Before I left for Maine, I was interviewed by Jim Shelton for a New Haven Register story concerning Bluetooth technology.
Quote In The BU Newspaper
I got an email a week or so ago. It was from a Connecticut resident, now a student at Boston University. Chris wanted to know if I’d answer a few weather questions for an article in the BU daily… and so I did.
More On The Seal
Tonight on the news, right next to my name was the American Meteorological Society’s Broadcast Seal of Approval.
It was actually cooler than I thought it would be. Is this ridiculous?
Let me explain. The seal’s purpose has, in my eyes, changed over time – not necessarily for the good.
Originally, the AMS Broadcast Seal of Approval was given to anyone who showed their broadcast was based on sound scientific principles. I’m sure the wording was a little different, but that was the gist.
About 20 minutes after I started doing the weather in Buffalo, that changed. In order to get the seal you needed to be a meteorologist. For most people, mature in their careers, that was a real sticking point.
Of course, necessity is the mother of invention – and so the distance learning course from Mississippi State was born. Three years, nine semesters, 53 credits and you too can be a meteorologist, all while in your pj’s!
I took the MSU course and immediately found adult Geoff was different than kid Geoff. I’m not sure why, but the passing grade for me became “A.” It’s ridiculous, because no one really cared whether I finish with honors (I did) or by the skin of my teeth. But, 55 is not 18! I was a motivated student.
I finished MSU last summer and almost immediately started getting my act together for the seal. In order to apply, you have to send airchecks from three consecutive day’s broadcasts to a panel of AMS certified broadcast meteorologists.
The panel is very critical (or so I’ve been told). No bit of minutiae is too small to get by. I haven’t received their comments, but word on the street is, they’re always somewhat brutal – pass or fail.
I sent my material to the judges in the beginning of November 2005. That I need to post the year gives you an idea of how ponderous this process is. I received word today – though if I had waited like the patient guy I’m supposed to be, word wouldn’t come for another week or two.
Why does it take over six months? I’ve not a clue. There’s nothing in the process that should take so long. Each member of the panel got his/her own individual copy of my airchecks.
More importantly, isn’t it in the public’s best interest for the AMS to do this quickly? If this is to tell the public someone’s got the goods, why wait?
There is some frustration on my part and I intend to find out why it takes so long.
So, what does this seal certify? From the American Meteorological Society’s website:
In other words, I’m not longer just a schlemiel giving the weather. I’m an actual meteorologist whose scientific competence has been established. Wow.
My mom said she was proud. My wife complimented me on the accomplishment. I’m pretty happy myself.
Tough Night To Be Quoted
Drudge was linking to another Northeast Due for Big Hurricane story tonight. In it, along with AccuWeather quotes, was one from a Plymouth State professor, Dr. Lourdes Aviles.
I read it and got upset pretty quickly.
I read your quote from the AP:
Lourdes Aviles, a Plymouth State University assistant meteorology professor, said Reeves’ forecast sounds right. That New England hasn’t had a strong hurricane in 50 years could signal the region’s luck is running out, she said.
I would expect this from a layman, but I am disappointed to see a meteorologist say this. As far as I know, there is no memory in climatology. 50, 100, 1000 years – what difference does it make?
The trouble is, you help reinforce this false ‘overdue’ notion that is being hyped.
It didn’t take long before she wrote back. What had been anger toward her comments quickly turned around.
I have written the AP, hoping a correction will be published, though those seldom come close to undoing the damage.
I actually never said that. I made a point to mention to the reporter that talked to me on the phone to say that there was no way to know if such a strong hurricane would hit us this year or in 10 years or in 50 years. I said that because of the climatology, it has happened in this region and it will happen again, but I never said that it will happen this year because we are due. The reporter just heard what wanted to hear. He never mentioned Reeves name to me and I tried over and over to repeat to him that this is not how it works.
This really concerns me because this article has gotten more exposure than I thought it would get and it bothers me that it appears that I am going with the hype, when I am not.
