Robert Allen "Bob" Case (December 16, 1939 – June 19, 2008) was a meteorologist who worked for the

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the ...

(NWS) for 28 years.Robert Allen ‘Bob’ Case
Accessed 2008-10-31. Over the course of his career, he worked in NWS various offices, developing a diverse background in various types of

weather forecasting Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the conditions of the atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia and formally since the 19th cent ...

, including a lengthy stint as a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

forecaster. He is best known for inspiring the naming of the

1991 Perfect Storm The 1991 Perfect Storm, also known as The No-Name Storm (especially in the years immediately after it took place) and the Halloween Gale/Storm, was a nor'easter that absorbed Hurricane Grace, and ultimately evolved into a small unnamed hurricane ...

as ''The Perfect Storm.''

Career

Robert Case entered the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

at the age of 17 in 1957, and served for 3½ years. Thereafter, he went to college, and earned a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in math/

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

from

Lock Haven University Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania (LHU) is a public university in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The main campus consists of and the branch campus covers . It offers 69 undergradua ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in 1965. During 1966, he took

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...

courses at the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). By 1967, he had joined the

, and was posted to Anchorage, Alaska. The following year, he moved to Juneau, Alaska. In 1971, Case began work at NWS Headquarters near

Washington, D. C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

The next year he completed coursework for his

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from Penn State. In 1973, he worked again in Juneau, this time remaining there for two years. Then, in 1975, he filled the position of a marine and aviation forecaster in

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

. He was promoted to a lead forecaster in 1980. In 1982, Case began working at the National Hurricane Center. In 1990, he became a manager as the deputy meteorologist-in-charge in Boston, Massachusetts. While in Boston, during an interview with author

Sebastian Junger Sebastian Junger (born January 17, 1962) is an American journalist, author and filmmaker who has reported in-the-field on dirty, dangerous and demanding occupations and the experience of infantry combat. He is the author of '' The Perfect Sto ...

, Case described the unusual combination of weather conditions off the New England and Atlantic Canada coast at the end of October, 1991, as being "perfect" for the creation of the immensely powerful ocean storm that ensued. Keying in on Case's use of the adjective ''perfect'', Junger coined the phrase '' The Perfect Storm'' as the title of his book about the storm. In 1993, Case became the meteorologist-in-charge at

State College, Pennsylvania State College is a home rule municipality in Centre County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is a college town, dominated economically, culturally and demographically by the presence of the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania Sta ...

. He held that position two years before retiring from the NWS in 1995. Case then settled in the town of

Lewistown, Pennsylvania Lewistown is a borough in and the county seat of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the principal city of the '' Lewistown, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area'', which encompasses all of Mifflin County. It lies along the Juniata Riv ...

, where he occasionally taught school. In the latter years of his life, Case suffered from the effects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He died peacefully in his sleep on June 19, 2008, at his home.

Awards

Bob received an award for meritorious service during

Hurricane Gilbert Hurricane Gilbert was the second most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Atlantic basin in terms of barometric pressure, only behind Hurricane Wilma in 2005. An extremely powerful tropical cyclone that formed during the 1988 Atlantic hurr ...

in 1989.NOAA History
Department of Commerce Medal Recipients - 1981-1990.
Retrieved on 2007-08-02.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Case, Robert American meteorologists 1939 births 2008 deaths People from Coral Gables, Florida Single-handed sailors