Clarity in the Storm: Weather Intelligence, GIS, and the Future of Operational Awareness
For many organizations today, weather has shifted from an occasional disruption to a constant planning factor. Scientific assessments show that extreme weather events—including heatwaves, heavy rainfall, and wildfires—are occurring more frequently and with greater intensity, placing growing strain on infrastructure, utilities, and public services. As weather-related disruptions become more costly and harder to manage, leaders across critical industries are rethinking how they move from general forecasts to decision-ready intelligence that holds up when it matters most.
So how do organizations move beyond reactive alerts and generic forecasts to achieve true situational awareness—clarity that actually changes decisions, protects people, and safeguards assets before the storm hits?
Welcome to Waypoints Unlocked. This debut episode features host Randall René, Principal Advisor and Founder of Waypoint 33, as he explores how weather intelligence, GIS, and real-time operational awareness are reshaping decision-making across telecommunications, utilities, and critical infrastructure. He is joined by Jeff Huffman, Weather Communication Specialist at Baron Weather, and Matt Gaffner, Solution Engineer at Baron Weather, who bring deep expertise in meteorology, GIS, and operational decision support. Together, they examine how hyperlocal weather intelligence, GIS integration, and emerging AI-driven capabilities are enabling organizations to move from reactive response to predictive, defensible action—while navigating the cultural and operational shifts required for meaningful digital transformation.
Top insights from the talk…
- From forecasts to foresight: Why hyperlocal, GIS-enabled weather intelligence enables predictive and proactive operations instead of reactive responses.
- One source of truth: How data trustworthiness and enterprise-wide consistency reduce risk, confusion, and liability during high-impact events.
- Operational ROI: The measurable safety, efficiency, and resilience gains organizations achieve when weather intelligence is embedded directly into decision workflows.
Jeff Huffman is a meteorologist, communicator, and GIS specialist with nearly two decades of broadcast experience and a career dedicated to translating complex weather risk into actionable insight. After 18 years as a broadcast meteorologist—including leading nationally recognized public media disaster networks—he now serves as a Weather & GIS Communication Specialist at Baron Weather, where he leads GIS initiatives in partnership with Esri to help organizations visualize impacts and mitigate risk. His work focuses on risk communication, operational decision support, and empowering organizations to make defensible, life- and cost-saving decisions amid increasing climate and extreme weather threats.
Matt Gaffner is a weather and geospatial technology specialist with nearly 20 years of experience integrating historical, real-time, and forecast weather data into enterprise GIS platforms. He currently serves as a Solution Engineer at Baron Weather, following senior roles at DTN and Weather Decision Technologies, where he led GIS data services, APIs, and weather intelligence solutions across insurance, energy, agriculture, and infrastructure sectors. Matt’s career highlights include building ArcGIS-based weather services, managing forensic and predictive weather products, and enabling organizations to turn complex meteorological data into actionable, defensible operational decisions.
Article written by MarketScale.