Technical preparation part of morning weather program
People always seem shocked when I tell them that I show up for work at 3 a.m. when I’m filling in for KREM’s early morning newscasts (which start bright and early at 4:30 a.m.).
What has to be done in the 90 minutes before I go on air? Plenty! Contrary to popular belief, little of that time is spent primping in the “green” room with make-up and hair spray. I get most of that done before I leave the house around 2:30 a.m. But the fancy-looking animated graphics you see during the weathercast don’t make themselves, and of course there is the forecast itself, which in this part of the country with its widely varying terrain, is never simple.
The KREM weather center is full of computers, each with its own purpose. One computer runs the Stormtracker2 Doppler, another ingests weather data, a couple of computers can be used to build graphics, one actually runs the sequence of graphics for the weathercast, and yet another connects to the Internet where I can gather all sorts of weather observations and forecast information.
The first thing I have to do after arriving at the station, is assess the current weather situation. Satellite loops, radar loops and surface observations from across the region get me started. Now it’s time to start jotting down numbers. It would be easier if we just covered the Spokane/Coeur d’Alene area, but our viewers tune in everywhere from Moses Lake, to Walla Walla, through North Idaho into extreme Western Montana, and even across the Canadian border sometimes.
I couldn’t possibly have time to make forecasts for all these locations, so I rely on National Weather Service offices in Pendleton, Ore., Spokane, Missoula, Portland, Seattle and even the Canadian Weather Office to fill in many of the blanks. Everything from the high and low temperatures, to the sunshine and snow icons, have to be input by hand, so the process of building weather graphics begins pretty early in the shift.
The priority is to get all the necessary information into a set of graphics that are clean and easy for viewers to decipher. That can be easier said than done when there are multiple watches, warnings and advisories. All of this takes me about an hour.
Though I get most of my information from the National Weather Service, I do spend time fine-tuning the local forecast if needed. In addition to the stuff we put together for the TV newscast, we have a presence on the Internet too, where forecasts have to be typed up and graphics uploaded.
Finally, in the last 10 to 15 minutes before air time, it’s time to put all the graphics in sequence for the show, get an idea about how best to relay the weather story of the day, and put the finishing touches on hair and make-up.
The producer of the newscasts provides us with a run-down of the entire 2 1/2-hour morning show, so I know where I need to be, when I need to be there, and how much time I’ll have during each weather segment. It can sometimes be very hectic, but one thing is for sure, we need that adrenaline rush to provide you with an alert and smiling face at 4:30 a.m.