also follow Glenn on TikTok at @hurricane.schwartz.
What’s the weather story that sent you spiraling? Leave a comment, or call the Apocalypse podcast line at (920) 474-6763. Leave your theory, your question, or your end-of-days rant, and I may share your message on the show.
And if you enjoyed this episode, send it to the friend who keeps texting you terrifying forecasts. Give them something else to listen to.