When Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski met Thursday with Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel, she offered an appropriate gift: a Senate umbrella.

Cantore, of course, is a longtime Weather Channel meteorologist frequently dispatched toward the eyes of hurricanes and the areas most pummeled by winter storms. He’s also something of a fixture on other NBC News programs during times when severe weather makes headlines.

That Cantore and Mikulski would want to meet should come as no surprise.

The Maryland Democrat isn’t just the chairwoman of the full Appropriations Committee, she also holds the gavel of the Appropriations subcommittee responsible for the budget of the National Weather Service, among other things.

“I am grateful for Weather Channel’s meteorologists, like Jim Cantore, who work so hard to get the word out to our communities about incoming severe weather,” Mikulski said in a statement. “I encourage Maryland families to take the next step and create a severe weather action plan. Because in Maryland, we’re all in this together. And we know that the weather doesn’t wait!”