Significant snow is expected in our area between today and tomorrow. We get updates from:

• WNYC's Richard Hake with expected forecast in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.
• Adam Sobel, professor of Climate and Atmospheric Science at Columbia University, on why forecasts have been so different, what makes a blizzard a blizzard, and why this storm has a name.
• Jerome Hauer, commissioner of the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, on how the state is planning in advance of the worst of the storm.
• MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan on how public transit could be affected by the snow, and what to expect on commuter rail.

"Check on your neighbors, the elderly, make sure they've got water food and heat." -- NY Emergency Services spokesperson. #Nemo

— Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) February 8, 2013

For Please Explain we’re looking at how experts predict the weather—and storms like Hurricane Sandy—and how improving technology is making the science more precise. Dr. Robert Gall, Development Manager of the Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Dr. Adam Sobel, Professor in the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University.

Experts, reporters and listeners weigh in on the damage from the storm.  Plus, live coverage of briefings from Gov. Christie, Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Cuomo.

WNYC news host and reporter Richard Hake and NJPR host David Furst join Brian for the latest news on the storm, with WNYC reporters and other guests, including live coverage of Gov. Cuomo's and Mayor Bloomberg's press conferences.  Plus, your calls.

Adam Sobel, professor of Climate and Atmospheric Science at Columbia University, talks about the approaching storm.

In preparing for Hurricane Irene’s weekend arrival, communities along the East Coast prepared for the worst. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg insisted on Friday that New Yorkers "must, I repeat the word 'must,' evacuate beginning tomorrow and complete the process by 8pm tomorrow night." But his historic preparations turned out to be for a less-than-historic storm, at least in New York City. While all Americans are glad that the loss of life, property and infrastructure was relatively minimal, many people are now wondering: why was Irene so much less the threat we were told it would be?

Kurt Andersen asks meteorologist Adam Sobel and landscape painter April Gornik what makes spring so special. Webcast only at studio360.org.