Christmas Parades

The most recent public appearance I was in was the Starkville Christmas parade.   Unfortunately, there was a very cold light rain and drizzle at that time, so that undoubtedly kept some of the crowd at home.  It also deterred us from letting the top down on our Mustang!

Bill Gamel and Siobhan Riley, an anchor and reporter, respectively, were in the car with me.  I picked up the car from the dealership, so I got to drive.  Bill is from Starkville and has been on TV in this area for ages, so lots of people were yelling his name, but I got my share of shout-outs!  The above photo was taken by Claire Mattox of Aberdeen.

Christian Kirk and I went to Aberdeen for their Christmas parade last week, but it was rained out.  We did not find this out until we got there.  In total, we drove about two hours and I got to bed later than normal, but Christian and I had some good conversation in the car ride!

What Do I Do?

I just finished up posts about the six month anniversaries of my graduation and the historic April 27th tornado outbreak, so I thought you might want to know what I have been doing for the past six months.  (Or maybe I am somewhat vain for thinking that.  At least my family will get a good read out of it.)

I started interning at WCBI-TV in Columbus, MS in January of 2010 which was during my junior year of school.  (The station is about 30 minutes from MSU.)  I went in two mornings per week to intern under the morning guy, Jason Dunning.  I forget what time I had to wake up in Starkville, but I was always in Columbus around 4:15 AM and left after the morning show so I could get back to a full day’s worth of classes.  (As you will read in a minute, that hard work paid off!)  Jason definitely taught me a lot while I was there, and I am grateful for the experience.  After I had been there a few months, they started letting me do fill-in work, so that is where I made my live debut.

Fast forwarding about a year, I had been accepted to graduate school and was fairly set on going that route, but the News Director at WCBI offered me a job a couple of weeks before I was to graduate.  After weighing the pros and cons, I decided I could not pass up the job.  Several of my friends were going to move all over the country for jobs.  I was born and raised in North Mississippi;  It was too perfect to start out in an area I know and, most importantly to me, where all of my family could turn on the TV and watch me.  I know the geography here well, so I was  good fit.  (Don’t get me wrong.  I am definitely looking forward to spreading my wings at some point.  I do want to experience life outside of the Magnolia State!)  I’ll admit I was not too thrilled about starting to work full-time only two days after graduation.  A little break would have been nice!  But I won’t complain.  (A couple of my classmates are still job hunting.)

I work Monday through Friday as the morning and noon meteorologist.  I usually get to the station around 3:45 AM (thankfully I live a block away) to prepare for the three hour morning show.  At first it felt like I was running a marathon, but now the three hours go by somewhat quickly, and I use every weather hit to try and improve.  In addition to weather, I also record a weekly financial segment called Dollars & Sense where I interview a local financial analyst.  I also have a weekly segment called Get Fit Fridays where I interview a local fitness guru.  I usually go to the gym earlier in the week to get footage of whatever we are talking about to show during the live interview.  Of course, I edit that myself and enjoy doing that.  On Thursdays, I have the 1st Time 4Caster segment where a kid (4th-12th grade, usually) comes in and does a 3-Day forecast.  Everyone loves the segment, and it is probably one of the highlights of my week.  It has been great getting to work in several facets of the news business–not just weather.  (However, when it comes down to it, I am a scientist/meteorologist, and that is my passion.

Being in a small-medium size market, I also have a lot of free reign.  I build all of my shows and do not have to consult with others about graphics I use or areas of the country that I talk about.  I also got together with our website guy and totally redesigned the weather page for our station.  I put a LOT of effort into my work.  I want the final product to look good, and I want to grow as much as I can while I am there and while I have the kind of creative freedom that has been given to me.

I have already had some neat opportunities.  I got to introduce bands at a local festival, and I have spoken to school kids as well as senior citizens about weather.  I’ll admit, I was more nervous about those school talks than I should have been, but they turned out fine, and I have enjoyed educating the public on a personal level about weather safety.  And no, it still hasn’t gotten old getting recognized in public!

