Cirrus Weather Solutions opened for business on February 5, 2010, which (not coincidentally) was National Weatherperson's Day and the two-year anniversary of the Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak. Strong tornadoes on that presidential primary election day devastated portions of the Mid-South, including Southaven, MS and Hickory Hill, parts of rural northeast Shelby County, as well as the Union University campus and surrounding areas in Jackson, TN. It seemed like an appropriate day to officially commence operation of a business devoted to keeping Mid-Southerners informed on weather regimes that affect the region. Cirrus Weather Solutions is the umbrella organization for MemphisWeather.net and JacksonWeather.net and services the business needs of these websites, as well as allowing for additional product and service development to serve individuals, organizations, and other businesses.
MemphisWeather.net (MWN), created in 2003 from “Erik’s Memphis Weather Page,” has developed into a one-of-a-kind, internet-based media entity that focuses solely on Memphis and Mid-South weather and has become one of the leading weather websites not only in the Memphis area, but in the southeastern U.S. MWN specifically reaches out to the 1.25 million residents of Shelby, Tipton, and Fayette Counties in TN, DeSoto and Marshall Counties in MS, and Crittenden County, AR
Providing a vast array of weather information for Mid-Southerners, MWN exists to serve the variety of needs of its visitors with products and services that include the most accurate forecast for Memphis, comprehensive severe weather information (including a realtime watch/warning map and a weather alert notification system), interactive StormView Radar with winter precip mode, and live weather data from Bartlett (a suburb of Memphis), as well as a full suite of climate data. MWN also maintains a comprehensive presence in the social media realm, including on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr, as well as providing detailed coverage of weather events that affect the Mid-South on the MWN Blog.
One of MWN's most successful forays has been in the realm of social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter. Leveraging the power of "instant communication" with the ability to build community, MWN utilizes social platforms to keep Mid-Southerners apprised of current weather trends and informed and safe during severe weather. MWN's social media "nowcasting" service has been used as a successful model for similar services regionally.
About Erik
Erik Proseus is owner of Cirrus Weather Solutions - a private meteorological firm based in Bartlett, TN, webmaster and forecaster for MemphisWeather.net and JacksonWeather.net, and author of the MWN Blog. He has made Memphis and Mid-South weather and climate his career, hobby, and passion for well over a decade. Having lived in the region for over 25 years and forecasted for it for over15, he knows the local weather patterns and relays his knowledge through the MWN Blog and social media channels, while providing a vast array of weather information, products, and services on MemphisWeather.net and its sister site JacksonWeather.net.
Erik graduated summa cum laude with a B.S in Geography, a concentration in Meteorology, and a minor in mathematics from the University of Memphis in 1997. He was named by the University of Memphis Geography Department as “Outstanding Undergraduate” in 1997. Erik subsequently completed the coursework required to obtain an A.A.S. degree in Information Technology (Computer Programming concentration) from Southwest Tennessee Community College in 2002, again graduating summa cum laude.
Career-wise, Erik worked for MIT-Lincoln Laboratory in the Weather Sensing group as a technician at the Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS) field site at Memphis International Airport from 1997-2004. Since 2004, he has been employed by FedEx Express as a senior aviation meteorologist, serving in an administrative capacity and on the core team that brought a new corporate-wide weather system to FedEx in 2008. Erik is Past-President of the Memphis Chapter of the American Meteorological Society/National Weather Association.
In his personal life, Erik is married to his high school sweetheart, Jennifer, and has two wonderful elementary-age daughters, Grace and Paige. The family is very active in their church, where Erik serves as President of his Sunday School class and serves on the Administrative Board. Erik has also served on the church's Board of Trustees and has lead several Financial Peace University courses by Dave Ramsey.