Never believe that all quotes are exact. The report had a conversation with me and that was it. He paraphrased what he believed I was saying, instead of writing what I said. In fact, what he said I agreed with was the fact that the Long Island, Rhode Island, Eastern Massachusetts coast was more exposed than the rest of New England, but the way he wrote it, it seemed like he was saying that I agreed with everything that Reeves said. I also just realized that the article that you are pointing to is from AP and it is based on an article written by a local reporter of a small Dover, NH newspaper.
In fact, the way I see that the media works, I am wondering if Reeves actually said what the newspapers are saying he said
How to: Save a Snowflake for Decades
As a meteorologist I think I need this on my website. Snow coming tomorrow. This really does look like a neat idea.
I Cannot Tell A Lie Radio Shack Style
What’s Radio Shack’s slogan: “You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers?” As it turns out, not all the answers were true – at least as they applied to the CEO. He resigned yesterday after revelations that the two degrees from non-accredited colleges he claimed, didn’t exist.
First of all, as long as you’re going to lie about it, why a non-accredited bible college? Why not Yale or Harvard?
I’ve never lied about my lack of education. I am an official high school graduate. I went to Emerson College on the accelerated dismissal program, flunking out during the height of Vietnam.
That probably tells you more about my intellect than anything else. Were it not for my high draft lottery number, who knows how my life would have changed?
My resume has always said, “attended Emerson College,” which of course I did (though infrequently). It was more like, “lived in dorm,” but that’s beside the point.
Now that my three years at Mississippi State University are complete, I’m still just a high school graduate.
MSU’s program is a certification curriculum. It’s as if you were allowed to attend college and only take your major subjects, no humanities, math or language. I learned everything I would have learned in an Earth Sciences BS program – no more.
I work with a PhD in physics, Dr. Mel Goldstein, and when I’d tell people I was completing my education at MSU, they’d often ask if I was getting my doctorate. I wish.
This Radio Shack guy, David Edmondson, lied and got caught. He probably deserves what’s coming to him, but the story is much deeper than that and it goes to the core of what college confers upon you.
I have a daughter in college. Steffie, stop reading this right now. I don’t want to throw you off the track.
There are many things college prepares you for, and many ways it broadens you. But college is not always necessary to succeed in a job or career – even some careers that are associated with specific courses of study.
Did I suffer in my career because I didn’t have a degree? Who can say for sure. I’ve certainly done OK for myself.
On the other hand, before I got the job here, I got a call from a news director in Boston. He had seen my tape and was interested in hiring me. Was I a meteorologist?
End of story. He said he liked me but he’d be lambasted in the papers if he hired me. I understood.
Back to this Radio Shack guy. He didn’t just come in from a craigslist.com ad. He was inside the company for well over a decade; a guy who worked his way, literally, to the top. He had been judged on what he could do, and really, it didn’t matter that he did it without a degree!
If you look closely at higher education, you will see it is designed by academicians, not practitioners. When we get interns here at the TV station, they learn more on-the-job than they ever learned in school. The same goes for fresh grads.
I’m not saying college is worthless. That’s just not so. I think it serves a valuable purpose and provides a good background and, hopefully, broadening. It is not the end all, be all, in career preparation.
It would serve companies well if they stopped using a college degree as a crutch and began looking at an applicant’s real skills. That’s what they’re going to use anyway.
This guy from Radio Shack – I feel bad for him, but he lied. There’s really little excuse for that, especially when he’s is the company’s credibility.
Wrongly, instead of proving what he could do without college, he felt it was necessary to lie. He felt his skills would never have been recognized… no one would have looked past his lack of academic credentials.
We overlook too many talented people this way, every day. Where’s the upside to that?
Super Bowl XL – I Watched All The Ads
How’s this for a shallow life with little purpose – I’ve just watched all the ads from tonight’s Super Bowl!
I wasn’t paying total attention during the game, so I actually went online to find a Super Bowl ad site.