April 27th

If you Google “April 27th,” you will undoubtedly find links to articles and videos about a tornado outbreak in 2011.  The 6th anniversary of the outbreak past a few days ago, and that is what has prompted me to write this.  It was by all accounts a historic day.

I can recall sitting in some of my meteorology classes almost a week before the event looking at maps, knowing that severe weather was extremely likely.  It was just a matter of how bad it was going to be.  Even my professors were saying this was one to pay attention to.

I interned at WCBI during my junior year and did some fill-in work my senior year.  The week of April 27th, I had already signed a contract to start working there upon graduation (April 30th).  Jason, the morning meteorologist at the time, suggested that I come in on April 27th to help out.  He mentioned I would monitor the NWS Chat and look at storm reports.  He said they might put a mic on me to relay information.  I was a bit nervous about that but knew covering severe weather is part of being a TV meteorologist.

I woke up in the early morning hours on April 27th–2 AM, maybe?–and turned on my TV to find Jason on doing coverage.  I quickly got ready and drove to Columbus from Starkville.  Rob, the chief, was still there from his shift the day before and looked very relived to see me walk into the studio so he could go home to get some rest.  Jason was still on the wall, so I sat next to Alex, the weekend girl, who showed me how to navigate the radar system (Baron’s FasTrac).

Jason finally got a break, we had the normal WCBI Sunrise show, and then another round of severe weather started mid-morning.  Jason initially did the wall-to-wall coverage, but Russ asked if I would be okay doing some, too.  (He really just wanted some footage of me doing coverage for future promo material purposes since I was to start there full time in a few days.)  Since it was only going to be for a few minutes, I agreed.

I recall feeling very in my element and not nearly a nervous as I had originally anticipated.  Any nervousness stemmed from the weather situation, not being in front of the camera.

As many of you recall, there was a morning round of severe weather, and then there was the afternoon round.  Since Jason had been at the station since the early morning hours and in front of the wall for a lot of those, he and I alternated coverage for the afternoon event.  Rob eventually came back in, but that was mainly to relive Jason.  I stayed in the studio.  Even after Rob came back in, it felt like he only did coverage for 15 minutes before giving it back over to me.  At one point I was the ONLY one in the studio.  I had just learned to drive the radar system that day, and I had never done live severe weather coverage before then.  The closest to the real thing I had gotten was doing mock coverage in labs for school.  At one point I had some information pulled up on the radar that I couldn’t get to go away, so I had to say on air for Jason or Rob to come back in the studio so they could help me.  I wasn’t quite sure why I was left alone.  I guess I should take pride in the fact that they felt confident enough in me to broadcast life threatening information.  Our signal goes out to roughly half a million people in North Mississippi and West Alabama.  Jason did eventually come back and do more coverage and did a great job when our skycam picked up a tornado in Tuscaloosa.

Tornado warnings ended in our area around late afternoon.  I remember being so relieved when the last warning expired and everything was in Alabama.  However, the damage had been done.  I remember my senior year thinking how excited I was about being a TV meteorologist, but the only thing I was unsure about was doing severe weather coverage.  Hah!  And it turns out that other than a few fill-in things I had done for them, my first day with WCBI, my first time to really make on entrance on TV–much less my first time to do live severe weather coverage–was April 27th.

I am grateful to have gotten the experience.  I now feel like I can do any form of severe weather coverage and for any length of time.  However, I am sorry the day had to happen.  There were MULTIPLE EF-5 tornadoes in my viewing area including the Smithville, MS tornado that attracted nationwide support and tracked about 50 miles from my TV station.  There was also an EF-5 that originated about 60 miles south of the TV station in Kemper County.  The Hackelburg, AL EF-5 was also in my viewing area.  Some meteorologist cannot even say that they have covered one in their lives, much less more than one on the same day.

Looking at the storm reports from that day, 8 of 19 counties in my A counties (the ones that count for our ratings) reported at least one tornado.  13 more counties right outside of our DMA but that still receive our signal reported tornadoes.  According to the preliminary data, that means there were 17 tornadoes in my DMA and 34 in counties outside of my DMA that still get our signal.  That is a total of 51 tornadoes in my viewing area!!!

