JAMM Visual London Expands With EP Saskia Delius
January 8, 2026
Explaining weather may sound like a dry assignment but the in-house design team at The Weather Channel elevates the task in this compelling film detailing the causes and lingering effects of the 2025 LA wildfires with drama and clarity.
James Burrows, motion designer at The Weather Channel: “One year after the fires, The Weather Channel turned to animation to examine not only how these fires started, but the environmental conditions that made them inevitable, as well as what California’s future may hold as the climate continues to shift.
“Rather than leaning into realism, we embraced rough, hand-drawn textures and a bold, expressive color palette. Lush greens and warm coastal tones reflect California’s natural beauty, while aggressive flames and grey ash provide a stark contrast and frame how the fires take hold.
“The animation doesn’t just illustrate destruction, it visualizes fragility, resilience, and the uneasy balance California now lives in.”
“That visual tension mirrors the state’s reality: landscapes that rapidly oscillate between thriving ecosystems and dried-out terrain primed for disaster.
“The approach allowed the story to move fluidly between cause and consequence, showing how expanding communities intersect with increasingly volatile environments while keeping the piece grounded in clarity and emotion. The animation doesn’t just illustrate destruction, it visualizes fragility, resilience, and the uneasy balance California now lives in.
“The piece closes by looking forward, shifting the focus from loss to adaptation, rebuilding, and the question of how a changing climate will continue to reshape life in the West.”
Client: The Weather Channel
SVP, Design & Visual Innovation: Michael Potts
CD: Nick Weinmiller
Art Director: Jeff Wyner
Lead Motion Designer and Illustrator: Kyung Ko
Motion Designer/Illustrator: James Burrows
Editor/Sound Design/Music: Brian Kucinski
Meteorologist: Jim Cantore
