Our highly educated local meteorologists help clarify why the power of Mother Nature makes weather exciting!
ROBERT VAN WINKLE-
Robert Van Winkle has been Director of Weather Services and Chief Meteorologist at WBBH in Fort Myers since 2003. He recently moved to the morning shift at NBC2, starting his day at 4:30 a.m. In August 2004, Van Winkle was the first meteorologist to detect a shift in the track of Hurricane Charley, giving Southwest Florida residents a few extra hours to prepare before Charley made landfall.
Why did you choose to become a meteorologist?
I started my career in meteorology when I joined the U.S. Navy. I was trained and worked on the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. I can’t say that I always wanted to be a weatherman, but the training and on-the-job experience in the Navy really suited me. I was the designated weather briefer on the Nimitz and did the TV news when we were at sea. I also found myself giving weather briefs to Rear Admirals and Captains at the ripe age of 21. It was a pretty cool start to a career in weather.
How do you keep your audience engaged now that there are so many online weather applications at people’s fingertips?
There is a great deal of weather to see online. I try to keep our audience engaged by giving them something they don’t get online…and that is my ‘take’ on what’s happening. Anybody can look at the weather online, but an explanation and an interpretation of the online noise is what my job is all about.
Can you share some interesting weather facts people may not know?
On average, lightning is responsible for more weather-related deaths in Florida than all other weather hazards combined. We live in the “Lightning Capital” of the United States!
What are some of the ways you use your celebrity status to share your passions?
I volunteer at Allen Park Elementary School and visit a group of very special kids as often as I can. I also do other school visits during the year. My next career will probably be a teacher in an ESL or Special Needs classroom.
What might people be surprised to know about you?
I love winter sports and like to ride my snowboard. It kills me that I haven’t been able to go lately. In my free time (which isn’t much) I also paint and decorate old furniture, picture frames, bird houses and cigar boxes. I’m a frustrated artist!
What does a perfect weather day look like for you?
Well, over 300 days a year we can be outdoors and enjoy the beaches, the nature preserves, the bike paths, the rivers and lakes… so … any day I can be outside and lap up the Florida weather is a great day for me.
What piqued your interest in choosing to become a meteorologist?
I’ve had a very unorthodox career path, because the career found me rather than the other way around. After going to college for Communications, I worked for over a decade as a radio personality. While working in Johnstown, PA, for a company that owned both the TV and radio stations, the TV News Director asked if I would move to the TV station to do weekend weather. I went back to school for another three years to graduate as a Broadcast Meteorologist.
Describe what a day in
the life of a meteorologist
looks like.
After six years on the morning news, I now work on ABC7’s evening news, so I’ve turned into a bit of a night owl and late riser. I try to get one or two things done around the house before I go into the station around 2:30. After looking at the weather forecast models, the other staff meteorologists and I chat about the models. I then put my forecast together. I fill out a computer spread sheet with my forecast data. I also build any special graphics that will help me tell the day’s weather story. I then go on TV with Storm Warn 7 weather at 5, 6, 7 and 11 p.m. (We get new forecast model guidance between our 7 and 11 p.m. news). After a hard day’s work, I like to kick back and end the day with an hour of Craig Ferguson.
How has technology enhanced your ability to perform your job better over the last five to ten years?
ABC7 has access to the best technology out there. We share Southwest Florida’s ONLY Live Doppler Radar with our sister station at Waterman Broadcasting, NBC2. This allows us to track storms in Southwest Florida in real time. Storm Warn 7 Live Doppler Radar is in our back parking lot! Forecast model guidance has gotten much better also. ABC7’s in-house forecast model has a three-kilometer resolution, MUCH better than the 15 kilometer resolution of the forecast model available just a couple years ago. That allows me to pinpoint more precisely where, for example, afternoon sea breeze storms will pop. This leads to a more accurate forecast.
In the past, the summers would have sunny days until mid-afternoon when there was a brief rain shower. Now it seems that there’s more rain in the a.m. and late afternoon. Has there been a shift in the weather patterns?
From late spring through early summer, we’ve been transitioning out of a La Niña weather pattern, which has given Southwest Florida a milder and drier than normal first half of 2012, to a more neutral weather pattern, with a bit more rain. The transition has allowed for the Atlantic ridge of high pressure, or the Bermuda High, to drift south on occasion. When that happens, Southwest Florida gets a westerly, onshore wind. In this pattern, the sea breeze moves over land early in the day, bringing its rain showers in the morning, and the afternoon thunderstorms go deep inland. We’ve seen that quite often this year.
Does your audience ever give you a hard time when the weather report is inaccurate?
I’m not going to be one of those meteorologists that say, “I never get the forecast wrong!” Anyone who says that is full of bologna. Sometimes, we get bad forecast guidance from the various models, which can lead to an inaccurate forecast. This happens with tropical systems more often than we’d like. When there’s a day that a forecast doesn’t verify as accurately as I’d like, I make darn sure to not run any errands.
JOHN PATRICK-
Before becoming a Broadcast Meteorologist, John Patrick had a career as a radio personality in Western and Central Pennsylvania. He is now Chief Meteorologist for ABC7 and is known to his viewers as JP. Patrick has won the Associated Press’ “Best Weathercast” award for the last five years in a row. As he brings viewers the weather each day, Patrick’s mantra is: “Never be boring.”
What might people be surprised to know about you?
Anyone that follows me on Twitter (@jpweather) or Facebook (facebook.com/jpweather) pretty much knows everything there is to know about me. I post weather updates, but I’ve also posted dishes I’ve cooked, beach barbecues I’ve hosted, remodeling projects I’ve done, etc. But something people may not know is that I am the only TV meteorologist in Southwest Florida to be both certified by the American Meteorological Society and hold the seal of approval from the National Weather Association.
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