April 27th was a truly historic day and is one that will likely never be repeated in my lifetime.  And to think, it was my first time to ever do live severe weather coverage!  Too many people lost their lives that day, though.  I have enjoyed giving school and civic talks since then to educate people on severe weather and how to stay safe.  My thoughts and prayers and still with those towns that are trying to recover.

The damage pictures you have seen in this post are from when I went and looked at the tornado damage in Tuscaloosa (EF-4) damage.  The sunset is in Lowndes County after I left the TV station from doing coverage that day.

Graduation

Yes, a little delayed, but with a post about the 6 month anniversary of April 27th in the works, why not write about what happened six months ago on April 30th?

It has now been six months since I graduated from college.  Phew!  That went by quickly.  I vividly remember the day I moved into my dorm room freshman year…and then drove right back to Pontotoc with my parents because classes didn’t start until a week later!

Obviously I am not going to go into grave detail (for your eyes’ sake and my fingers’ sake), but I think a very brief review is in order.  Then I have to give a couple of shout outs.

My freshman and sophomore year, a majority of my time outside of class was spent at the Baptist Student Union.  I was very active with events, bibles studies, etc.  I grew so much as a Christian my first two years of school.  Who would’ve thought, right?  The stereotype is to leave high school to see what is out there–which is code for getting wasted at parties every other night for some people.  That never appealed to me.  I am glad I got plugged in so early with such a great group of friends.  I even went on a mission trip to Italy with Campus Crusade for Christ during Spring Break of my sophomore year and spent Christmas Break in Asia during my junior year.  Those were both amazing experiences.

For my junior and senior years (see, I told you this would be a quick synopsis), I was still involved with those organizations (I even played violin in the BSU traveling praise band–Drawn Together), but a lot of my attention was put on meteorology.  You can read my About section to get the scoop on why I chose this to turn into a career.  I cannot begin to say enough about the people in my program.  I loved going to class every day just because I knew I had a GREAT group of friends waiting on me.  The kids in the weather department are such a tight-knit group.  Several of my non-weather friends were amazed that I hung out with people in my major outside of class!  And now those weather friends of mine are spread all over the country on TV or in some other line of work.  That works out great for when I want to do some traveling! Hah.

The professors at Mississippi State are amazing.  They genuinely care about each student and want them to understand the material.  When they say their doors are always open, they mean it.  And I did take advantage of that several times.  I am confident that they all saw my hard-work and determination, and that is one of the reasons that I was selected to go storm chasing in the Great Plains for two weeks during the 2010 summer with 7 other students and 2 professors.  We saw six tornadoes on that trip, and I am confident that experience will give me an edge in my job.

If any of you are reading this that are thinking of going to MSU to study for a career in weather, you need to know about the Climate Lab.  It is basically the lounge for meteorology folks.  There are tables to work on projects, do homework, eat lunch, or just shoot the breeze with friends between classes.  Professors constantly come in to sit and shoot the breeze with you!  You can drive by Hilbun Hall after midnight on most nights and still find the Climate Lab light on.  It also houses the room where the broadcasters practice and have labs.  There is always someone in there practicing which means there is someone to critique you and someone who knows what your aspirations are.  Of course there are several computers in there, too.  During severe weather, you can find many professors, grad students, undergrads, people not related to the weather program, HAM radio operators, etc. in the lab tracking the storms and seeing what is going on.  There is always someone there to learn from.  It is truly a unique environment and is one of the first things I think of when I think of the program–second to the great people.

So, college was fun.  I applied and got accepted to a couple of grad schools (including the University of Oklahoma), but I couldn’t pass up a job opportunity that came along to be a television meteorologist.  I made life-long friends, won a national championship in forecasting with those amazing people I just wrote about, saw Mississippi State football go to a couple of bowl games, basketball win an SEC championship and go to two NCAA tournaments, and watch the baseball team get a few outs away from a College World Series.