Of course there’s one. There are probably dozens more.
Amazingly, in order to watch the commercials on AOL, you are subjected to additional ‘interstitial’ commercials.
So, here we go with a little summary of what I liked, in no particular order.
FedEx Cavemen – Can an ad be stupid and clever at once? This one was. I especially enjoyed the CG animation at the end where the caveman kicks a prehistoric animal and is then crushed by a giant foot.
Sierra Mist – Kathy Griffin, Michael Ian Black, and some guy I recognize by can’t identify. She’s very funny, and this ad is all about her.
Sprint Crime Deterrent – one guy actually throws his cellphone at the other guy. Priceless. It’s a great payoff to an otherwise ‘laundry list’ spot.
DisneyWorld – If Oscar winners can bring a little piece of paper on-stage listing all the people they want to thank, athletes can practice saying, “I’m going to DisneyWorld.”
Budweiser Clydesdale – I find most beer commercials sophomoric. OK – I don’t drink, so maybe I just don’t get it. The little Clydesdale pushing the wagon, secretly assisted by a larger Clydesdale, was very sweet. A sweet beer commercial!
Poseidon – Does this movie really need to be remade? Where’s Gene Hackman or Shelley Winters? Anyway, as your meteorologist let me be the first to tell you, tidal waves are barely noticeable in open water. They only crest nearshore.
Sprint Ringtones – Is there a more overpriced commodity than cellphone ringtones? Still, this commercial from Sprint took it all with tongue-in-cheek, especially the homage to Benny Hill featuring (what sounded like) Ronnie Aldrich’s original Yakety Sax.
Hummer H3 – I had no idea where this spot was going. When one monster got pregnant, I was really stumped. Giving birth to a Hummer was a reasonably good payoff.
Early this evening, to help fill time, a football game was played between these commercials.
I Hate That Woodchuck
Drunk people in Western Pennsylvania get up early every February 2nd and watch as grown men in top hats and tails hold up a groundhog (aka – woodchuck) by the scruff of the neck. If the groundhog sees his shadow, we get six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t, it’s an early spring.
It is Groundhog Day. This is the one day every year when Punxsutawney, PA gets on the map.
Since I know some of you reading this check in from outside the United States, let me quickly explain. Drunk people in Western Pennsylvania get up early every February 2nd and watch as grown men in top hats and tails hold up a groundhog (aka – woodchuck) by the scruff of the neck. If the groundhog sees his shadow, we get six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t, it’s an early spring.
This is a media event. Look at how they were set up for this morning
As the Groundhog Day celebration has grown in Punxsutawney over the past several years, so has our preparedness for the many members of the media who visit our town each year.
There are provisions in place to allow for convenient parking for satellite and other press vehicles at Gobbler’s Knob, and a designated press area is available for those covering the events.
Please contact us if we can help you with any aspect of your visit to Punxsutawney, or if you wish to arrange a radio or other interview.
A video feed of the events will be provided by the state of Pennsylvania:
EVENT: Groundhog Day Ceremony
TIME: 5:45 to 8:00 (Eastern)
SATELLITE: AMC – 9 (KU Band Analog)
MHz: 36
TRANSPONDER: K03
CHANNEL: 3
DOWNLINK POL: Horizontal
DOWNLINK FREQ: 11760 MHz
AUDIO: 6.2 / 6.8
By the way, it’s a scam!
OK – it’s not Enron or Tyco, but the Punxsutawney books are being cooked. This morning at sunrise, Gobbler’s Knobb, site of the groundhog, sat under a cloudy sky. That should have meant no shadow for Punxsutawney Phil. Guess again.
As always, Phil did see his shadow and word went out we’ll get another six weeks of winter.
As a weatherman… now a meteorologist… nothing thrills me less than knowing America is waiting to hear from the woodchuck that wants my gig! Damn you Punxsutawney Phil!
