Key West Lecture Traces Weather Forecasting History and Local Impact

Meteorologist Jonathan Rizzo will present "A History of Weather Forecasting in the Florida Keys" as part of the Key West Art & Historical Society's Distinguished Speaker Series from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 15 at Tropic Cinema, 416 Eaton Street. The lecture will examine the formal origins of observing and forecasting in the Keys and draw a line from early federal weather efforts to the modern National Weather Service.

Rizzo plans to trace the region's meteorological history beginning with the U.S. Lighthouse Board and the later designation of Key West as one of the original 24 U.S. Signal Corps weather offices. He will highlight critical milestones in the development of the nation’s operational weather services, including the evolution from the Signal Corps to the U.S. Weather Bureau and ultimately the National Weather Service, and how those institutional shifts affected forecasting for the Florida Keys.

The presentation will use historical photographs and firsthand anecdotes from early U.S. Weather Bureau officials to illustrate the working conditions and methods used by early forecasters in a region described as long shaped by extreme and rapidly changing conditions. For Monroe County residents, the talk offers historical perspective on why forecasting and warning systems have developed the way they have and how those systems inform current emergency planning.

Rizzo serves as Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service office in Key West, a position he has held since May 2002. His duties include planning, coordinating, and carrying out impact-based decision support services designed to protect life and property during severe weather events. He has supported Monroe County, its municipalities, and the U.S. Navy during tropical cyclone emergency operations and major public events, experience that underpins the practical relevance of the lecture to local emergency management and civic leaders.

Tickets are $13 for Key West Art & Historical Society members and $17 for non-members. Reservations can be made at kwahs.org/whats-on, and tickets will also be available at the door. For residents, the lecture represents both an opportunity to deepen understanding of the institutions that issue forecasts and a timely reminder of the role accurate forecasting plays in local safety and resilience.