Doug Schneider
- Senior Forecaster at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Morristown, Tennessee
- Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology, North Carolina State University, 1996
- Master of Science degree in Meteorology, North Carolina State University, 1998
My love of weather began in 1979, when I was five years old and living in New Jersey. Hurricane David tracked up the Atlantic coast, and in my neighborhood, trees were blown down and streets were flooded. I was enthralled and amazed. After that, I watched the local weather forecast religiously, and would look at the clouds and try to predict if it would rain. I became a race fan in the mid '80s, when I watched Richard Petty's 200th career win at Daytona. I was mainly a fan of NASCAR, IMSA GTP, and CART/IndyCar, attending several races of each series. I decided that I was going to either be a race car driver or a meteorologist. Lacking the budget for racing, I went to North Carolina State University to major in meteorology.
After earning Bachelor's and Master's degrees, I began working for the National Weather Service in 1999, starting in Raleigh, North Carolina. I've been at the Morristown, Tennessee forecast office since 2005. East Tennessee is a challenging place to forecast weather due to the varying terrain, but I love it. My favorite part of my job is analyzing radar and issuing severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings. Saving lives and having an impact is very rewarding.
My wife and I have been blessed with nine children, whom we homeschool. My other interests include baseball, snow skiing, reading, and cheering for the NC State Wolfpack. I began to combine my passions for racing and weather in 2014, and I was fortunate enough to find a fellow racing and weather nut in Scott to help me with starting Racecast Weather in 2015. I hope you benefit from our forecasts as much as we enjoy making them.
Scott Martin
- Digital Meteorologist for the Alabama Weather Blog (AlabamaWx.com)
- Bachelor of Science degree in Operational Meteorology, Mississippi State, 2021
- Winner of the 2013 Central Alabama Chapter of the NWA Scholarship
I currently live just north of Birmingham, Alabama. I am married to my beautiful wife, Amy, and have three awesome children. Even though I have just received my degree in meteorology at the beginning of May in 2021, I have been a meteorologist since earning my certificate in meteorology back in December of 2015.
Weather has been a passion of mine from nearly the day that I took my first breath. Whenever a severe weather outbreak would happen in or near my town, I would watch the wall-to-wall coverage by the local TV meteorologists and listen to the local National Weather Service via a weather radio. Because of that, I have actually learned a lot of helpful weather knowledge that I have been able to use in college and in the real world. I have also had my share of close calls with the weather. The big EF-4 tornado that ripped a path from west of Tuscaloosa through Birmingham back in 2011, came very close to my neighborhood. Outside my door, I picked up at least a wheel barrel full of debris, including a notebook from a student from Tuscaloosa (over 50 miles away), and up to the Winter of 2014, a pair of pants that was deposited by the tornado hung from the pine tree in our front yard. Less than a mile from my house, there was devastation all around. Businesses and restaurants that my family frequently visited were ripped from their foundations and totally demolished. That day was a game changer for me, and helped start me on my path of meteorology.
As far as racing is concerned, I have been an avid fan for nearly my whole life. In my younger years, my dad would let me skip school and would take me to Alabama International Motor Speedway (now referred to as Talladega Superspeedway) to watch qualifying for the Winston Cup Series. I was there in 1987 when Bill Elliott set the all-time record for qualifying at 212.809 MPH. Since then, my love for stock cars have dwindled over time since the death of my dad. I have really become a huge fan of the NTT IndyCar Series and the major sports car series, such as IMSA, SRO World Challenge, and the Trans Am Series.
We hope that you are able to use the information that we give to your advantage at the track. Our aim is to not only inform you of what the weather has in store for you at an event, but also to try to keep you informed if dangerous and life-threatening severe weather is approaching.
Stephen McCoy
- Weather forecaster for M-Sport Ford World Rally Team and Bentley Team M-Sport
- Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2017
Growing up in both North Carolina and Alabama, I've been exposed to motorsports my entire life. NASCAR was my first interest, as we lived within driving distance of some of the major tracks on the schedule. As the years went by and the drivers I had grown accustomed to watching left for one reason or another, I began turning my attention towards other forms of motorsport. I started watching Formula 1 and the likes of INDYCAR, the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship, and Pirelli World Challenge were quick to follow.
My interest in weather stemmed from a few severe weather incidents. In 2008, a few years after moving back to North Carolina, an EF-2 rated tornado tracked within a half-mile of our house, knocking over trees and ripping some siding and shingles off both ours and neighboring houses. In 2011, I happened to be in Raleigh, North Carolina the day a destructive EF-3 tornado moved directly through the city. From then on, I was always looking at the radar whenever storms were in the area, trying to predict where they were headed. I wanted to gain a further understanding of how the atmosphere worked and how they might have created some of the atmospheric events I had experienced. With this in mind, I pursued a degree in meteorology, attaining it in 2017 from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
I am very appreciative and thankful that Doug and Scott have allowed me to help with the forecasting duties starting with the 2018 racing season.
Harris Cooley
I am currently a senior at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX and scheduled to graduate December 2021 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology and minor in Oceanography.
My love of weather started at a very young age. Growing up in Houston, TX where the weather can change on a dime, I have had to live through multiple tropical storms and hurricanes, most notably Tropical Storm Allison and Hurricane Ike. The most impactful for me was watching how Hurricane Harvey devasted the city. At the time I was actually an engineering student but my fascination with the weather began pulling me in another direction, which led me to change my major and follow my passion and love for meteorology. I worked in Houston last summer for the Harris County Flood Control District where my duties ranged from being out in the field as a technician to providing local forecasts. I gained valuable hydrology and meteorology skills from this experience and currently, along with my studies, I am now working for Matthews Daniel where I forecast for the companies that hire them. These forecast locations are all over the world, so I have gotten to study different weather patterns across the globe.
Joining Racecast Weather is exciting to me because I have followed Formula One Racing for the past 4 years and grew up playing F1 video games so to blend two of my passions into one job is a dream come true! I would love to be employed by a racing series and join their meteorology team.
When I am not studying or working, I love to play golf and be outdoors. I would like to thank Doug, Scott and Stephen for giving me the opportunity to join Racecast Weather!
- Meteorology Student at Texas A&M University
- Consulting Meteorologist – Matthews Daniel
I am currently a senior at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX and scheduled to graduate December 2021 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology and minor in Oceanography.
My love of weather started at a very young age. Growing up in Houston, TX where the weather can change on a dime, I have had to live through multiple tropical storms and hurricanes, most notably Tropical Storm Allison and Hurricane Ike. The most impactful for me was watching how Hurricane Harvey devasted the city. At the time I was actually an engineering student but my fascination with the weather began pulling me in another direction, which led me to change my major and follow my passion and love for meteorology. I worked in Houston last summer for the Harris County Flood Control District where my duties ranged from being out in the field as a technician to providing local forecasts. I gained valuable hydrology and meteorology skills from this experience and currently, along with my studies, I am now working for Matthews Daniel where I forecast for the companies that hire them. These forecast locations are all over the world, so I have gotten to study different weather patterns across the globe.
Joining Racecast Weather is exciting to me because I have followed Formula One Racing for the past 4 years and grew up playing F1 video games so to blend two of my passions into one job is a dream come true! I would love to be employed by a racing series and join their meteorology team.
When I am not studying or working, I love to play golf and be outdoors. I would like to thank Doug, Scott and Stephen for giving me the opportunity to join Racecast Weather!
