'Weather Dude' to help raise funds for Alabama’s tornado recovery

Meteorologist Nick Walker was live on The Weather Channel on April 27, 2011, when deadly tornadoes struck the South.

“Watching the tornado signatures on the radar,” he says, “we knew lives were being changed before our eyes. It was haunting.”

When the pictures of the devastation started coming in, his assumptions were confirmed.

“We were getting the warnings out, but you still ask yourself, ‘What more could I have done?’ There’s no satisfactory answer, but as our president told us, ‘We can’t control when or where a terrible storm may strike, but we can control how we respond to it.’”

Like many, Walker is responding by raising money for tornado victims. At the same time, he is hoping to encourage storm safety. As the “Weather Dude,” Walker raises awareness of severe weather preparedness through talks at community events, singing original weather songs that drive his safety message home to young people and their families.

He will present his musical weather program in Huntsville at the Rocket City Weather Fest on Saturday, Sept. 17, at the Shelby Center on the UAHuntsville campus. For every donation of twenty dollars or more to the Northern Alabama Red Cross’s tornado relief fund, Weather Fest attendees will receive a copy of Walker’s recording "Don’t Get Scared, Just Get Prepared."

“Maybe I can help tornado victims while perhaps keeping some others from becoming victims in the future,” says Walker.

The 11-song CD includes songs that cover all severe weather topics, including tornadoes, hurricanes, lightning safety, floods, blizzards and heat. Walker has designed the recording to be a conversation-starter for parents to talk about severe weather with their children or teachers with their students, encouraging them to plan ahead for severe storms.

For better understanding and application of each song's message, Walker has written an online companion guide to the CD with further tips to help families prepare for storms. The online guide is atwww.wxdude.com/onlineguide.html

Walker’s other recording, "Sing Along with the Weather Dude," focuses on the basics of weather, such as clouds, precipitation and wind, and comes with an accompanying activity book.

“Weather Dude” recordings are available at www.wxdude.com/order.html and for electronic download from Amazon.com and iTunes.

Now through September, Walker will donate 100% of the proceeds of music sales to tornado recovery. Walker appears on “Day Planner,” weekdays 1 to 4 p.m. CDT on The Weather Channel.