Stephen Mullens was interviewed by Vox for their video explaining the meteorology behind the sunny skies of St Petersburg, FL.
In this 8-minute video, Mullens worked with journalist Ed Vega to help explain why Florida would be a desert without the summer sea breeze thunderstorms, how the sea breeze works, and why St Petersburg is frequently spared from rain while the other side of Tampa Bay gets drenched.
The city may not be as sunny as claimed in the Guinness Book of World Records, but there is indeed a lot of sun between the brief afternoon thunderstorms.
Stephen Mullens is an instructional professor for the department’s new bachelor program in meteorology. He teaches many of the department’s meteorology courses, the Communicating Science in the Geosciences course and is the faculty advisor for the American Meteorological Society Gator Chapter.