I have no idea what a meteorologist’s salary is, but I do know that it probably isn’t enough on severe weather season. For the past few weeks, severe weather has been ravaging our area. It has been everything from torrential rain, to flooding, to tornadoes. And as can be imagined, this changes the news drastically.
When severe weather is in the area, and it poses a threat to people, nothing else matters to the news. We will drop absolutely everything else in the show and focus completely on the weather. Not only that, but we will also cut into the network and cover the weather when our show isn’t even on (which tends to get us some very angry emails). During these times, it is up almost completely to the meteorologist to get as much information to the viewers as possible. During the peak of the severe weather last week, meteorologist Phil Shreck was on the air for over 6 hours straight. And even after that, he stayed and made sure that the weather wasn’t going to pick back up.
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| Storm Damage at Wessington Springs (photo from KSFY.com) |
That said, the situation is kind of the opposite for most of the rest of the studio. As a PA, my sole purpose is to wait and see if the meteorologist needs anything. There are no camera shots or anything, because they usually just show the radar or pictures. The director mostly just waits and is ready if the meteorologist needs to send to break for something. The producer keeps an eye on the social media and gathers pictures of the situation to put on the air.
