psv88 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I thought it might be interesting to start a thread on why we all became to fascinated by the weather, since we have no real weather to discuss. Post your thoughts on when, how and why you became interested. For me, my father was always interested in the weather and we had a weather station when i was a kid. My family was always interested in snowstorms and the like so it caught on. Also, in elementary school, my teacher had a weather station outside and i would always check the temp, snowfall, etc and report to the class. From then on, i have always been interested... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psv88 Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 Also, forgot to mention, weather is something we cannot control, and there is no real winner or loser, so its good to take a break from depressing sports losses and the heat of politics, for a neutral topic, which can be observed and appreciated at face value Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthlight Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 When I was only 7 or so I was immediately aware of how the weather had such an impact on people's lives. I could not get my mind around the fact that it was so unpredictable. I used to watch thunderstorms on my front steps with my grandpa, and it was mind boggling. I could sit there for hours and hours and hours. I would video tape the lightning and rewatch it after. As soon as i stumbled upon weather forecasting techniques (at a really young age, like 10 or 11)...I knew I wanted to follow that path. It's such a challenge and it's not something you can ever, ever perfect. People can be really good at their jobs in other professions and never have a humbling moment once they are veterans. I guarantee you that meteorology or weather forecasting will keep you humble throughout your career until you retire. And that is what is so unique about this field. It's a new challenge every single day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psv88 Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 When I was only 7 or so I was immediately aware of how the weather had such an impact on people's lives. I could not get my mind around the fact that it was so unpredictable. I used to watch thunderstorms on my front steps with my grandpa, and it was mind boggling. I could sit there for hours and hours and hours. I would video tape the lightning and rewatch it after. As soon as i stumbled upon weather forecasting techniques (at a really young age, like 10 or 11)...I knew I wanted to follow that path. It's such a challenge and it's not something you can ever, ever perfect. People can be really good at their jobs in other professions and never have a humbling moment once they are veterans. I guarantee you that meteorology or weather forecasting will keep you humble throughout your career until you retire. And that is what is so unique about this field. It's a new challenge every single day. Interesting, so it seems like appreciation starts at a young age with family interest being a big contributing factor. Its hard to explain to my fiance why i like to follow the weather so much, she thinks its weird, but in a "cute" way. We call blizzards my "other girlfriend" and she said she gets jealous when my other gf comes to town. I warn her though days in advance..."babe, my other girl may stop by next week, fyi"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green tube Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 i used to pretend i was a hurricane when i was 8 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psv88 Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 i used to pretend i was a hurricane when i was 18 years old and tripping on shrooms. fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormlover74 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Yes everyone always jokes with me as well. They know when an impending storm is coming they won't hear from me or see me for at least 2 or 3 days before because I'll be tracking 24/7. Basically don't ask me about anything else if a blizzard is coming. I was told that when I saw the wizard of oz at age 4 that I became obsessed with wind/tornadoes, but my first real storm memory was the blizzard of '83. I was 8 at the time but remember every detail about that storm, from when it started to hearing thundersnow to using a yardstick the next morning to measure 20" of snow. I think from then on out I became obsessed with tracking snowstorms. Unfortunately there were a lot of snow to rain events and pretty crappy winters overall from 84-92. But to me this was the norm I guess so I knew 83 was a rare occurrence. Also in those dark ages before the internet and not even having the weather channel it was difficult to know what was going on outside of local forecasts, the newspaper and local news. Interesting, so it seems like appreciation starts at a young age with family interest being a big contributing factor. Its hard to explain to my fiance why i like to follow the weather so much, she thinks its weird, but in a "cute" way. We call blizzards my "other girlfriend" and she said she gets jealous when my other gf comes to town. I warn her though days in advance..."babe, my other girl may stop by next week, fyi"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluewave Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 For me it all started when I was 5 years old back in 1972. During the approach of Agnes back in June of 1972, I can remember coming out of the old Laurel restaurant here in Long Beach with my family. I noticed that the sky was getting dark as we walked home from dinner . The next thing that I remember was a torrential thunderstorm beginning while we were watching TV in our kitchen. As the storm continued, it was becoming dark out outside and we could not see