William M. Gray - Hurricane Study

William M. Gray was a pioneer in the research of tropical cyclones and his work is praised by many scientists today in the field of hurricane study. William was born on October 9, 1929 in Detroit, Michigan. Upon finishing high school and undergrad, he worked in the United States Air Force as an overseas Weather Forecaster. After four years, he decided to come back to America and earn his masters and doctorate. He eventually started working at Colorado State University and taught Atmospheric Science. While at CSU, he started researching about tropical storms/cyclones and what factors drive them to become a full sized hurricane that ravages through countries.He discovered how hurricane activity is almost always associated with warm water. While doing further research he discovered how different factors influenced tropical storm activity. With all this research he also added how hurricanes are cyclical, and there is a season for which they occur. He released a hurricane seasonal forecast, and surprisingly he was right. He also studied tropical storm movement, structure, development, and intensity changes. After retiring from CSU in 2005, he became a controversial figure in climate change. His argument was how humans did not affect climate change, if so only a small portion, and that it is a natural process of the Earth. He passed away in 2016 at the age of 86. He left behind a remarkable legacy that was built on the study of hurricanes, which is still used today.