Lixion Avila

Lixion A. Avila (born November 25, 1950) is a retired weather forecaster, formerly working at the National Hurricane Center (NHC). He was a hurricane specialist and senior hurricane specialist from 1987 to 2020.

Biography Avila was born and raised in Cuba. He studied and received his Bachelor of Science degree in meteorology from the University of Havana in 1973, then worked for Cuba's weather service for seven years.

Avila was not able to study further in Cuba and with some help from his mother's family emigrated to the United States.

He was hired as a consultant for the National Hurricane Center in 1983, providing warning information in Spanish for the radio and television press. He obtained his MSc degree in 1987 at the University of Miami and became a forecaster at the NHC, graduating to hurricane specialist in 1989. Continuing his studies further, he obtained a PhD in 1993. Avila represented the National Hurricane Center at the World Meteorological Organization, especially for the coordination and training in the Caribbean and Central American region.

Awards Avila is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society. In 2000, Avila received a NOAA Administrator's Award. In 2005, the National Weather Service bestowed him the Isaac M. Cline National Award for Outreach.

While describing Hurricane Leslie, in 2018, he quipped, "It is difficult to add more to the discussion about a cyclone that has moved very little during the past few days and has not changed significantly in structure either."