# Do TV meteorologists make their own forcasts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900 "2005-12-09T17:14:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/1 "2005-12-09T17:14:49Z")
How much weather forcasting do the TV meteorologists do? Are they coming up with their own predictions, just reading reports off the wire from the National Weather Service or some commercial provider, or a combination of the two? How would a local affiliate differ vs. a national network? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/2 "2005-12-09T17:34:35Z")
I think that depends on the weatherperson. Some are true meteorologists and can interpret the data and alter ther perdictions accordingly. While some are merely reading whatever the US Weather Service happens to have posted. If you live in a certain area long enough you can tell just but looking at the satellite photos what’s going to happen and when… ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/3 "2005-12-09T17:45:20Z")
I know someone who was not a meteorologist, but she did the local weather report on TV. She would just read the Weather service report, which provided temperature predictions for bigger cities. Then she just made up temperatures for the smaller cities based upon that, plus or minus about 2-3 degrees. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/4 "2005-12-09T18:06:48Z")
I can’t say for certain, but I thought many used commercial services like [AccuWeather](http://wwwa.accuweather.com/company.asp?partner=accuweather&myadc=0&page=about) I used to work next door to their corporate headquarters and carpooled a few times a week with a couple of ladies that worked there. That was my understanding based on some brief conversations with them about the place. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/5 "2005-12-11T07:58:31Z")
On Atlanta Local news (11 Alive) the meteorologist presents the weather, and then mentions that he thinks its going to actually be X Y or Z. Other times he admits to cheating the forecast (and his cheated numbers are the ones shown). ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/6 "2005-12-11T10:09:51Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > On Atlanta Local news (11 Alive) the meteorologist presents the weather, and then mentions that he thinks its going to actually be X Y or Z. Other times he admits to cheating the forecast (and his cheated numbers are the ones shown). Ditto. We used to have a weather guy here that would say things like: “…The National Weather Service only marked _these_ areas for tornado watch. (points to area on map) _I_ went ahead and extended it to these areas here. They’re probably not going to be to happy with me for doing that; but I’m gonna do it anyway.” This used to be my favorite weather guy because as weather guys go; this cad was quite the “Rebel”. He used to also have this undertoned flirtation thing going on with the anchor lady too. Which only made me like the guy more… ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/7 "2005-12-11T12:34:34Z")
In the U.K. it is my belief that all or at least most of the weather presenters have some expertise in the field and aren’t simply reciting predictions from some central body. I have no cite for this but I am pretty sure it’s true. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/8 "2005-12-11T14:07:07Z")
Some parts of the country have special conditions that the national services don’t take into account. The national services have perdicted “feet” of snow here when, because of the ocean and mountains, we only get rain. At least two of the local “weathermen” are, in fact, meteorologists. [The Pacific Science Center](http://exhibits.pacsci.org/weather/) has some of the forecasting equipment for the area, that all the local news shows use. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/9 "2005-12-11T15:07:26Z")
> [@mittu](#): > > In the U.K. it is my belief that all or at least most of the weather presenters have some expertise in the field and aren’t simply reciting predictions from some central body. I have no cite for this but I am pretty sure it’s true. Doesn’t this only apply to BBC? I’m pretty sure that all BBC weathermen are professional meteorologists, but other channels just use normal presenters. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/10 "2005-12-11T15:37:22Z")
> [@Dominic Mulligan](#): > > Doesn’t this only apply to BBC? I’m pretty sure that all BBC weathermen are professional meteorologists, but other channels just use normal presenters. Most of the BBC presenters have a meteorological or at least scientific background, but not all. Some of them also present the weather on the commercial channels, but you are right that those channels use more non-meteorological presenters. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/11 "2005-12-11T18:41:24Z")
Here, some of the TV presenters call themselves “meteorologist”, while others go by “weathercaster” or something like that. I always took it to mean the meteorologists had meteorological training while the weathercasters did not, because even the same channel can have some that go by one title and others by the other title. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/12 "2005-12-12T03:21:06Z")
> [@Jet Jaguar](#): > > How much weather forcasting do the TV meteorologists do? Are they coming up with their own predictions, just reading reports off the wire from the National Weather Service or some commercial provider, or a combination of the two? How would a local affiliate differ vs. a national network? The TV meterorologists are usually real meterorologists. T hey take the wide area and nationwide NOA forecasts and interpret them for their stations coverabe area. Some of them are pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Viscera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/258eb7/32.png) [@Viscera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viscera)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/13 "2005-12-12T11:11:52Z")
Related thread from last week… > **[Weather Reports on local television](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=347379)** > > I’ve always been curious about weather reports on local television stations. Don’t they all get their basic forecast information from more or less the same sources? In the same general geographic area, are one television station’s weather forecasts... ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/14 "2005-12-12T12:58:50Z")
The girl that does the football weather forecasts on FOX on Sundays has a PhD in meteorology, doesn’t she? ---
**Author:** ![Ponster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponster/32/17081_2.png) [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/15 "2005-12-12T15:26:14Z")
Related [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=301271) from last Feb. ---
**Author:** ![Viscera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/258eb7/32.png) [@Viscera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viscera)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/16 "2005-12-12T15:57:05Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > The girl that does the football weather forecasts on FOX on Sundays has a PhD in meteorology, doesn’t she? According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jillian_Barberie), she only has a degree in broadcast journalism. ---
**Author:** ![Fridgemagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@Fridgemagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fridgemagnet)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/17 "2005-12-12T16:17:04Z")
Pretty much all the terrestrial TV (both BBC and independent) weather presenters in the UK are professional meteorologists, and make their own forecasts from the data they get from the Met Office. Even the [cute ones](http://www.gm.tv/index.cfm?articleid=278). This is why the forecasts sometimes vary, even within the BBC - the weather forecasts on the TV news, the BBC website, and the Teletext data service all come from different people. Mostly they agree; sometimes not. From the [Met Office](http://www.metoffice.com/corporate/pressoffice/weatherguide/forecasts.html): “The Met Office provides information for most of the TV weather forecasts in the UK. On many channels, including national BBC, the presenters are Met Office staff.” ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-tv-meteorologists-make-their-own-forcasts/334900/18 "2005-12-12T17:06:29Z")
I would say that most in the U.S. do not have a degree in meteorology. Out side of the “active weather” cities, many stations will have a single degreed meteorologist (mostly, but not always the lead) and 3 or 4 non-degreed ones. Many will complete a degree in [Broadcast Meteorology from Missisippi State University](http://www.msstate.edu/dept/geosciences/broadcast-meteorology.htm), often by correspondence, which consists of basic math/science, a fairly decent background in meteorology, and a bunch of courses on how to look good on TV and how to use the software. They are not meteorologists, however.