Oak Hill, WV (WOAY-TV): While weather forecasting may appear to be a 50-50 profession, there is more than meets the eye with keeping the public informed about changing skies.
Chief Meteorologist Chad Merrill and our own Braden Petry spent the day with the national weather service in Charleston, W.Va., for a first-hand look at how their operations are run.
As with any organization whose goal is to inform and protect the public, our StormWatch Team analyzes forecast trends and collaborates on decisions with respect to the weather. This effort is duplicated across the profession to the national weather service.
They say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it takes more than one meteorologist to produce a forecast and successfully handle severe weather.
That’s just scratching the surface! There is a whole lot of manpower behind the scenes to make sure the weather operations are successful, including a lot of work from the Electronics System Analyst.
One of the most critical components to short-term forecasting is radar simulation analysis. This is the only radar in the state and as David Cunningham mentions, upkeep is a constant battle (part of interview).
We had a great time learning more about the weather service operations and increasing our partnership with the staff there to provide you the most accurate forecast each newscast.
