TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) -- Social media has been full of greetings and exchanges between the public and the friendly neighborhood meteorologist on National Weatherperson's Day, commemorating the birth of 18th-century weather observer John Jeffries.
You can read a quick snippet about Jeffries here. He could very well have been an inspiration to other curious and aspiring individuals who wanted to know more about how weather works, even without the modern technology we currently have.
There have been thousands of people who have studied and followed the science of weather in the succeeding decades. I am honored to be one of them.
Who are some of the "weatherpeople" and mentors who helped to steer me on the course that has led me to the post of chief meteorologist here at WTXL ABC 27?
- Roy Leep -- While growing up in Tampa in the mid '80s, during a close call with Hurricane Elena in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, Saturday morning cartoons were interrupted by bulletins from the legendary broadcast meteorologist for WTVT, channel 13. An Air Force veteran, he attended Florida State before joining WTVT in 1957. He led the TV weather industry with his innovative use of radar and satellite data, sources that were scarce with the emerging technology in those pre-Internet days. I watched his forecasts on channel 13 for most of my teenage years as I acquired a greater interest in meteorology. I had the honor of meeting him as a high school senior in 1993, then became associated with him as part of the Tampa Bay American Meteorological Society chapter while in college. He retired from WTVT in 1997.
- Dick Fletcher -- Another long-serving Tampa Bay area meteorologist, he was the chief at WTSP in St. Petersburg from 1980 until his death in 2008 and played a critical role in guiding Bay area residents through the effects of flooding and wind that came with Hurricane Elena. He was always committed to solid severe weather coverage. He was kind enough to provide advice and guidance to me through the AMS group gatherings.
- Andy Johnson -- A 1979 Florida State meteorology graduate, he worked alongside Roy Leep for many years at WTVT. Andy was a staff meteorologist there from 1979 until his retirement in 2013. Deep in scientific aptitude, he trained many up-and-coming forecasters in his time, including me. He supervised my first internship in 1999, and again in 2000-2001. Andy also finagled his supervisors into allowing me to present my first live on-air weathercast at the conclusion of my internship.
- Steve Jerve -- Steve has been the chief meteorologist at WFLA in Tampa since 1998, and, in 2001, became an instrumental part of my development as a broadcast meteorologist when I continued my training in his weather department. Steve and his fellow staffers encouraged interactivity in their operations, and provided honest critiques during my development. I spent a year and and half under his guidance, just before I was hired by WTXL in 2003.
- Mace Michaels -- Mace was also a WFLA meteorologist, but also has a history as a radio broadcaster. A few months into my internship there, his radio forecasting service was expanding, and he asked me to join another meteorologist in a partnership to provide weather information to a network of four radio stations. However, the stations were located in Minnesota. Not only did this become my first steady broadcasting job, with part-time income, but I was also able to dabble in active winter weather forecasting, something that just wasn't going to happen very often while living in west-central Florida. Broadcasts were recorded through mp3 files, while daily weather segments and live severe weather coverage were performed over the phone with the Minnesota broadcasters. To this day, I continue to provide the weather two days a week for a far northern Minnesota radio station ... and I can thank Mace for giving me my first regular experiences in weather broadcasting.
Now, 11 years into my professional career and six years as chief meteorologist, I've used everything I've learned from them in my daily routine, while instilling some of their lessons and teachings into the numerous meteorologists and interns I've supervised in recent years. I thank these and many other professionals that have carved a way for me to live a dream, and to train others to do the same for themselves.