There is one good thing that’s come from Punxsutawney (other than my trip there, 30 or so years ago, for my friend Joel’s wedding at the Punxsutawney Country Club). it’s the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray, Andie McDowell and Chris Elliott¹.
I originally thought the movie was awful, but as I’ve watched it again and again and again, it has grown on me. Now I willingly watch and enjoy.
I wonder if anyone ever walks up to the woodchuck and tells him, “I wish I could have a job where I’m wrong 50% of the time and still get paid.” No – all the rodent gets is praise.
¹ – Chris Elliott lives, or lived, in a beautiful part of the state, not far from the mouth of the Connecticut River. if you run into him, please tell him I’m a fan.
The Climatic Skeptic In Me
Wednesday morning on CNN, Miles O’Brien and meteorologist Chad Myers, chatting.
MYERS: No, I absolutely believe that CO2 is heating the atmosphere, but also, some of these thermometers that we’ve had out in the plains for years or in the cities for years are getting surrounded by more buildings. So you get more buildings, you get more asphalt, you get more heat, so the thermometers are different. The whole — metro areas are getting warmer, where, in fact, maybe you just see — if you put that same thermometer out in the middle of a cornfield in Nebraska, maybe it wouldn’t be too much different. We’ll have to see. You know, I know that this is happening; it’s just a matter of how much it is, that’s all.
O’BRIEN: So, there’s a little bit of global paving, too, along with global warming?
MYERS: Well, there you go.
Myers comments got a quick rebuke on Mediamatters.org and spilled over to a weathercaster bulletin board I often read.
Like Chad Myers, I’m “a little bit of a skeptic on global warming.”
Here’s what I posted in the conversation after someone said, “This is a scientific issue, not a political one.”:
That one sentence cuts to the core of this controversy. Of course it’s a political issue. If it were a scientific discussion, we’d be hearing positive as well as negative implications to warming. Even in dire global warming scenarios, there are many beneficiaries.
If this were a scientific discussion, not political, graphs of CO2 levels would start at 0 ppm, not 310 ppm¹. Starting high on the graph makes the increase look much more severe.
It seems, based on my limited contact with colleagues, that operational forecasters tend to be skeptics on the long range implications of additional CO2 in the atmosphere. I first noticed it at the “Million Meteorologist March,” when many of us were invited to the White House (excellent baked goods) to hear Al Gore speak about global warming. Most of the operational mets I spoke with that day were skeptical.
If you forecast the weather on a daily basis, you’re likely skeptical about the worst of the global warming predictions, because you’ve been burned by models and then chastised by viewers. Research mets don’t get that dose of forecast reality.
Last year I flew to Florida to see my folks. The plane stopped in Tampa on the way to PBI. As I looked out the window, I noticed the sky covered in cirrus clouds. As I looked closer, I realized they were contrails which had become diaphanous. They just hadn’t mixed out under the very weak upper flow.
I picked up my cellphone and called a friend – my expert on NWP. How, I asked, are these man made clouds taken into account in the models? They aren’t.
In fact all our short range models and certainly the multidecadal climate models, make assumptions, guesses and estimates. There’s just not enough data to properly initialize everything.
Tonight, based on the 12z runs, the models will have over predicted much of Connecticut’s temperatures by 5-10 degrees. And that’s just a 24 hour forecast!
In the meantime, I’m sure tonight many people in Fairbanks are saying of global warming, “Bring it on.”
PAFA 270653Z 00000KT 1/4SM R01L/3500V4500FT FZFG FEW001 BKN004 M43/ A2981 RMK A02 SLP123 T1433
That’s -45f with .25 mile visibility in freezing fog.
¹ – Here’s the graph I was talking about.
Hey – They Called Me A Meteorologist
I’ve been quoted on-and-off in the New Haven Register for years. Today was the first time since my studies at MSU ended, and so the first time to be called “meteorologist.”
But with all that wind, “I don
Southwest Airlines – May I Kiss You On The Lips?
