Ham Named Director of National Hurricane Center

Kenneth Graham, WX4KEG, will take over
leadership of the National Hurricane Center
in Miami, Florida, on April 1.
(NOAA photo)

Kenneth E. Graham, WX4KEG, has been appointed as the new director of the National Hurricane Center. Currently meteorologist-in-charge of the National Weather Service forecast office in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a position he has held since 2008, Graham will assume his new duties in Miami as of April 1.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), of which both the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center are divisions, Graham "notably established two command centers in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 that provided forecasts to help authorities make critical decisions in the five months following the spill. Graham also led the effort to support decision-makers in Louisiana and Mississippi with services focused on expected impacts for hurricanes Gustav, Ike, Isaac, and during the historic 2017 season."

A licensed ham since 2004, Graham was previously systems operations division chief at National Weather Service Southern Region headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, where he led Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. He also served as the meteorological service chief at NWS headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, and was the meteorologist-in-charge at the local forecast offices in Birmingham, Alabama, and Corpus Christi, Texas. He came to the weather service in 1994 after working as a TV weatherman in Mississippi.