I am a "weatherman" and not a meteorologist...although some people who see me out and about call me a "meteorologist". I'm honored that they think enough of what I do, but make it a point to correct them that I do not have a degree in the subject.
I DO have degrees...two of them to be exact. BA in Pastoral Ministries from John Wesley College (now Laurel University) in High Point, NC....and a MMin degree from Southern Wesleyan University in Central, SC. Both are SACS accredited...the best regional accreditation organization around.
I could have ended up teaching college-level Bible instruction if I wanted to, but life took me in a different direction. When I was a 6-year-old, my television idols were WEATHERMEN. I grew up outside of Charlotte, NC, so that meant healthy doses of Clyde McLean and Mike McKay from Channel 3, Jimmy Kilgo and Brooks Lindsey from Channel 9, and I would turn the rabbit ears north to see Frank Deal from Channel 8 and Glenn Scott from Channel 12. In the second grade, my teacher had us write down the interesting things we saw on TV the night before, and I always wrote the weather...both Clyde's and Jimmy's...and present them the next day in class.
In the 80's and 90's, the sunset of my Radio Days, I managed to talk the boss into having cable installed in the control room. I brought the TV from my bedroom, and rigged it up where one could only see TWC and CNN on it. Using that source, I was able to do fairly accurate storm warnings and even heard from a viewer that her life was saved by staying in rather than risking going out in a heavy storm that I had said was "dangerous."
In 2003, I was hired at "The Boob Tube" as it was known then...WXIV-14 in Good ol' Reidsville NC...the LUCKY CITY (as in Lucky Strike Cigarettes, made in the big factory on the north end of town). The station didn't do news, or weather, just loads of sit-coms. Within a year, the owner sold out and the new owners said, "We're doing news. What can you do to help." I told the owners I admired the "classic" weather-casters, and would like to do the weather hopefully reminiscent of their style.
They gave me the chance, and for over 8 years I've put together a TV weather-cast nearly every Monday through Friday on what is now WGSR-TV...Star News. We've tried many different formats for doing weather. I was on-screen interacting with the news anchor in the beginning, but that proved to be unwieldy for our small technical staff. I then experimented with doing my own production and "green-screening" the graphics behind me. That was fun, but again took time and effort to make me look right on-camera.
What we ended up with....and the way I do the weather today...is to produce it on Final Cut Pro on the station's Mac. I have a set of custom graphics I use to tell the story of the weather. I update them daily with all of the pertinent facts, and "borrow" a weather video from CNN every day to help tell the story. I no longer do things on-camera unless we have severe weather threatening, but people STILL swear they watch me every day doing the weather.
All told, it's very rewarding to be a weatherman. I make it my business to be as knowledgeable as I can on weather, consistent with the limitations of my schooling in the subject. As some have conjectured, I do rely to a big extent on the REAL Meteorologists and their abilities to forecast the broad patterns of weather. As a Weatherman, I am not bound to use their forecasts at all, but to use what common sense I have and what understanding I have about the weather, and where I see that the Meteorologist's forecast may not agree with what I see coming, to tell what I honestly believe the weather will do. Sometimes, I out-predict the Meteorologist. Sometimes he out-predicts me. As long as we keep people safe from the weather, we are both doing our job, and a wonderful job it is!
Matt Smith, WEATHERMAN
WGSR-TV Reidsville, NC
Star News Corporation