the buildup of water just outside our door. We were living in a basement apartment and the drain clogged near our door and was waist deep. The water began pouring into our apartment flooding most rooms to about 6 inches deep. We pretty much lost all our furniture and had to stay with relatives for a week while the place was getting cleaned up. That was the beginning of my interest in the weather. The next big event that I remember was the big December 74 Nor'Easter with the coastal flooding and 70 mph wind gusts here. That was followed by hurricane Belle in 76 and the mini Ice Age of 1976-1977 winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormlover74 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I think my fate was predetermined as the exact day I was born still remains the highest recorded wind gust in Central Park. For me it all started when I was 5 years old back in 1972. During the approach of Agnes back in June of 1972, I can remember coming out of the old Laurel restaurant here in Long Beach with my family. I noticed that the sky was getting dark as we walked home from dinner . The next thing that I remember was a torrential thunderstorm beginning while we were watching TV in our kitchen. As the storm continued, it was becoming dark out outside and we could not see the buildup of water just outside our door. We were living in a basement apartment and the drain clogged near our door and was waist deep. The water began pouring into our apartment flooding most rooms to about 6 inches deep. We pretty much lost all our furniture and had to stay with relatives for a week while the place was getting cleaned up. That was the beginning of my interest in the weather. The next big event that I remember was the big December 74 Nor'Easter with the coastal flooding and 70 mph wind gusts here. That was followed by hurricane Belle in 76 and the mini Ice Age of 1976-1977 winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnoSki14 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Started in 2000 or possibly even earlier with Floyd in 1999, definitely followed TWC after the Millennium storm, almost watched in everyday. I think March 2001 definitely made me completely interested, the forecast and that huge bust, I remember, as a kid, telling people we were going to get 2-3 feet of snow as forecast on TWC. Woke up that morning with a sloppy inch, worst disappointment a kid could have with regards to snowstorms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluewave Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I think my fate was predetermined as the exact day I was born still remains the highest recorded wind gust in Central Park. That was some storm here. I can remember the sound of the wind against my big picture window that night and thinking that it would blow in. The next morning on the bus ride to school, I got to see all the sand left in the streets of the West end from the ocean meeting the bay during the storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthlight Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheTrials Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 My father is a snowflake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ELCwx Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 We had a weather club at my high school. Used to get information by teletype and and fax-type machine and plot maps by hand. (This was the 70's). The local radio station let us broadcast our forecasts with an "educational project" disclaimer. So I actually used to read a very short discussion and a forecast over the air. The teachers who advised the club were serious about weather. In fact they ended up leaving teaching and starting up their own private service. I learned a lot back then even though the information available was obviously not nearly as sophisticated as it is now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psv88 Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 We had a weather club at my high school. Used to get information by teletype and and fax-type machine and plot maps by hand. (This was the 70's). The local radio station let us broadcast our forecasts with an "educational project" disclaimer. So I actually used to read a very short discussion and a forecast over the air. The teachers who advised the club were serious about weather. In fact they ended up leaving teaching and starting up their own private service. I learned a lot back then even though the information available was obviously not nearly as sophisticated as it is now. wow thats intense...plot maps by hand in the 70's...what a different world we live in today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weathergun Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I think I was 5 years old, when I got interested. I don't really recall an event, that got me interested. I think it was natural. Although, I do barely recall thunderstorm or tornado causing damage in my school, when I was kindergarten. I was also living in Panama then. Then when my parents moved me back to NYC, at the same age, I remembered started watching he weather reports on the news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momza Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Worked at CBS long time ago, hung out in the weather room(WCBS) with the oldies but goodies, names like Joe D'leo,Alan Kasper, Joe Witte(no not Joe DimWit), even Nick for a while when he was at WCBS. We had the long range Prog, the LFM, and the weather station teletype. Much fun............