THE BIG THANK YOU goes to Mom and Dad.  Because of them, I have no debt.  Yes, I had some scholarships and grants, but they picked up the rest of the tab.  They know how important education is, and I will never be able to thank them enough for allowing me to be a student and fully devote myself to studying (I finished with a 3.92 GPA with all A’s in my weather and communication classes), getting the full college experience by being in extra-curricular activities (including intramural tennis and softball as well as the MSU orchestra), and not having to worry about where my next rent check, grocery money, or textbooks were going to come from.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Really.  I hope you two take satisfaction in knowing that I will turn around and pay it forward to my kids one day.  I love you both!  I promise I made the most of my four years (be proud of that for one thing–that I didn’t go over four years!) and represented you in a way that you would be proud of!

Hail State!

Forecasting Champions!

For the third year in a row, Mississippi State has won an international championship in weather forecasting.  I am proud to say that I was on that team!  From September to April, I was on a team of 21 people that forecasted the high temperature, low temperature, fastest 2 minute sustained wind speed, and precipitation for a certain city in the United States. Points were allotted base on how well you forecasted against the rest of the nation–so even if you “blew” a forecast but did better than everyone else, you got points!  This is where the game aspect came into play.

We stayed in one city for a two-week period.  This really allowed us to learn the local effects of a location that play a pivotal role in forecasting.  Does nearby water keep the morning low from reaching its full potential?  Do adjacent mountains provide downsloping air that allows afternoon highs to get warmer?  Is the location in a valley?  To make it even more difficult, we were literally forecasting for a bucket–a set a of sensors at the local airport.  This made for some frustrating days.  If you forecasted 93 for a high and everywhere else in the city hit 93 except the sensors at the airport, you were off!

We forecasted for Brownsville, TX (where I finished 11th in the nation, 3rd in my category of juniors and seniors, and 2nd from MSU); Glasgow, MT; Allentown, PA; Huntsville, AL; Muskegon, MI; Seattle, WA; Richmond, VA; Sioux City, IA; Elko, NV; and Boston, MA (where I finished 9th in the nation, 2nd in my category, and 2nd from MSU).  This variation definitely allowed me to grow as a forecaster!  Forecasting 4 days a week made me really follow the weather pattern.  Not only did I do that because I wanted to learn, but I wanted to win as well!

So how did we do?  Out of over 70 institutions in the WxChallenge competition, Mississippi State brought home the much coveted 1st place team trophy for 2010-2011!  This was the 3rd year in a row that we won.  The previous six years, we finished 2nd.  We beat the likes of Penn State, MIT, Oklahoma, Florida State, Colorado State, to name a few.  Hopefully by now, people realize they need to take the meteorology program at MSU seriously!  We know what we’re doing.

There was a total of 1,816 forecasters (1,192 in the full-year competition), and 10 of the top 18 were from Mississippi State.  We finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the faculty division; 1st, 2nd, and 4th in the undergraduate division; and 3rd in the graduate division.  Personally, I finished 17th on the year and 4th in the undergraduate division.  Hail State!

We were recognized at the 2011 Maroon & White spring football game in front of thousands of people for our accomplishment, the president of the university, Dr. Mark Keenum, wrote us each a congratulatory letter, there were articles in the university and local papers about us, and WCBI even did a segment in the news about our championship.  We also had a banquet for the weather team where we each received our awards.  I also got two t-shirts with our names on them that I wear very often!

A big shout-out goes out to everyone who was on my team.  We all held each other accountable to forecast the entire year and to stick to our commitment.  This was especially true as we had to forecast over parts of Christmas and Spring Breaks!  Doug Gillham really motivated our team.  Not only is he our senior-year forecasting instructor, he is one of the best forecasters in the world.  No joke.  He has won multiple individual championships.  Thanks, Doug, for helping us bring home another championship!

Only a few months after the contest (and graduation), it is nice to look back at photos of the team and see where we are now.  Many of us are on-air meteorologists forecasting the weather for hundreds of thousands of people.  We owe a lot to this contest and to our professors.

Now the pressure is on for the 2011-2012 class.  Keep it going!  Hail State!!

You can view more pictures from the ceremony by clicking here.  Don’t forget to sign my guestbook while you’re here!  And posts on graduation, my new job, and my coverage of the April 27th tornado outbreak are on the way!!!! Stay tuned.