Lixion Avila

Lixion Avila is a weather forecaster with the National Hurricane Center (NHC). He has been a senior hurricane specialist there since 1987 and is the longest-tenured senior specialist.
Avila was born and raised in Cuba. He came to the U.S. as an adult after obtaining an undergraduate degree from the University of Havana in 1973. He received a PhD in Atmospheric Science from the University of Miami in 1993.
He is the only Cuban American specialist on the staff and is bilingual in English and Spanish.
Avila generally forecasts with a quirky personal touch. Similar to his NHC counterpart James Franklin, Avila occasionally expresses his opinion or sense of humor, often in the discussion areas of advisories. For instance during 2005's record-breaking Hurricane Epsilon, he expressed his frustration at the hurricane's refusal to weaken despite repeated predictions that it would do so: "There are no clear reasons...and I am not going to make one up...to explain the recent strengthening of Epsilon and I am just describing the facts."
Avila is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society. In 2000 Avila received a NOAA Administrator's Award.