Jonathan Belles
Jonathan Belles connects long-range weather patterns with day-to-day impacts as a senior digital meteorologist and writer for The Weather Channel’s digital platforms. He has worked on these platforms since 2016, contributing forecast-led news, seasonal outlooks and explainer pieces on storms, climate-linked events and emerging weather science. His recent work concentrates on tropical storms, hurricane seasons, El Niño and winter weather, with a consistent focus on how these patterns shape travel, risk and everyday plans.
Tropical storms and hurricane seasons
Belles is a core voice on tropical weather, repeatedly covering Atlantic hurricane seasons and their standout storms. In a detailed recap of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, he highlights how three Category 5 hurricanes and a catastrophic storm named Melissa shaped the overall season, underscoring both intensity and impact.
He also reports on pre-season and in-season outlooks, such as a final forecast that lays out expected numbers of tropical storms, hurricanes and major hurricanes from research groups including The Weather Company and Atmospheric G2. When the basin turns unusually quiet, he writes about anomalies such as a rare September Atlantic hurricane shutout and explains what a lack of early-season storms means for the rest of the season.
His tropical coverage extends beyond the mainland-focused Atlantic, including a piece on Hawaii’s most damaging hurricanes that identifies a shared trait across those storms and ties historical impacts to present-day risk.
El Niño, seasonal patterns and travel impacts
Seasonal climate patterns, especially El Niño, run through Belles’s environment coverage and frame much of his recent work.
In a feature on how El Niño could impact winter snowfall and ski trips, he links shifts in storm tracks and snow distribution to decisions about where and when to plan a ski vacation. He returns to El Niño in a summer-focused piece on wildfire smoke, exploring how the pattern could influence a “smoky summer” and connecting atmospheric circulation changes to air quality and health-oriented concerns. His analysis is also cited in broader coverage of a super El Niño and winter getaway travel, where another article references his explanation that some popular destinations can see fewer sunny days even when heavy rain is not constant.
Across these stories, he uses El Niño as a bridge between global-scale climate signals and practical questions around travel, recreation and seasonal planning.
High-impact weather, hazards and seasonal extremes
Belles covers high-impact weather events that demand immediate attention, adding analytical depth to breaking news on hazards. In a report on deadly flooding in New Mexico with flash flood warnings in Arizona, he contributes to coverage of a monsoon-driven event that notes fatalities and highlights the ongoing risk through active warnings.
His biography states that his work includes high-impact weather and winter storms, and his portfolio reflects that scope. A piece republished under his byline on the polar vortex and early 2026 temperature patterns shows him tracking how a strengthening polar vortex can coincide with warming across much of the country, placing a complex atmospheric phenomenon in the context of real-world temperature swings.
Taken together, these articles show a focus on the intersection of atmospheric extremes, hazard communication and the evolving seasonal backdrop.
Weather science explainers and multimedia storytelling
Alongside storm coverage and forecasts, Belles produces explainer work that interprets new scientific findings for a broad audience. In a story on research showing that raindrops carry an electric charge capable of eating away at metal, he describes how charged droplets interact with surfaces in ways that can corrode infrastructure, turning an abstract physical process into an understandable risk. His professional profile notes that his responsibilities include writing forecast and news articles and creating hourly, daily and long-term forecast graphics for The Weather Channel’s digital products, along with simple explainers of meteorological phenomena for local, regional and global weather and climate events. He also assists with Spanish-language video content, contributing to The Weather Channel’s en español output and extending his explainer work across formats and audiences. This mix of written analysis, visual graphics and multilingual video positions his coverage at the overlap of science communication and service journalism.
Across this body of work, Belles maintains a clear through-line: he treats weather and climate patterns - tropical seasons, El Niño, polar vortex shifts and emerging atmospheric science - as practical information, grounding large-scale phenomena in specific consequences for storms, travel, hazards and daily life.
4 more environment journalists.
Alan Halaly
Alan Halaly is a water reporter at the Las Vegas Review-Journal who treats the Colorado River as a working system, not a backdrop, making its governance, infrastructure and risks central to his beat. He covers how policy decisions and infrastructure projects shape the region’s water future, linking high-level choices on the Colorado River, dams, mining and data centers to everyday consequences under mounting heat and growth pressures. He reports deeply on new laws, lawsuits and regulatory shifts, focusing on on-the-ground impacts. His coverage spans Colorado River cuts, Hoover Dam operations, extreme weather, heat and parks, septic system rules, workplace and public health risks, lithium and gold mines, protected landscapes, data centers, AI infrastructure and public funding. Previously he reported for metropolitan dailies, digital outlets and public media, including the Miami Herald, WUFT, The Daily Beast and Miami New Times, with work recognized by Hearst, ONA and the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Alejandra Borunda
Alejandra Borunda reports on how climate change affects human health for NPR. Her work treats global warming as a direct cause of physical and mental health risks. She covers extreme heat, including undercounted deaths, lost sleep and local efforts to track heat-related fatalities. She also reports on wildfire smoke, hurricanes, disease spread such as dengue fever, trauma, stress and unequal health impacts. Her stories examine how communities protect themselves and recover, as well as practical solutions involving climate-resilient crops, agriculture and diet. Before NPR, she wrote about climate science and environmental issues for National Geographic, including glacier retreat, shade and heat inequity, and shrinking ice-fishing seasons. A former climate scientist, she combines field reporting with scientific data to connect atmospheric research to everyday risks, choices and people’s lived experiences.
Alex Lubben
Alex Lubben is an environment reporter at The Times-Picayune/The Advocate who connects climate risk to policy, industry and community change. He covers Gulf warming, flood protection, coastal restoration, wetlands litigation, industrial projects such as SpaceX’s possible expansion, invasive species and local ecosystems. His reporting tracks how law, politics and corporate decisions shape levees, drainage, marshes and long-term resilience. He also examines climate relocation, housing and labor, showing how hurricanes, floods and wildfires displace vulnerable communities and expose gaps in government systems. He works on a small environment team and brings an investigative background to document work, data analysis, legal and policy research, and field reporting. His work has appeared in VICE News, The Center for Public Integrity, The Nation, Jewish Currents and NBC News.
Alex Wigglesworth
Alex Wigglesworth reports on how climate, land use and public policy shape California communities. She covers the Inland Empire and Mojave Desert for the Los Angeles Times and is part of its environment team. Her beat includes wildfires, megadrought, extreme weather, desert development, conservation, wildlife, industrial hazards, aging infrastructure and regulatory enforcement. She has covered Western Joshua trees, desert tortoises, beaver-led restoration, toxic lead pipes, air-quality concerns after industrial fires and the effects of nuclear war on food systems. Earlier, she was a general assignment reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com. She combines breaking news with detailed reporting grounded in scientific studies, modeling and expert interviews. Her work connects fires, drought and other hazards to climate change, while examining how agencies, companies and land-use decisions affect people and ecosystems.