Meteorologist Workshop

So Much More Than a “Weather Girl!”

Presented by: Dylan Dreyer, Broadcast Meteorologist, WHDH-TV, Boston

Workshop Description

Through simple experiments, you will get a feel for how exactly the atmosphere works and what creates the weather we experience every day. We’ll explore the basics of what goes into creating a forecast through computer model print-outs and maps, so you can learn how to make a forecast completely on your own. When I’m on television, there’s a little “magic” that goes into putting the graphics up behind me. I’ll show you the trick behind the “green screen” and, playing with mirrors, you can feel what it’s like to deal with the backwards nature of the screen.

Leader’s Job Description

Since “7News Today in New England” begins at 5 AM, I go to bed at 6 PM and wake up at 2 AM. I arrive at work by 3:30 AM and get right to work. I look at satellites, radar, current weather conditions, multiple computer models in graphic and numerical form, and use my knowledge of New England weather to put together a full forecast. Once my forecast is complete, I switch computers and start making graphics. Everything you see me use on television is created by hand. Since I’m on every 10 minutes or so, I put together about 20 different graphics to create variety. The news is on from 5-7 AM and I’m constantly trying to say the same thing in as many different ways as I can. I’ll update the forecast after the show, do cut-ins for the Today show every 25 minutes, and prepare for the noon show which runs from 12-1 PM. I also need to keep the website and Weather Plus up-to-date.

Advice for Career Path

Meteorology is a very scientific field. In college, I took 4 years of Calculus, 2 years of Physics, Computer Programming, Chemistry, and Biology in addition to more weather-related courses including Thermodynamics, Dynamics of the Atmosphere, and Synoptic Labs that dealt with actually forecasting using various computer models. Since my college courses were so heavy on science and math, in high school I took honors Physics and honors Calculus in my senior year. While I didn’t excel in those classes in high school, I was able to excel in them while in my first year of college because I was seeing the material for a second time. Any courses that you know you have to take in college, if there is a related course in high school, I highly recommend you try to take it because repetition helped me the most. Once in college, internships in different fields of meteorology helped me to determine that television was the avenue I wanted to pursue. If broadcast meteorology is a desired career choice, it might be helpful to enroll in some drama or communications courses to practice public speaking. The more you can surround yourself with what you’re interested in, the better off you’ll be. There are many websites that can introduce you to weather early on.