Conan talks to Max from Fargo, ND about working as a meteorologist, storm chasing, and what to do if you think a tornado is headed your way. Wanna get a chance to talk to Conan? Submit here: teamcoco.com/apply Get access to all the podcasts you love, music channels and radio shows with the SiriusXM App! Get 3 months free using this show link: https://siriusxm.com/conan.
Chapter 1: Who is Max from Fargo and what does he do?
Max! Max! See, what I was doing was a trick to get you to do that. It worked. And my bad Fargo accent brought out your good one. And so I win this round. I love that. I love that. Now you don't owe me any money. So, Max, what do you do? Besides living in an apartment that has no central heating, what do you do with yourself, my friend? I'm a meteorologist. Oh, cool. That's cool.
Chapter 2: What challenges does a meteorologist face in Fargo?
And you're a meteorologist. Are you on the radio? Are you on television? Where do you do your meteorology? I am on television. I'm on the Fox-affiliated TV station in Fargo. Oh, very cool. And because it's Fox, do they encourage you to put like a political slant? Like, oh, there's a bad storm coming from the left wing.
Oh, the left wing. From the left wing.
Yeah, the left wing of the state. There's a bad kooky storm, but don't worry. Now it's becoming Irish.
my deal here hey no no wait we talked about it's my deal here if i stick to my deal here i think i got the action just repeat that over and over again yeah i think so okay um like you're from the midwest oh wait you are you're from southern illinois yeah yeah yeah it's true um max i'm sorry uh you're a meteorologist and i'm gonna try to bring some sanity i think you've upended this conversation with your nonsense
Oh, I think that's a load of bullshit.
Okay, hey. Wow, Jesus. All right, you just take it easy. You're a meteorologist.
I'm on TV. I don't have to take this.
Okay, you're right. I have the highest respect for you, Max. I think you've lost control. You've lost the feeling in your extremities from the severe cold. Um... So you are in the studio. You are doing the weather. Is the weather usually the same in Fargo? Does it get boring?
You know, there's that old joke about it's really boring to be a weatherman in Los Angeles because it's always 72 degrees and fairly pleasant. What about in Fargo?
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Chapter 3: How realistic are storm-chasing movies like Twister?
It's we do have the periods where it'll get a little bit boring, but those are fairly few and far between. Right now, it's you know, we've got almost 60 mile an hour wind gusts and blizzard warnings. So it's you know, it's a good weather day to be a meteorologist, but not a good day for pretty much anyone else who wants to do anything around town because it's not right. It's not great.
Well, bad luck for other people is good luck for you because you get to say pretty much. Oh, it's a big storm coming their way. I'm going to keep going at it. I'm going to keep going at it. There's no way to stop me. So, OK, what kind of do you get outside the studio much?
I mean, are you mostly there in front of the green screen pointing to things like low pressure system, high pressure system, snowflakes, that kind of thing?
Yeah, each individual snowflake that comes down, I'm typically outside the studio point. And here's one. Here's two.
Okay, listen to me, you son of a bitch.
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Chapter 4: What should you do if a tornado is headed your way?
I'm going to climb through this microphone and come and get you. You understand me? Don't you sass me, young man. All right? I'm 98 years old. I've served this country bravely. In World War II. And you're going to treat me with respect. None of your sass now. This is my deal here, Wade. Oh, no. Oh, my Lord. No, I'm in front of the green screen most of the time. Right.
And do you have to ad lib a lot? Is that because sometimes I would think. You're there. And I don't mean to put down your anchor because I don't know who your anchor is. But what if your anchor just is trying to be funny and you got to kind of have to play off your anchor who I'm just assuming is, you know, he's come on. You're a funny guy, Max. You're calling in. You're clearly a fan.
You've already had some good quips. You put me in my place. What if your anchor is like and you have to deal with that? What do you do?
Fortunately, that hasn't happened too frequently, but when you're on air, it's always professional. I have no experience with that.
I don't know what you're talking about, Max.
Stick with me, baby. You're going to learn some things. And one thing, you know, the news anchors, when they're reading the news, they're reading off of script. They're reading off a prompter. When I'm doing the weather, it's all free form.
It's all just off the top of my head. You're going commando, right? No, no, seriously. You're letting the old pendulum swing, if you know what I mean. Those guys are locked in. They're just locked in. And now the weather, you know, and they'll read it. You know what I mean? That's that's that's what it is. Yeah. It's like the movie Anchorman. You just put it on the prompter and they'll read it.
Do you get outside the studio much? Do you ever get a chance to get outside and have some excitement?
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Chapter 5: Is diving into a tornado a viable survival tactic?
Well, every once in a while for work, I'll do the weather from outside. But when I'm not working, especially when it's, you know, warm out and spring, summer, something I really, really like to do. And as I've been doing for a while, as I go storm chasing, I go driving around looking for tornadoes. Oh, really?
That's great.
I've never talked to someone who really does that. Of course, there are the famous iconic movies about storm chasing. How inaccurate are those movies? I'm guessing they are fairly inaccurate.
Well, the original Twister, there's they take a whole a lot of liberties with it. The newest one is a little bit more accurate, but it's definitely not just jam packed balls to the wall action 24 seven. It's. It's more so, you know, you're you're spending a lot of time in a car just driving around or if you're just hanging out in a field playing catch with the baseball waiting for storms to go up.
But then it's that one percent when the storms are actually going up. That is just the sheer adrenaline rush of.
Okay, Max, paint the picture for me. You hear there's a tornado or the conditions are right for a tornado, and then it comes in over the radio. The tornado is setting down over near, you know, Cobbler's Grove. And you say, let's go, gang. And you all hit the gas and you head towards the tornado. Is that correct? Yeah. Whoa, look at that. Is that something you just got off online or...
No, believe it or not, I took this. So you took that photo and you got that close to a tornado. Now, what if that thing had suddenly started heading? You know, the way when a bear attacks you, if it's a black bear, you're supposed to do this. If it's a brown bear, you're supposed to do that. What do you do if you think a tornado is headed your way?
Is there is there something I should know that might save my life in the future?
The biggest thing is, if you're not sure if the tornado is heading your way or not, is to find a stationary object and just have the tornado in relation to that stationary object, line it up. And if the tornado is moving to the right of that object, it's going to pass to your right. If it's moving to the left of that object, it's going to pass to your left.
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