Ben Gelber specializes in weather forecasting (synoptic meteorology and analysis) and is an Emmy award-winning meteorologist at NBC4 (WCMH). In 2022, he received first place for Best Weathercast by the Ohio Associated Press Media Editors. He gives science presentations at area schools and guest lectures in the School of Environment and Natural Resources and Byrd Polar Climate and Research Center. Ben is the author of several regional climate history books and numerous weather articles, including an op-ed essay in the New York Times entitled "Ben Franklin on Global Warming."
Ben was recently inducted into the Ohio Associated Press Media Editors Hall of Fame (2025) and will receive the 50-year service award from the National Weather Service Cooperative Observers Program next month, going back to my years as a high school weather spotter for NOAA/NWS records. 

Interests

Since 1995, I have been a Cooperative Weather Observer (COOP) for the National Weather Service (NWS), providing data for the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). I participate in the severe weather NWS Basic Spotter Training courses in conjunction with Franklin County (Ohio) Emergency Management Agency and Homeland Security. My climate analyses include retrieving historical weather records, such as early American diaries and journals, which culminated in my publication of the first comprehensive state weather history of Pennsylvania.

Current CV:

Courses Taught:

Geog 1900: Extreme Weather and Climate
ATMOSSC 2940: Basic Meteorology
Geog 5940: Synoptic Meteorology Lab.

Select Publications:

Books,

Pennsylvania Weather: a 400-Year Chronicle of Historic Events, 2025

Pocono Weather: A Weather History of Eastern Pennsylvania, the Poconos, Western New Jersey, 1992. Uriel Publishing (revised edition, 1998)

The Pennsylvania Weather Book, 2002. Rutgers University Press.

Pennsylvania Weather: A 400-Year Chronicle of Historic Events (in editing).

Articles,

"Rising Water: The Northeast Floods of 1955," 2005 (July/August). Weatherwise 58 (4): 46-51.

"Readings," 2006 (July). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (book review): 960-62.

"Ben Franklin on Global Warming," 2009 (Nov. 17). New York Times Op-Ed.

"Ohio Tornado History," 2017. Ohio State University, 21^st Annual Severe Weather Symposium presentation.

"White Christmas in the Poconos? Chances diminishing compared to the mid-20^th century," 2021 (Dec. 21). Pocono Record.

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