Friday, August 10, 2007

A Day of Many Firsts

Today I had the pleasure of working with Meteorologist Richard Ortner. For the first time today I was able to record the forecast on the 24/7 weather forecast phone line. After a few mess ups (actually it was more like 6 of them) I finally got it down. I was finally satisfied with my recording, and I was able to give the forecast over the phone.

This is not as easy as it may sound. When you are verbally giving the forecast you have to remember to give the forecast in a way that everyone is going to be able to understand. You also have to make sure that you are giving a "general" forecast because viewers are calling in from all over the state! It is difficult to generalize the weather in Colorado. It could be sunny yet raining cats and dogs all at the same time. Only in the beautiful state of Colorado can you see such weather.

Another first for me today, I was able to practice in front of the green screen. I have never done an ENTIRE forecast in front of the green screen before. I was so nervous! The hardest things about it were trying to remember to smile, look directly in the camera, move out of the way so you are not standing in front of the graphics, and talking in a calm tone. With a little help from Richard I was able to practice the forecast several times. It gets easier the more you do it. I can not wait to do it again!

I am having so much fun at this internship. It is awesome to finally get to use all the things I have learned in forecasting the weather! I can not even imagine how much more I will learn just from watching Mike. He is incredibly at what he does. I remember when he came to my school in the 5th grade, and I was able to see his famous "tornado dance" for the first time! I still have the old weather map he autographed for me! Ever since that day, I knew I wanted to do nothing but forecast the weather.

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