Within the meteorology and climate science major, Florio combined his meteorological and computer science skills with his advisor, Shuai Wang, assistant professor of meteorology and climate science, to improve hurricane damage simulations using Python code. 

“We ran simulations to look back at damage and apply wind models to try to improve the hurricane damage functions,” Florio said. “For the model, we evaluated an existing wind model alongside a separate, more physically based wind model to better assess how well tropical cyclone damage is captured. We looked at several storms, including Hurricane Ida, which made landfall in Louisiana in 2021.” 

Florio and Wang looked at the estimated damage along various storm tracks and the corresponding damage in United States dollars around each track. In the future, they want to incorporate rainfall data into the model, as freshwater flooding after a hurricane can cause a lot of damage.

“We want to improve the damage function in general so not only can we have a better idea of past storms and how they've impacted an area, but we want to be able to better prepare people for future storms,” Florio said. “I also see a market for protecting people during current storms and being able to track the storms via models that show where the storm may go, so we can have a better idea of impacts and preparation in general.” 

Research and connections

Florio credits UD’s numerous research and networking opportunities for helping him on his journey toward a career in meteorology.

In particular, he singled out Wang, Dan Leathers, professor emeritus and former Delaware State Climatologist, and Kelsey Malloy, assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences, for their help and guidance.

He also said being involved with the AMS Chapter at UD helped him make friendships and discover new career paths. 

“One of the most beneficial experiences has been the ability to work with and interact with the professors in the department,” Florio said. “In general, I feel that networking has been a huge asset to me. Everyone thinks you have to be on television as a meteorologist, but it's been interesting to see how many career paths there are in the world of meteorology.”

Working with weather

Florio got to see one of these career paths this past summer when he secured an internship with WeatherWorks LLC, a weather consulting company based in New Jersey that provides meteorological forecasts for its clients. Florio looked at satellite and current weather observations, weather models and meteorological data to make forecasts tailored to individual clients. 

Florio worked with small business clients, such as pavers and roofers, who wanted to know about rainfall and temperature — two factors that impact their businesses — as well as larger companies that were interested in weather impacts on mass transportation services. 

“It was interesting to use the meteorological models and work with the clients,” Florio said. “Aside from the forecast discussions, we would have an emphasis on severe weather, so if there were winds over 55 miles per hour or a hail or tornado risk, that would be a part of the forecasts, or we'd have to put out severe weather alerts for hazards. I got the opportunity later in the internship to issue my own weather alerts, and I issued lightning alerts for some big corporations and agencies.” 

Florio said he isn’t sure what the future holds for his career, but he is still involved with WeatherWorks LLC and currently works remotely on its Certified Snowfall Total winter service, which assigns post-storm snow and ice totals for client services and verification. He also analyzes radar data, aviation observations and webcams to interpret snowfall coverage across complex terrain in Montana and Arizona. Overall, he is glad that UD helped him gain a greater appreciation for the weather. 

“I think it's really important to have that drive to never stop learning because the industry is changing every day,” Florio said. “I’ve had awesome opportunities to take trips to the National Weather Service in Philadelphia and see how those operations run in real time, which was a great opportunity to open a door for a lot of students and get a feel for what the industry is like. We’ve had great guest speakers, and studying meteorology here at UD has been interesting.”