I am writing this, sitting on a cold faux marble floor in our bathroom at the Holiday Inn, just outside of Baltimore-Washington Airport. It is 5:00 AM and I can’t sleep. In order not to disturb Helaine and Stef, I have adopted this as my temporary office.
The free wireless access works much better here than in the actual room!
That we are here is some sort of minor miracle. If you fly on airplanes and are used to being treated like fecal material, please read this story, made even better by this email from meteorologist Bob, in Florida.
dad went to snow 5 mins ago.
good thing you left when you did.
The GON he mentions is Groton/New London Airport, arguably Connecticut’s airport most likely to report rain when others are seeing snow! His dad is in North Branford, also less likely to see a quick change to snow.
Yesterday morning, when it looked like we’d be seeing significant snow, sleet and freezing rain, and knowing we had to get to California now or miss our cruise ship, I called Southwest Airlines. The best way to summarize the opening of the conversation is to quote Rick Springfield’s, “Don’t Talk To Strangers.”
Though I explained my situation, the agent couldn’t help. Southwest Airlines had policies in place.
I pleaded my case for a few minutes before asking, nicely, if I could speak to a supervisor. I tried everything, including the option of moving us to Islip, a 2:30 hour drive. The supervisor listened to our plight (Linda from Albuquerque. “I’m not the bilingual Linda in Albuquerque.”) but wouldn’t budge.
Finally, she broke down. She understood the fragility of our cruise plans and that Southwest was booked solid, should our flight be canceled. They would move us out of Connecticut Monday night and we could pick up the rest of our itinerary on Tuesday.
Quickly, Helaine went to hotwire.com and found a hotel at Baltimore-Washington Airport. Last minute, Holiday Inn – under $70.
When I told my friend Peter, someone who had racked hundreds of thousands of miles over the years, mostly on United, he said he was amazed. Southwest had done the right thing for me and for Southwest, but he had never heard of it happening before.
Let me add, this is not because I’m “TV-boy” in Connecticut. These operators were in Albuquerque.
Now the real test began – we weren’t packed. Helaine, our ‘packing supervisor’ and all around ‘logistics specialist,’ would have to compress 24 hours of planning into six! And she did.
This was one of those times when Helaine’s incredible organizational acumen took over. She was worried we wouldn’t make it, but she faced the task and moved forward.
There were chores out of the house she needed to do, and things for me to do while she was gone. I made a list. I am not a list maker. I understood today had to be different.
I’m not going to take my usual cheap shot about how much baggage we finally brought. It’s a lot. At this point how could I mind?
We got to Bradley Airport in Hartford to check in. The change of plans left me with a legit ticket, but Helaine and Steffie (both flying non-revenue) with nothing on paper and some cobbled together exceptions that the computer couldn’t handle on its own.
Donna from Torrington was our customer service agent at the ticket counter at Bradley. When she read the notes on her computer she stopped. She said she hadn’t seen anything like this before… and neither had the computer. It refused to issue Helaine a boarding pass (though it had for Steffie, and had hours ago for me).
She called the help desk to get some assistance. The person on the other end also commented on how unusual the remarks with our reservation were.
Because of Helaine and Steffie’s late re-booking, their tickets were marked for extra screening by the TSA. No problem. At this point we were way ahead of the game. Screen on.
So, here we are at the Holiday Inn at BWI. We had a lovely ride on the courtesy van with a bunch of airline employees and four drunk folks from Cleveland, kicked off their flight to sober up!
Our flight from BWI to LAX doesn’t leave until this evening. Based on what I’ve seen of the Northeast’s weather, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were open seats and we made it out of Baltimore a whole lot earlier.
We are not in Los Angeles yet, but we are much closer than mileage alone would imply. And, a huge burden has been lifted from our shoulders.
If we were home right now, hoping to make our scheduled flight, we’d be out-of-luck. No one in bed in Connecticut now will make that Wednesday cruise.
I think I’m going to try to go back to sleep.
Who Needs This Much Scrutiny?
