The worst place to be a weather forecaster?
When I was starting out in the television news business as a fledgling journalist and weather forecaster, I used to search the want ads from stations across the country. I started in Steubenville, then made my first big move to Fort Myers, Fla. That was definitely an improvement as far as getting away from the endless grey, cloudy days we so often experience here in Western Pennsylvania. The want ads for places like Florida, South Carolina and Hawaii looked awfully appealing for an energetic 20-something. I remember always seeing an ad for a TV station in San Diego looking for a weather person. At the time, I was too young and inexperienced to get hired in such a large market, but I loved the way they advertised the job: “Can you make sunny and 70 degrees sound interesting 365 days a year? Then we want you!” What a job!
After moving to Florida, then living in Eastern Pennsylvania, West Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and Ohio and forecasting weather in all of those places, I can say that each of them has their weather pros and cons. Would you like to forecast hurricanes or blizzards? Tornadoes or flash flooding? Each has its own challenges and blessings, and meteorology – as we all know – is an inexact science. We do our very best to be as accurate as we can, and each of the locations where I’ve lived and worked has its own nuances when it comes to forecasting weather.
I often think about that San Diego weather job and wonder if it might be the easiest job in meteorology. Then I think about my friends in Oklahoma City and Dallas, and tornado alley having some of the most difficult forecasting tasks anywhere. Friends and colleagues in Florida try to keep people safe during severe weather and hurricane season each year. Meteorologists in Denver and the Rocky Mountains have to decipher mountain forecasting and climatology, which is no joke.
Who has the hardest forecasting job anywhere? After my recent vacation in Iceland, I might have to contend that Iceland might be the worst place to be a weather forecaster. Overall, Iceland is magical, and the people are wonderfully friendly and appear to be a very happy bunch as a whole. Maybe that’s because they basically have no crime, are surrounded by stunning scenery and get entertained by the Aurora Borealis on a regular basis. Their sunny dispositions most certainly cannot come from having nice weather.
I’ve never been anywhere with more changeable weather than Iceland. Every five minutes, we’d see sun/snow/sleet/rain/clouds and then repeat the cycle. I’m not sure how their forecasts could ever be very precise. Then again, maybe a general “scattered snow/rain/sleet today with periods of sun” is the perpetual forecast.
Is it the worst place to be a meteorologist or the easiest? I guess that depends on your own personal outlook!
Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.