Margaret Orr

New Orleans

Chief Meteorologist Emeritus at WDSU-TV (New Orleans, LA)

Chief Meteorologist Emeritus at WDSU News in New Orleans. Follow me for weather and send me your pics! RTs are not endorsements. Opinions are my own.

Articles

Breaking the climate silence: Predictors of discussing global warming with family and friends

4 weeks ago | journals.plos.org | Margaret Orr |Amanda Borth |John E. Kotcher |Eryn Campbell

Citation: Orr M, Borth A, Kotcher J, Campbell E, Myers T, Maibach E, et al. (2025) Breaking the climate silence: Predictors of discussing global warming with family and friends. PLOS Clim 4(4): e0000538. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000538Editor: Terence Epule Epule, UQAT: Universite du Quebec en Abitibi Temiscamingue, CANADAReceived: August 19, 2024; Accepted: February 17, 2025; Published: April 17, 2025Copyright: © 2025 Orr et al.
Margaret Orr: Louisianans know severe weather. NOAA cuts could make it more dangerous.

2 months ago | nola.com | Margaret Orr

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Margaret Orr: Louisianans know severe weather. NOAA cuts could make it more dangerous.

2 months ago | theadvocate.com | Margaret Orr

Extreme weather is increasing. For the naysayers, just look at recent experience. Depending on where you were, between eight and 12 inches of snow fell in New Orleans Jan. 22, 2025. The last time we had eight inches of snow in New Orleans was 130 years ago on February 14, 1895. Wildfires are burning in South Carolina and North Carolina right now, but nothing like what happened in Los Angeles. Just a couple of weeks before New Orleans had snow, 40,000 acres burned in parts of LA.
3 years later: What we have learned from Hurricane Ida

Aug 29, 2024 | wdsu.com | Margaret Orr

Thursday marks the third anniversary since Hurricane Ida made landfall, destroying parts of Southeast Louisiana. Thursday also marks the 19th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. WDSU Chief Meteorologist Emeritus Margaret Orr reflects on what we learned from Hurricane Ida, the first major hurricane to test the New Orleans levee system. Forecasting Ida: I knew Hurricane Ida was going to be bad. It was. Ida was a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 150 mph.
Thursday marks 19 years since Hurricane Katrina

Aug 29, 2024 | wdsu.com | Margaret Orr

It has been 19 years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, causing extensive damage along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and in New Orleans. According to WDSU Chief Meteorologist Emeritus Margaret Orr, the way the ingredients came together during the summer of 2005 to create Hurricane Katrina was just plain bad luck. Below, Orr recalls how she remembers covering the hurricane that changed New Orleans forever. WDSU began non-stop coverage.
Hurricane Beryl, on a path through Jamaica, is a warning

Jul 3, 2024 | msnbc.com | Margaret Orr

Given the extreme weather we’re seeing across the country — flooding rains in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota, excessive heat warnings on the West Coast and in the south-central U.S. — the approach of a destructive Hurricane Beryl this early in the hurricane season doesn’t exactly come as a surprise.
Chilly in the morning

Mar 28, 2024 | wdsu.com | Margaret Orr

LATE AUGUST. THANK YOU SALAH, AND WE ARE LOOKING AT THE CRESCENT CITY CONNECTION LOOKING GOOD RIGHT NOW. THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, BY THE WAY, IS ABOUT 8.5FT. IT’S GOING TO BE DROPPING ABOUT A FOOT OVER THE NEXT WEEK. HERE IS A LOOK AT YOUR WDSU FIRST WARNING WEATHER. AND YOU KNOW WHAT? IT IS LOOKING GOOD. WE ARE ON A ROLL. WE’VE GOT COOL MORNINGS ALL THE WAY THROUGH SUNDAY THOUGH THOSE LOWS WILL GRADUALLY BEGIN TO GO UP A LITTLE BIT AND WE DO HAVE A WARMER WEEKEND AHEAD.
Looking good through Sunday

Mar 27, 2024 | wdsu.com | Margaret Orr

NEWS. THANK YOU BRITTANY. SO WE’RE LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW. YOU CAN SEE SOME CLOUDS OFF TO THE WEST. I’M NOT CONCERNED ABOUT THIS. LOOKS LIKE YOU COULD HAVE SOME RAIN. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS BUMPING INTO DRY AIR, SO IT’S SIMPLY EVAPORATING BEFORE IT HITS THE GROUND. HERE IS A LOOK AT YOUR WDSU FIRST WARNING WEATHER. WE’RE LOOKING GOOD. I’M TELLING YOU, WE ARE ON A ROLL. SO WHAT WE HAVE ARE COOL MORNINGS THROUGH SUNDAY THOUGH, AS YOU GO INTO SUNDAY, IT’S NOT GOING TO BE QUITE AS COOL AS IT HAS BEEN.
Weather Alert Overnight

Mar 25, 2024 | wdsu.com | Margaret Orr

THANK YOU, BRITTANY. SO WE’RE LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW. WHAT A CLOUDY, HUMID, WINDY DAY. WINDS GUSTED TO 43MPH EVERY NOW AND THEN. I AM SEEING WHITE CAPS ON THE RIVER. ALL RIGHT, HERE IS A LOOK AT OUR WDSU SHOIGU FIRST WARNING RADAR. AND YOU KNOW WHAT? THERE’S NOT A LOT OF RAIN OUT THERE, BUT IT IS COMING. SO WE CAN CHECK IT OUT. YOU’LL SEE. REALLY OVER TOWARDS TERREBONNE PARISH, LAFOURCHE EXTENDING UP AND INTO THE RIVER PARISHES AND THEN ON THE NORTH SHORE. WE’RE SEEING THAT RAIN.
Increasing rain late Thursday into Friday

Mar 19, 2024 | wdsu.com | Margaret Orr

CLASSIC IS FROM APRIL 25TH THROUGH THE 28TH IN AVONDALE. MARGARET. ALL RIGHT. WE’RE LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW AND SOME OF YOU MAY BE CONCERNED WE’VE GOT CLOUDS MOVING IN. HEY, I. AM NOT WORRIED ABOUT THIS. THERE IS SOME RAIN. LOOK, THIS IS THE LAKE CHARLES RADAR. IT’S SHOWING SOME RAIN OFF TO THE WEST, BUT IT IS GOING TO BE MOVING INTO REALLY DRY AIR. NO RAIN TONIGHT. I’M NOT SEEING IT TOMORROW. HERE IS A LOOK AT YOUR WDSU. FIRST WARNING WEATHER AND SPRING OFFICIALLY ARRIVES TONIGHT AT 1006 THIS EVENING.