Todd Gross, meteorologist at Boston’s Channel 7, was let go last week after over 20 years on the air. People get fired, or don’t have their contract renewed, all the time. It is part of this business… a scary part.
I can’t comment on Todd’s work because I’ve seen so little of it. He’s always been nice to me. What else can I go on?
Because of his position, he has attracted a lot of comments on a TV weather oriented bulletin board I read. It was there that I found this link to a short article in the Boston Phoenix.
What’s scary about this is how opinionated people are – positive and negative. This is really much more than I expected. Do people really get that ‘into’ their local meteorologists?
Email To AirTran
I sent this email to AirTran’s president, Joe Leonard, about 25 minutes before my folks told me they had broken down and spent an extra few hundred dollars purchasing tickets to Vegas on Saturday (thereby avoiding Hurricane Wilma’s fury).
I am writing to ask you to revisit AirTran’s current policy regarding Hurricane Wilma rebooking. I am a meteorologist with 25 years experience.
Your website’s weather update page gives latitude to Florida travelers on Monday, but the storm is not forecast to leave Florida’s East Coast until very late Monday or early Tuesday – meaning you will have planes out of position for Tuesday’s flights.
This is from the National Hurricane Center’s latest technical discussion (meteorologist-to-meteorologist):
THE SPREAD IN THE MODELS REMAINS QUITE LARGE… AND BOTH THE
LOCATION AND TIMING OF THE IMPACTS ON FLORIDA REMAIN VERY
UNCERTAIN.
Won’t you consider allowing Tuesday passengers (like my parents, on their way to Las Vegas for my dad’s 80th birthday) to rebook without additional charge? Think of your passengers… and your gate and counter employees, who will be dealing with people who were denied rebooking and then face canceled flights!
Sincerely,
Geoff Fox
The point is probably moot now. I’m curious if I’ll get an answer.
Quoted In The Norwich Bulletin
I think I’ve become the low hanging fruit of weather quotes. I was included in an article published today in the Norwich Bulletin.
Use the link above if you want to read it, though I’m attaching it to the jump should that link go stale.
Pleasing the Society
I am now a meteorologist – a full fledged meteorologist. I would be lying if I didn’t say I felt some pride when one of our anchors announces me as Meteorologist Geoff Fox.
Now I move to the next step, getting an AMS Seal.
First, an explanation of terms. AMS stands for The American Meteorological Society. The ‘seal’ is the AMS Seal of Approval for Television Weathercasting, and it’s awarded by the Board of Broadcast Meteorology. Phew – no wonder they shorten it to AMS and seal.
The AMS would like to preserve the integrity and scientific efficacy of weather forecasting. My boss wants me to present an understandable and useful forecast. Sometimes those two are at odds with each other.
In order to get the AMS Seal, I must submit three airchecks (tapes of a weather broadcast) from three consecutive days. Actually, that’s a great idea. It seems important to watch a candidate’s forecast in context. My tapes are distributed to members of the board who individually pass judgment. My understanding is, this is not an easy group to please.
A friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, just got his rejection note within the past few weeks. The comments were brutal – and I think this guy is very good.
Once your tapes go in, the board takes months to come up with its verdict. I have heard lots of grousing over this. I have no clue what takes so long, and I’m a little new in the organization to complain, but there are few things in this modern era that take six month, especially when the actually work of judging takes a few hours at most. I’m sure I’m missing some nuance which explains the timeframe… maybe not.
I started collecting my airchecks last night. I’d like to have my three before the week’s end. My plan is to have this out the door as soon as possible, but first have some folks with experience (my friend who’s just been shot down, a former member of the board, etc.) look and make sure I’m on the right track.
There is lots of talk on some weather bulletin boards concerning the relative value of having the seal. After 21 years on the air here in Connecticut, will more people be inclined to watch because of it? I don’t know. But, I’m sure I’ll enjoy seeing the ‘seal’ on the air next to my name the same way I enjoy hearing meteorologist.