Ray Stagich, WOR Weather Channel meteorologist Interview

Ray Stagich joins Mendte in the Morning to talk about the helicopter crash in the Hudson River, and how the weather could have played a role in the crash, as well as how it could have affected the search and rescue.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Of course, the big story of the day, what we've
been talking about since yesterday afternoon, that horrible, horrible helicopter
crash that happened in the Hudson yesterday. You see that
beautiful family as they were all excited to board that
helicopter for just ostensibly just a little tour up and
down the Hudson River. See the beautiful skyline before going
down after three o'clock yesterday afternoon. With us right now

(00:22):
is meteorologist Ray Stagic, who is going to talk about
the weather, today's weather, tomorrow's weather. Of course, he works
for the Weather Channel and he is WIS meteorologist Ray.
Good morning, Thanks for coming on and talking about this
with us today.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Good morning, Ken.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
Well, just a horrible, horrible story, but this is also
an indication of weather impacts us all. We don't know
exactly what caused this helicopter to go down at all,
so I'm not trying to imply that it was weather
that did it. But at the very least we know
that there are still crews the NTSB unseen. They're going
to be there today and tomorrow doing their investor mitigation.

(01:00):
What kind of weather can they expect in the Hudson
today and tomorrow with the weather we're having.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, you know, first back to yesterday, I'll just give
you what it was at the time of the crash.
You know, cloud, some sun, and a light breeze around.
So we'll leave it at that. But the forecast is
gonna get worse before it gets better. Can I don't
see much in a way of a dry weather except
for the first maybe you know, maybe fifty to seventy
five percent of today. I mean there are some scattered

(01:27):
showers around showing up right now and then long the
Hudson and around New York Harbor. I mean when I
say widely scattered, it doesn't mean that there's no dry weather,
but it extends all the way back to Trenton and Philadelphia.
That's where our weather is coming from. With developing low pressure,
so not a lot of rain, less than a quarter

(01:47):
of an inch through about two or three o'clock, and
then there's actually a low that's going to be developing
to our south as we head on through later today
and tonight, and that's when our steadiest rain comes in.
And then the wind starts to pick up, so northeast
wind make us twenty five plus overnight tonight and maybe
as high as thirty miles per hour tomorrow. So that's
a northeast wind, so coming about at a forty five

(02:11):
degree angle across the Hudson, So make it a little
bit choppy on the river too. With the rain too,
may be steady, maybe even heavy, heavy at times as
we go on through tomorrow. So tomorrow's not gonna be
the best of days. It's gonna be raw cold out there.
We're gonna see temperatures hold in the low forties, and
the water temperature right now is in the upper forties.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
So upper forties. And you imagine if if somebody somehow
could survive the thousand foot drop, because when that helicopter split,
it just dropped like a rock. That's a thing. If
it could auto rotate at least it comes down a
little more smoothly. But it looks like with the tail
gone and the rotors breaking apart, that poor thing just
went right down. But if anybody survived impact, as we

(02:54):
first thought that maybe two people survived impact, the frigid
waters in the forties, that's not something that if you
were to survive getting in there, that you could survive
very long in that's when you get hypothermia.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
Right right, correct, you know, certainly you know it could
be the dead of winter, be a lot colder, but
still you don't have long. The better news toward the
end of the weekend, if they're still out, some dryer
air coming in, and it does look like temperatures get
back into the fifties. Those water temperatures are going to
stay chilly if there's a need to be in the
water for the investigation, staying in the upper forties. But

(03:28):
the best weather coming may actually be a window this
morning where the rain is widely scattered into early to
mid afternoon, and then maybe a window coming in on
Sunday too. So yeah, Ken, I don't know how long
they're going to be investigating, but the best weather is
kind of on the book ends early today and certainly
much better by Sunday.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
At the very least, though, these crews are going to
be in the water, and that chili water the upper forties.
This is I mean, they were thick dive suits and whatnot,
but it's still cold. Thick dive suits only get you
so much, and they'll be in the forties and as
you said, it's going to be quite wendy though outside
of those little pockets, so let's also pray for our
crews doing their investigation. Race Agic. Thank you so much

(04:07):
for being with us. We'll check in through the morning
for the forecast. We appreciate you, all right,