Jason Samenow is an American

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while th ...

and weather journalist. He is the weather editor for the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

''.

Early life and education

Samenow is a native of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

area,Jason Samenow: Weather editor — Washington, D.C.
''Washington Post'' (accessed May 15, 2016). growing up in the

Lake Barcroft Lake Barcroft is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 9,558 at the 2010 census. It is also the name of the privately owned lake—part of the Cameron Run Watershed—around which this popul ...

community of

Falls Church, Virginia Falls Church is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is included in the Washington metropolitan area. Taking its name from The Falls Church, an 18th-century Churc ...

.David Holzel
You should know...Jason Samenow
''Washington Jewish Week'' (March 16, 2016). He attended

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, ...

public schools and then the Potomac School, from which he graduated in 1994.Jason Samenow '94: Communicating the Science of Climate Change
''Potomac Term'' ( Potomac School). As a high school student, Samenow was an intern for Bob Ryan, the chief meteorologist of

WRC-TV WRC-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Class A Telemundo outlet WZDC-CD (channel 4 ...

(NBC4), who became an important mentor to him. Samenow graduated from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with College admission ...

in 1998 with a degree in

environmental science Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical ...

with a focus in atmospheric science.Jason Samenow:Original Boulder WAS*IS
Weather and Society Integrated Studies. He earned his M.S. in atmospheric science from the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

in 2000.

Career

Samenow worked as a

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

analyst at the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

's Climate Change Division from 2000 to September 2010.EPA Scientist Jason Samenow and BBC World Service Trust Named Climate Change Communicators of the Year

George Mason University George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was orig ...

(April 20, 2010). Samenow launched and oversaw the EPA's public website on climate change. In early 2004, Samenow established CapitalWeather.com, the Internet's first professional weather

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

. Samenow began as the blog's only contributor, but it grew to feature over a dozen contributors by 2009.Emily Leama
The Blogger Beat: Capital Weather Gang
''Washingtonian'' (November 4, 2009). The ''Washington Post'' absorbed the blog in 2008; the blog's writers became the "Capital Weather Gang" (of which Samenow serves as leader) and Samenow became weather editor and chief meteorologist for the ''Post''. The Capital Weather Gang experienced a surge in public interest during the so-called "Snowmageddon" (the

February 5–6, 2010 North American blizzard The February 5–6, 2010 North American blizzard, commonly referred to as ''Snowmageddon'', was a blizzard that had major and widespread impact in the Northeastern United States. The storm's center tracked from Baja California Sur on February 2, ...

). At the ''Washington Post'', Samenow and the Capital Weather Gang frequently write not only about everyday weather patterns, but also about

climate science Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "place, zone"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. This modern field of stud ...

. Samenow states that the groups tries to "do our best to accurately and fairly convey the latest,

peer-review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

ed scientific findings and the range of credible viewpoints." In addition to his work on the ''Post'', Samenow (and other Capital Weather Gang reporters) appear on

WAMU WAMU (88.5 FM) is a public news/talk station that services the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It is owned by American University, and its studios are located near the campus in northwest Washington. WAMU has been the primary Natio ...

(88.5 FM) for weather radio broadcasts.

Memberships and honors

Samenow was named 2010 "Climate Change Communicator of the Year" by the

's Center for Climate Change Communication (4C), sharing the honor with BBC World Service Trust. The Center cited Samenow's work at the EPA. Samenow served as a chairman of the D.C. Chapter of the

American Meteorological Society The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is the premier scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences. Its mission is to advance t ...

. He has the "Digital Seal of Approval" from the

National Weather Association The National Weather Association (NWA), founded in 1975, is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities. Background The National Weather Association is, ...

. He is fellow of the Weather and Society Integrated Studies project.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samenow, Jason P. American meteorologists The Washington Post people Living people Journalists from Washington, D.C. People from Fairfax County, Virginia University of Virginia alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Journalists from Virginia Scientists from Virginia Year of birth missing (living people) People of the United States Environmental Protection Agency 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American scientists Scientists from Washington, D.C. American male journalists