Britt Max Mayfield (born September 19, 1948) 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 atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

who served as the director of the

National Hurricane Center The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the IERS Reference Meridian, Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian ...

from 2000 to 2007. As director, Mayfield became a trusted voice in preparing for weather-related disasters, particularly those involving tropical storms and

hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

Career

Mayfield began his forecasting career with the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

in 1970, after graduating from the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

with a bachelor's degree in mathematics, serving as a first lieutenant until 1972. In 1972, Mayfield joined the

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

as a satellite meteorologist. Mayfield earned his master's degree in

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

in 1987, becoming a hurricane specialist. Max became the director of the

in January 2000 after the retirement of Jerry Jarrell.Biography of Max Mayfield – Director of the National Hurricane Center
/ref> Mayfield is the current chairman of the

World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology an ...

's Regional Association-IV, which supports 26 members from Atlantic and eastern Pacific countries. He is one subject of a 2008 documentary titled ''New Orleans Story'' concerning

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

, which is currently in post-production. Mayfield stepped down from his position as Director of the National Hurricane Center in January 2007 and was succeeded by Bill Proenza. On April 1, 2007 he joined Miami-based local television station WPLG as hurricane specialist. He retired from WPLG on November 22, 2019. Max Mayfield is married to Linda Mayfield. They have three children: Lee, Lindsay, and Lauren.

Awards

Mayfield received Gold medals for his work during

Hurricane Andrew Hurricane Andrew was a compact, but very powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It was the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures dama ...

in 1992 and

Hurricane Isabel Hurricane Isabel was a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck the east coast of the United States in September 2003. The ninth named storm, fifth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, Isabel formed in the eastern Atlantic ...

in 2003. He received a silver medal for work done during Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. In 1996, the

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

presented Mayfield the Francis W. Reichelderfer Award for his service in coordinating the

's hurricane preparedness training for emergency preparedness officials and the general public. Mayfield also received an Outstanding Achievement Award at the 2000 National Hurricane Conference for developing and expanding training opportunities for state and local officials. At the 2004 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, he received the Richard Hagemeyer Award for his contributions to the United States' hurricane warning program. Also in 2004, he received an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for extraordinary contributions to television by someone not normally eligible for Emmy awards. In 2005, Mayfield became ABC's person of the week after

. He also received a Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service in 2005. The Saturday before Katrina hit, Mayfield personally called the mayor of New Orleans to emphasize how serious the threat was to the city. He told TIME magazine, "This was only the second time I called a politician in my life. I wanted to be able to go to sleep knowing I had done everything I could do." The next morning, Mayor Nagin finally called for a mandatory evacuation.1 The Mayor
Amanda Ripley. TIME. September 13, 2005.

References

External links

*
National Hurricane Center

OneStorm.org
Family hurricane preparedness initiative, advised by Max Mayfield and Bryan Norcross {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayfield, Max 1948 births Living people People from Oklahoma City American meteorologists University of Oklahoma alumni Florida State University alumni National Weather Service people United States Air Force officers