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forkyfork Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 a very damaging tstorm wind event in bayonne in the early 90s... i saw branches fly past the window and that did it for me the 1995 heat wave helped, too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snow_Miser Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 I developed an interest for tracking weather patterns because of my interest in geography. When I was younger, I liked to look at all of the states in the United States, and coicidentally my parents were watching The Weather Channel while I had an interest in the states. I watched The Weather Channel because they constantly kept on showing the state borders when they were showing the latest weather patterns that were impacting the region. The years went by, and as I became older, I started to actually watch what was on The Weather Channel instead of just watching it to look at the state borders. As I became older, I started to learn how the meteorologists forecast the weather, and I began to look at the computer guidance to make my own weather forecasts, and I started to look at weather forums to expand my current knowledge of weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle W Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 I lived in Wellsville NY when I was three years old for a year... My mother and father broke up and she moved back to Brooklyn with her family...I had plenty of memories of snowstorms for the one winter I lived there...when I was almost seven in mid March 1956 NYC got two consecutive snowstorms...The first one with lightning...Snow was the driving force for my weather mania...I used to watch all the weather shows on TV during the late 50's...Tex Antoine was my favorite and he always mentioned what happened in the past...I would get his almanac every year and study the record highs and lows...I wondered how this or that happened...I can remember measuring my first snowfall when I was 12 in February 1962...I've kept notes on weather events for a number of years and still have them...I grew up on the streets and was kidded about my weather obsession...When I was in my late teens I would leave a card game so I could go home and watch Tex if it was during the winter...Nights I was losing I didn't return but that's another story...If there was a chance for a record low I would listen to the radio station with the updated temperatures...back then we flirted with record lows a lot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doncat Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 I think where I grew up and where my parents still live(ages 97 and 91 by the way) had something to do with my love of weather. Our house was and still is surrounded on three sides by woods so the ability to see nature undisturbed during storms was fun. I was always buying the latest weather instruments I could when I was young. I've been keeping weather records in written form since 1973 when I was thirteen years old. I was actually keeping records even earlier than that off and on. So I now have over thirty years of records from the same location.My weather station is still at my parents house while I live a couple of miles away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEITH L.I Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 My mom woke me up from a sound sleep at 2 in the morning and said Keith,it's snowing..i said mom I cant see the snow in the dark,and she said look at the lampost..and I became a snowlover..might have been in Jan 1965..two years later the Christmas eve blizzard in 1966 and I was hooked..severe weather,heatwaves and hurricanes to follow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowGoose69 Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 It started with the crazy Thanksgiving week in 1989 for me, the squall line and then the snow event, I never ever noticed or thought of the weather once before that week. As a matter of fact, I did not get what all the fuss was about from the other kids in school during the 1/22/87 storm. Everyone kept getting up to look outside but I didn't do anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cfa Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 It was a heat wave in the mid 2000's, I remember the heat index was forecasted to be between 115-120, that just intrigued me and stuck with me. My eyes were glued to the weather channel. I was always a fan of heat but that sort of introduced me to weather/meteorology/climatology. Then other big weather events such as the record snowstorm in 2006 (even though I hated winter then and now) kept my interest alive, I started paying close attention to almost all weather events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psv88 Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 Great hearing everyone's stories, thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha5 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 All started back in 1888, that blizzard changed my life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Energy Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 It started with the crazy Thanksgiving week in 1989 for me, the squall line and then the snow event, I never ever noticed or thought of the weather once before that week. As a matter of fact, I did not get what all the fuss was about from the other kids in school during the 1/22/87 storm. Everyone kept getting up to look outside but I didn't do anything. I was born in 1978. I recall a severe wx episode in 1989 when I was in school. Perhaps this was it. There was a report of a TOR in ABE that day and it was coming twds our school. I remember because a few years ago, I found a journal I had wrote back then. Epic memories. I guess this was the time when I saw this even and then fell upon the TWC. The 2 combined did it for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 My parents have me on tape when I was like 4 yrs old talking about a tstm that we had overnight. They already knew I loved snow..lol. I think Gloria sent me over the edge. I was in 1st grade for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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