Josh Morgerman

Joshua Morgerman is an American businessman, storm chaser, and TV personality best known for his multitude of tropical cyclone chases.

Born in 1970, he developed an interest in meteorology at an early age.

Josh Morgerman was born in 1970 and grew up in Huntington, New York—part of suburban New York City.

Living on Long Island, he developed an interest in meteorology at an early age; his mother attributes part of this interest to him seeing The Wizard of Oz when Morgerman was four.

In August 1976, Hurricane Belle struck Long Island as a Category 1 hurricane, causing significant damage in his hometown.

At his father's insistence, Morgerman pursued a liberal arts degree at Harvard University rather than focusing on meteorology.

In 1991, while attending Harvard, Morgerman went on his first hurricane chase: Hurricane Bob in Rhode Island.

Since 1991, Morgerman has been chasing tropical cyclones.

His goal is to "core punch" the storms and record atmospheric pressure and document the experience.

With no formal education in meteorology, Morgerman's cyclone chasing is a passion project.

All of his experience is in the field, though he advertises himself as an "adrenaline junkie".

After graduating from Harvard University in 1992, he co-founded the digital advertising company Symblaze in 1999.

In 1999, Morgerman co-founded the digital advertising company Symblaze alongside his friend Michael Horton.

By 2004, he was living in Prague, Czech Republic, to work with Eastern European clientele.

Morgerman has no spouse nor kids, wishing to remain unburdened by family responsibilities to pursue cyclone chases.

In his spare time, Morgerman often studies historic tropical cyclones.

Morgerman has expressed his support for Ukraine during their ongoing war with Russia following Russia's February 2022 invasion of the country.

Morgerman has on occasion reached out to on X (formerly known as Twitter) to political commentators such as Mona Charen, Susan Del Percio, and Charlie Sykes to show appreciation for their podcasts or appearances on podcasts.

His storm chasing career began in earnest in 2005 with Hurricane Wilma in Florida.

With no formal education in meteorology, all his experience comes from the chases.

2011's Hurricane Rina's landfall in the Yucatán Peninsula was adjusted in light of his observations.

In an interview with The Washington Post in 2012, he stated this to be the primary motivator for chasing.

He often relies on his instincts backed up by years of chasing cyclones.

Morgerman leads the iCyclone chase team.

Members include his "right-hand guy" Scott Brownfield who coordinates logistics or assists on chases, meteorologists Adam Moyer and Jorge González who provide forecasting information, and Cory Van Pelt who serves as the iCyclone technician.

In conjunction with satellite intensity estimates, his measurement of 975 mbar within the eye of Hurricane Ernesto in 2012 was utilized to upgrade the hurricane's landfall intensity to Category 2.

In all of the years he has been chasing, Morgerman has intercepted 74 tropical cyclones including Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, Hurricane Patricia in 2015, and Hurricane Dorian in 2019, all of which were amongst the 15 strongest tropical systems recorded on Earth during the modern satellite era.

In total, he has successfully entered the eye of 49 hurricane-force tropical cyclones, with the strongest being Hurricane Dorian since he did not fully cross paths with the eye of Haiyan.

In 2013, iCyclone expanded their chase region to East Asia, teaming up with fellow chasers James Reynolds and Mark Thomas.

They ultimately intercepted four typhoons in one month including Typhoon Haiyan which devastated the Philippines.

Since 2014, his chasing has been funded by multiple media agencies including CBS, the Weather Channel, and WeatherNation.

In 2014, Morgerman's measurement of 943.1 mbar within Hurricane Odile resulted in the landfall pressure being adjusted to 941 mbar from the operational estimate of 930 mbar.

His observation of 937.8 mbar in 2015's Hurricane Patricia, in conjunction with two nearby automated measurements, assisted in more accurately analyzing the hurricane's strength at landfall.

Meteorologists at the NHC concluded an approximate minimum pressure of 932 mbar, yielding estimated winds of 150 mph; this made Patricia the strongest Pacific hurricane on record to strike Mexico.

In 2016, Morgerman collaborated with meteorologist Andrew Hagen and Mexican researchers Erik Sereno Trabaldo and Jorge Abelardo González to reanalyze the 1959 Mexico hurricane, then considered to be the strongest landfalling hurricane on the Pacific coast of Mexico.

In 2017, Morgerman conducted his first and so far only Australian chase, intercepting Cyclone Debbie in Queensland.

Morgerman collects atmospheric pressure with multiple Kestrel 4500s.

The data he has collected has been utilized by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in multiple instances to refine landfall intensities.

Morgerman provided the only observed over-land pressure with Hurricane Willa's Mexican landfall in 2018.

He observed a value of 968 mbar, corroborating the NHC's landfall intensity of 115 mph.