Houston scientist who played pivotal role in leading team during extreme weather retiring

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Over the course of three decades, meteorologist Dan Reilly with the National Weather Service has seen his share of extreme weather.

As the warning coordination meteorologist at the local NWS office, he played a pivotal role in leading a team of forecasters. After 32 years of service, Reilly is retiring. He sat down with ABC13 Meteorologist Elyse Smith to reflect on what it meant to serve southeast Texas for the last 16 years.

Reilly had to hit the ground running, with Hurricane Ike.

"When they hired me, I sort of only half-jokingly said, 'You know, we'll probably have a major hurricane when we get there.' And sure enough, we did," Reilly said.

Calling it a "hurrication," he sent his family away to evacuate ahead of the storm while he stayed behind for work. Reilly noted how local meteorologists are considered front-line workers during natural disasters, so much of the burden can fall on spouses to help take care of families.

Before he arrived in Texas, Reilly crisscrossed the nation, working at numerous offices and covering many different kinds of weather.

"I served at weather offices in the Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes, the Rocky Mountain West prior to coming to Houston, about as opposite as you can imagine," he said.

Reilly expressed concern about the amount of weather misinformation that's been on the rise recently, especially seen during recent storms like Helene and Milton. It comes as a forecaster's job at the weather service has expanded from just forecasting to communication and outreach. Reilly says he's witnessed this on social media, and that concerns him.

"I know people shouldn't worry, but they do. Even old model forecasts are posted to get clicks and to scare people. That's always concerning that people could sort of buy into those kind of theories," Reilly said.

He added that the need for trusted sources of weather information, like that from the NWS and ABC13, is even more crucial in times like these.

Reilly hopes the efforts he put into outreach and building partnerships with community groups are something he'll be remembered for. Part of his job was also to work on building StormReady communities as part of NOAA's Weather-Ready Nation initiative, which ABC13 is part of.

"I hear it again and again, 'Dan, you're a part of our team,' and that's music to my ears," he said.

For more on this story, follow Elyse Smith on Facebook, X and Instagram.