Meteorologist forecasts weather live and visits with students at WJHS

Meteorologist Ted McInerney from WMTW Ch. 8 visited Wells Junior High School at 4 a.m. on October 28th to begin broadcasting live weather forecasts via satellite. Later he made a presentation and took questions from 5th-grade science students as part of the television station’s “Weather At Your School” program.

Around 9 a.m. McInerney met with about a dozen or so students and staff gathered in an outside tent classroom to speak and take questions related to his background, how he decided to be a meteorologist, how to become a TV meteorologist, weather forecasting, and related topics including severe weather conditions such as hurricanes and tornados.

“We were great to come back here to Wells Junior High for Weather At Your School,” said McInerney. “It’s the 10th year of the program and we enjoy being in the community and talking weather and really getting kids prepped for the next season. They always have some really good questions about storms…,” added McInerney who has been forecasting weather for 14 years, six of those years at WMTW.

McInerney shared with the students that his Monday through Friday morning work routine begins at 3 a.m. when he starts forming his prediction for the day’s weather by gathering data from weather instruments and charts. Later he presents his 12-hour forecast during the 4:30 a.m. news broadcast to help viewers prepare for their day outside. He says he likes covering snowstorms (his favorite is a thunder snowstorm) and personally prefers colder temperatures over hot and humid days because one can dress for the cold.

“The students were a bit nervous about speaking up, but once they did the questions just kept coming,” commented WJHS Science teacher Deborah Sheppard. “Questions varied from ‘What was the worst storm’ to asking about earthquakes. The students learned meteorologists study the atmosphere, while geologists study what happened within the earth.”

Jacqueline Myers, an ed-tech at WJHS, organized McInerney’s visit. He was accompanied to the school by videographer Ryan Haskell and satellite truck operator Keith Kettlehut. Myers observed that the students “interacted well” with their special guests and were “super excited to be on television”.